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Use the timeline above to explore the Colonial period and the American Revolution. Clicking the link under a writer’s picture will show you more about that writer, and buttons will help you explore the era. You can also scroll down the page to read about all the writers in this time period.

Literature in the Early United States

Before the Declaration of Independence, the most prevalent writing was nonfiction by the various settlers in the colonies that would become the United States of America. After independence was declared in 1776, American literature was concerned with the nation’s future and explored this concept in non-fiction, novels, and even poetry. Learn more about the colonial, revolutionary, and other periods at Encyclopaedia Britannica here.

Click the buttons below for more information about different aspects of the colonial and revolutionary eras.

Stained glass window depicting Anne Bradstreet
© Lee Beel/Alamy Stock Photo

Jump to Featured Writers:

Anne BradstreetMary Rowlandson | Thomas Jefferson | Abigail Adams | Phillis WheatleyJames Fenimore Cooper

Jump to Featured Writers:

Anne BradstreetMary Rowlandson | Thomas Jefferson | Abigail Adams | Phillis WheatleyJames Fenimore Cooper

Jump to Featured Writers:

Anne BradstreetMary Rowlandson | Thomas Jefferson | Abigail Adams | Phillis WheatleyJames Fenimore Cooper

Jump to Featured Writers:

Anne BradstreetMary Rowlandson | Thomas Jefferson | Abigail Adams | Phillis WheatleyJames Fenimore Cooper

Jump to Featured Writers:

Anne BradstreetMary Rowlandson | Thomas Jefferson | Abigail Adams | Phillis WheatleyJames Fenimore Cooper