It was an oddly assorted group that established the foundations of American literature:
the Native American with their oral traditions, the Puritans with their preoccupation
with sin and salvation, and the southern planters with their busy social lives,
Indeed, much of the literature that the colonies read was not produced in the colonies
-- it came from England.
Yet, by 1750, there were the clear beginnings of a native literature
that would one day be honored throughout the English-speaking world.