Becoming America - An Exploration of American Literature from Precolonial to Post-Revolution, 2018a

3Revolutionary and Early National
Period Literature
3.1 LEARNING OUTCOMES
After reading this chapter, students will be able to
• Identify historical characteristics of the Revolutionary or Early National
period in America.
• Place the French and Indian War within its larger social, cultural, and
historical context, in both North America and Europe.
• Understand the diverse and numerous circumstances contributing to the
Revolutionary War, starting with the Battles of Lexington and Concord
(1775).
• Understand the purpose and eect of the Second Continental Congress
and its Articles of Confederation.
• Understand the purposes and eects of the Constitutional Convention
(1787).
• Identify the political viewpoints of the Federalists and the Anti-federalists
and their respective contributions to the development of the United
States federal government.
• Understand the inuence of the Enlightenment on eighteenth century
American culture, particularly with the shift from Puritan theology to
science, philosophy, and the empirical method.
• Understand the relationship of eighteenth century American literature
with the goal of human perfectibility.
• Understand the inconsistent application of Enlightenment values of
individual will, equality, and freedom among African slaves, Native
Americans, and women.
• Understand how the Enlightenment encouraged alternative religions and
philosophies, such as Deism and Unitarianism, as well as a resurgence of
Calvinism in the Great Awakening and evangelizing.
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