Blog Posting #2

I never realized how much early American history influenced American literature and the idea of the “American Dream”. Growing up I always knew that The Declaration of Independence is significant to American History, but to be honest I never really viewed the work as American literature. I never even thought of how American literature as shaped the “American Dream” and will continually help to reshape the dream. The ideas of the declaration came from the thinkers and writers of the Enlightenment. The Declaration of independence was written by Thomas Jefferson who said he,” used neither book nor pamphlet” as he wrote. This piece of American literature put the ideas of the enlightenment into action. These thinkers used the written words to make their cause. However this was good and bad. I say this because not everyone’s viewpoints were expressed in newspapers or in books. The views and subject matter were those of the ones who controlled the printed word. Many other causes were left in the background and took a back seat to the politics between the colonies and England. This is evident in the way the controlling powers viewed education. Women were mainly educated to become good Republican mothers. Slaves were forbidden to be taught to learn to read or write. The Declaration of Independence left out a huge group of people. I am sure most slaves did not view slavery as the pursuit of happiness or that most women felt happy in their restricted roles. The American Dream will continue to evolve as the literature landscape continues to be redefined by either book or blog.