Literature Timeline
1492—Columbus arrives in the Bahamas, which he initially describes in his letter to San Luis de Santangel as a rich and marvelous land. Over the course of his next three voyages, his attitude toward exploration and the New World change dramatically.
1542—Part of the failed Narvaez expedition to the northern Gulf coast, Cabeza de Vaca finds himself stranded in the New World (near current-day Galveston, Texas). His major work, The Relation of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, documents his observations of the Native Americans during his captivity, his travel with the tribes, and his eventual release.
1552—In his work The Very Brief Relation of the Devastation of the Indies, Bartolomé de las Casas documents the atrocities committed by Spanish Catholics against the Native Americans. Initially eager to visit the New World, he is appalled by the slavery and murder he witnesses once he arrives (ca. 1502). Later, and despite his position as a priest, he spends the rest of his life challenging the ideologies of the Catholic church, namely the notion that Indians were "savage" and less than human.
1624—In his work The General History of Virginia, John Smith chronicles the founding and development of the first permanent English colony. Smith documents the colonization of Virginia, the struggles of the Jamestown settlement, and the colony's interactions with the Natives. It is in this work that Smith provides us with the famous Pocohontas story.
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1620—After receiving a charter for land in America, Bradford and his fellow Separatists immigrate to New England aboard the Mayflower. Bradford served as governor to Plymouth for most of his life. His work, Of Plymouth Plantation, chronicles the settlement and growth of the Plymouth Colony and its neighboring Massachusetts Bay Colony. 
1630—John Winthrop, Puritan minister and first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, delivers his famous sermon "A Model of Christian Charity" en route from England to America. His sermon introduced principles crucial to the harmony and growth of the budding colony. Over the next decade, English Puritans would continue to immigrate to Massachusetts Bay.
1650—A Puritan and member of John Winthrop's Massachusetts Bay Colony, Anne Bradstreet authored the first book of poetry by an American colonist. Initially a collection of poems only shared by family, her book, The Tenth Muse, was secretly taken to London for publication by Bradstreet's brother-in-law. The collection earned Bradstreet acclaim as a poet, including praise from minister and author Cotton Mather. As female authorship was discouraged at the time, Bradstreet's work is of considerable import both in colonial literature and in the history of poetry.
1682—Mary Rowlandson’s narrative (under the full title The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, Together with the Faithfulness of His Promises Displayed; Being a Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson) is published. In her narrative, Rowlandson recounts the Wampanoag seige of Lancaster during King Phillip's War and chronicles her 11-week captivity with the tribe.
1845—Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven” 
1845—Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
1850—Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter
1851—Herman Melville, Moby-Dick
1854—Henry David Thoreau, Walden
1855—Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
1860–65—Emily Dickinson writes several hundred poems
1492—Columbus arrives in the Bahamas, which he initially describes in his letter to San Luis de Santangel as a rich and marvelous land. Over the course of his next three voyages, his attitude toward exploration and the New World change dramatically. 
.jpg)
1620—After receiving a charter for land in America, Bradford and his fellow Separatists immigrate to New England aboard the Mayflower. Bradford served as governor to Plymouth for most of his life. His work, Of Plymouth Plantation, chronicles the settlement and growth of the Plymouth Colony and its neighboring Massachusetts Bay Colony. 
1650—A Puritan and member of John Winthrop's Massachusetts Bay Colony, Anne Bradstreet authored the first book of poetry by an American colonist. Initially a collection of poems only shared by family, her book, The Tenth Muse, was secretly taken to London for publication by Bradstreet's brother-in-law. The collection earned Bradstreet acclaim as a poet, including praise from minister and author Cotton Mather. As female authorship was discouraged at the time, Bradstreet's work is of considerable import both in colonial literature and in the history of poetry. 
1682—Mary Rowlandson’s narrative (under the full title The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, Together with the Faithfulness of His Promises Displayed; Being a Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson) is published. In her narrative, Rowlandson recounts the Wampanoag seige of Lancaster during King Phillip's War and chronicles her 11-week captivity with the tribe. 
1845—Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven” 
1845—Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
1850—Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter
1851—Herman Melville, Moby-Dick
1854—Henry David Thoreau, Walden 
1860–65—Emily Dickinson writes several hundred poems