Literature and History - ENG 231 - American Literature I - Research Guides at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College

Salem Witch Trials/Puritanism/Cotton Mather

The Twisted History of the Salem Witch Trials Podcast
The Salem Witch Trials remain one of the most infamous episodes in American history — hundreds of people were named as witches and 20 people were killed. This podcast from WBUR is really fascinating and throws in a little Samantha from Bewitched!
In Search of History: Salem Witch Trials - Full Video (43:32) - FILMS ON DEMAND
Drawing extensively on colonial-era documents and accounts as well as on the testimony of significant scholars, this program ventures back three centuries to separate facts from legends about the Salem witch trials. Distributed by A&E Television Networks. (44 minutes) Distributed by A&E Television Networks.
A New Adam: God in America—How Religious Liberty Shaped America - Full Video (59:38) FILMS ON DEMAND
The New World challenged and changed the faiths the first European settlers brought with them. In New Mexico, the spiritual rituals of the Pueblo Indians collided with the Catholic faith of Franciscan missionaries, ending in a bloody revolt. In New England, Puritan leader John Winthrop faced off against religious dissenters from within his own ranks. And a new message of spiritual rebirth from evangelical preachers like George Whitefield swept through the American colonies, upending traditional religious authority and kindling a rebellious spirit that converged with the political upheaval of the American Revolution.

eBooks

Governing the Tongue by Jane Kamensky
ISBN: 9780195090802
Publication Date: 1998-01-08
Governing the Tongue explains why the spoken word assumed such importance in the culture of early New England. Author Jane Kamensky re-examines such famous Puritan events as the Salem witch trials and the banishment of Anne Hutchinson to expose the ever-present fear of what the puritans called "sinsof the tongue." By placing speech at the heart of familiar stories of Puritan New England, Kamensky develops new ideas about the relationship between speech and power both in Puritan New England and, by extension, in our world today.
The Brave New World by Peter Charles Hoffer
ISBN: 9780801884832
Publication Date: 2006-12-14
The Brave New World covers the span of early American history, from 30,000 years before Europeans ever landed on North American shores to creation of the new nation.
The Salem Witch Trials by Marilynne K. Roach
ISBN: 9781589791329
Publication Date: 2004-07-22
Based on twenty-seven years of original archival research, including the discovery of previously unknown documents, this day-by-day narrative of the hysteria that swept through Salem Village in 1692 and 1693 reveals new connections behind the events, and shows how rapidly a community can descend into bloodthirsty madness.
The Specter of Salem by Gretchen A. Adams
ISBN: 9780226005416
Publication Date: 2009-01-15
In The Specter of Salem, Gretchen A. Adams reveals the many ways that the Salem witch trials loomed over the American collective memory from the Revolution to the Civil War and beyond.
Salem Witchcraft and Cotton Mather by Charles W. Upham
ISBN: 9781776536054
Publication Date: 2014-05-01
This historical analysis singles out Cotton Mather, an influential thinker and minister, and delves into his role in stoking the uproar that led to numerous convictions and executions.
The Witch in History by Diane Purkiss
ISBN: 9780415087612
Publication Date: 1996-10-14
'Diane Purkiss ... insists on taking witches seriously. Her refusal to write witch-believers off as unenlightened has produced some richly intelligent meditations on their -- and our -- world.'- The Observer
The Legacy of Christopher Columbus in the Americas by Elise Bartosik-Velez
ISBN: 9780826519535
Publication Date: 2014-06-30
Bartosik-Velez seeks to explain the meaning of Christopher Columbus throughout the so-called New World, first in the British American colonies and the United States, as well as in Spanish America, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. She argues that during the pre- and post-revolutionary periods, New World societies commonly imagined themselves as legitimate and powerful independent political entities by comparing themselves to the classical empires of Greece and Rome. Columbus, who had been construed as a figure of empire for centuries, fit perfectly into that framework. By adopting him as a national symbol, New World nationalists appeal to Old World notions of empire.
First Founders by Francis J. Bremer
ISBN: 9781584659594
Publication Date: 2012-05-08
This is a truly fascinating look at the Puritans with keenly drawn portraits and the insight that only a lifetime of scholarship can achieve. It should become the standard introduction to the field.
The Long Argument by Stephen Foster
ISBN: 9780807845837
Publication Date: 1996-03-18
Foster draws insights from a broad range of souces in England and America, including sermons, diaries, spiritual autobiographies, and colony, town, and court records. Moreover, his presentation of the history of the English and American Puritan movements in tandem brings out the fatal flaws of the former as well as the modest but essential strengths of the latter.
Milestone Documents in American History by Paul Finkelman (General Editor); Bruce A. Lesh (General Editor)
ISBN: 9780979775802
Publication Date: 2008-04-01
Milestone Documents is a new series combining full-text primary source documents with engaging, readable analysis.

Slavery and Literature

Judaism in America Pocast
Roughly 2% of the U.S. population is Jewish, but the influence of American Jews far outweighs their relatively small numbers. In this episode of BackStory, the Guys (along with guest host Joanne Freeman of Yale University) explore the history of Judaism in America.
New Adam: God in America—How Religious Liberty Shaped America - Full Video (59:38)
The New World challenged and changed the faiths the first European settlers brought with them. In New Mexico, the spiritual rituals of the Pueblo Indians collided with the Catholic faith of Franciscan missionaries, ending in a bloody revolt. In New England, Puritan leader John Winthrop faced off against religious dissenters from within his own ranks. And a new message of spiritual rebirth from evangelical preachers like George Whitefield swept through the American colonies, upending traditional religious authority and kindling a rebellious spirit that converged with the political upheaval of the American Revolution.

Christopher Columbus

Conquering marvels: The marvelous other in the texts of Christopher Columbus
This paper examines the origin of the "marvel" in Columbus' writing, how it is used in the first text widely disseminated in Europe about America, the Letter to Luis de Santangel, and how this figure of marvelousness multiplies in texts about America, transforming an old "I," an old subject, into a new one.

Columbus' Navigation Diaries of "The Indies" -Segment 2 (03:07)

Ebook Collections

eBooks

Some of our eBook collections will allow you to check out an eBook for use on your mobile device (such as a Kindle) while others will allow online viewing only.

ABC-CLIO E-book Collection
Credo Reference
eBook Central
eBooks on EBSCOhost
HomeGrown eBooks
Infobase eBooks
eBooks covering Literature and the Humanities.
Open Library
Overdrive
Poetry for Students
Features discussion and analysis of poems of all time periods, nations, and cultures. Provides an overview of the poem and discussion of its principal themes, images, form and construction.
R2 Digital Library
Salem Press eBooks

Instructions for Downloading eBooks:

Database Suggestions

ABC-CLIO E-book Collection History & literature e-books, including the series Daily Life, Critical Companions, Literature in Context, as well as American Slavery: A Composite Autobiography.
Credo Reference
eBook Central Scholarly titles supporting student and faculty research, and general nonfiction on topics such as school & studying, career development, arts & leisure, and practical life skills.
eBooks on EBSCOhost Over 26,000 fiction, reference, scholarly, and professional books online.
Films on Demand Films On Demand is a state-of-the-art streaming video platform that makes it easier than ever to incorporate outstanding educational programs from Films Media Group into your content management systems, online lesson plans, distance learning courseware, or electronic card catalog system.
Gale eBooks Searchable collection of online reference titles and test prep ebooks.
Learning Literature Full-text works of poetry, prose and drama, and secondary sources such as author biographies, literary criticisms, essays, reviews and interviews. Designed with schools and public libraries in mind.
Literature Resource Center Articles, critical essays, work and topic overviews, full-text works, and biographies covering authors, their works, and literary movements.
JSTOR Essential
JSTOR is a digital library for the intellectually curious. JSTOR provides access to more than 12 million journal articles, books, images, and primary sources in 75 disciplines. The collections in JSTOR include peer-reviewed scholarly journals, respected literary journals, academic monographs, research reports, and primary sources from libraries’ special collections and archives.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries Women's writings from the Colonial period to 1950. Includes writings by Abigail Adams, Louisa May Alcott, Susan B. Anthony, Clara Barton, Dorothea L. Dix, Julia Ward Howe, and more.
Poetry for Students Features discussion and analysis of poems of all time periods, nations, and cultures. Provides an overview of the poem and discussion of its principal themes, images, form and construction.
ProQuest Central This database serves as the central resource for researchers at all levels. Covering more than 160 subjects areas, ProQuest Central is the largest aggregated database of periodical content. This award-winning online reference resource features a highly-respected, diversified mix of content including scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines, books, newspapers, reports and videos.

Print Books

The Specter of Salem by Gretchen A. Adams In The Specter of Salem, Gretchen A. Adams reveals the many ways that the Salem witch trials loomed over the American collective memory from the Revolution to the Civil War and beyond.
Call Number: BF 1576 .A33 2008 South
ISBN: 9780226005416
Publication Date: 2009-01-15
The Salem Witch Trials Reader by Frances Hill The Salem Witch Trials Reader , Frances Hill provides and astutely comments upon the actual documents from the trial- examinations of suspected witches, eyewitness accounts of "Satanic influence," as well as the testimony of those who retained their reason and defied the madness.
Call Number: BF 1576 .H55 2000 South
ISBN: 030680946X
Publication Date: 2000-10-19
1491 by Charles C. Mann A groundbreaking study that radically alters our understanding of the Americas before the arrival of the Europeans in 1492.
Call Number: E 61 .M266 2005 North and South
ISBN: 140004006X
Publication Date: 2005-08-09
Witch Hunt by Nigel Cawthorne This book examines the persecution and the religious hysteria that inspired the witch hunts of 1450-1750, tracing its roots back to the savage suppression of the heretical Waldensian sect by the Catholic Church.
Call Number: BF 1566 .C39 2004
ISBN: 0785818588
Publication Date: 2004-01-01
The Journal of Christopher Columbus by Cecil Jane (Translator); Eugenio Cassin
Call Number: E 118 C725 1989b South
ISBN: 0517696991
Publication Date: 1990-01-02
Columbus and the World Around Him by Milton Meltzer This series meets National Curriculum Standards for: Social Studies: Civic Ideals & Practices Individuals, Groups, & Institutions Power, Authority, & Goverance Time, Continuity, & Change
Call Number: E 111 M49 1990 North and South
ISBN: 0531108996
Publication Date: 1990-03-01

Films on Demand - American Passages, a Literary Survey

Utopian Promise—American Passages: A Literary Survey - Full Video (27:39)
When British colonists landed in the Americas, they created communities that they hoped would serve as a "light onto the nations." But what role would the native inhabitants play in this new model community? This program compares the answers of two important groups, the Puritans and Quakers, and exposes the lasting influence they had upon American identity.
Spirit of Nationalism—American Passages: A Literary Survey - Full Video (27:39)
The Enlightenment brought new ideals and a new notion of self-hood to the American colonies. This program begins with an examination of the importance of the trope of the self-made man in Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, and then turns to the development of this concept in the writings of Romanticist Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Slavery and Freedom—American Passages: A Literary Survey - Full Video (27:38)
Description:
How has slavery shaped the American literary imagination and American identity? This program turns to the classic slave narratives of Harriet Jacobs and Frederick Douglass and the fiction of Harriet Beecher Stowe. What rhetorical strategies do their works use to construct an authentic and authoritative American self?
Gothic Undercurrents—American Passages: A Literary Survey - Full Video (27:38)
What was haunting the American nation in the 1850s? The three writers treated in this program — Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Emily Dickinson — use poetry and prose to explore the dark side of nineteenth-century America

Issues and Controversies in American History Video Clip

Issues and Controversies in American History Video Clip
Each clip has a run time of approximately 2 minutes, 30 seconds. Click on the link above to access. Topics include:
• Columbus’s Voyages to the New World
• Transatlantic Slave Trade
• Jamestown Settlement
• Salem Witch Trials
• Slavery and the American Revolution
• Constitutional Convention
• Indian Removal
• Amistad Revolt
• Mexican-American War

Other Ideas for Historical Texts and Events

American Revolution AND Declaration of Independence

Declaration of Independence AND Frederick Douglass AND "Fourth of July" speech

Lincoln's Writings AND Slavery (including Second Inaugeral Address, Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg Address)

Industrial Revolution and the Writings of Emily Dickinson

Scientific Debate/Changes and the Detective Stories of Edgar Allan Poe

"Ain't I a Woman" AND the connection between Anti-Slavery and the Women's Movement

Walt Whitman AND "Civil War"/Lincoln's Assassination

Thoreau AND "Civil Disobedience" AND resistance to government

Finding Online or Streaming Films in the RCCC Library

Films on Demand
Films On Demand is a state-of-the-art streaming video platform that makes it easier than ever to incorporate outstanding educational programs from Films Media Group into your content management systems, online lesson plans, distance learning courseware, or electronic card catalog system.
Kanopy
Kanopy provides documentaries and full films for educational institutions.
Swank
Swank allows students the flexibility to legally view course-assigned films outside the classroom. Providing digital access to course-related films allows educators to enhance the learning experience without taking up valuable class time.
Alexander Academic Video Online
Curated for the educational experience, the massive depth of content and breadth of content-types (such as documentaries, films, demonstrations, etc.) in Academic Video Online makes it a useful resource for all types of patrons.

ENG 231 - American Literature I: Literature and History

New All-in-One Search

Salem Witch Trials/Puritanism/Cotton Mather

eBooks

Slavery and Literature

Christopher Columbus

Columbus' Navigation Diaries of "The Indies" -Segment 2 (03:07)

Ebook Collections

eBooks

Database Suggestions

Print Books

Films on Demand - American Passages, a Literary Survey

Issues and Controversies in American History Video Clip

Other Ideas for Historical Texts and Events

Finding Online or Streaming Films in the RCCC Library