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1400
The Sky Tree
The Sky Tree is one of the many Native American folktales told throughout history. Unlike the other stories listed on this timeline, there isn't any valid history debut for this story due to the fact a lot of Native American stories were told orally rather then pen and paper, but considering native Americans were on America before the Europeans its safe to say this entry is far older then the others. -
1484
Pope Innocent the 8th declared witchcraft a heresy
By declaring witchcraft a heresy, Pope Innocent the eighth added more fuel to the already prejudiced "witches" that were around. In addition, over 200 years before hand, in 1234 Pope Gregory the 9th instituted the inquisition to expose and punish heresy. This led to a great suspicion among the people and to a great deal of people getting accused of witch craft and being executed. -
1486
The Malleus Maleficarum was Published
The Malleus Maleficarum or "the hammer of the witches" was a guidebook on how to find witches and provided a definition of witchcraft as well as rules on how to investigate, try and judges cases of witchcraft. It also gave information on how to identify witches such as the "devils mark" or "swimming a witch". -
The Puritans
In 1629 King Charles the first of England granted a religious splinter league called the Puritans a charter to settle and govern an English colony in the Massachusetts Bay. Their desire was to create a new perfect society based on the principles of the Bile -
Memorable Providences
Memorable Providences was published in 1690 by Cotton Mather, a prominent Boston minister.It is believed that the publication of Memorable Providences had a profound affect on Salem. -
The Crucible/ Salem Witch Trials
The Salem witch trials occurred, in America 1692 but had been going on in Europe over 300 years prior.During this era people believed in the phenomenon of witchcraft which led to forty to fifty thousand people being executed between 14th through 16th century. -
The Witch Hunt of 1692
The witch hunt of 1692 was a series of traumatic series of witch hunts.The 500 surviving documents of this time point to about 160 cases of witchcraft accusations during the year 1692.There are no transcripts of the actual trials. -
The Salem Witchcraft Ends
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Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution span from 1780 to 1840 and was a prime target from romantics. The romantics believed that technology, industrialization and science were all evil. In fact you could argue that the Industrial Revolution coupled with the Enlightenment period were what sparked the romantic era. -
Romantic Period
The Romantic era was a time in history where literature, poetry in particular that expressed peoples perception on life and the world was at an all time high.The era span from 1789 to 1855. In addition, Romantics took the side of nature against industry and believed the Enlightenment values of progress and rationality to be evil and that nature and all that came from it to be pure. -
The French Revolution
The French Revolution had a great influence on the romantic writers and artist of the era. Under the new laws the writers and artist were given a lot more freedom to express themselves which led way to high standard literature. -
Henry W Longfellow Debut Into Poetry
Henry W. Longfellow was born in 1807 in Portland, Maine.During the Romantic era he became one of the most influential poets that arose from the Romantic Era to date. He began publishing poetry in 1839 and was heavily inspired by Romanticism and has published works such as Evangeline and Hyperion. -
Self-Reliance
Self-Reliance is essay wrote by American romantic, Ralph Waldo Emerson. The essay was published in 1841 and is renowned as one of the greatest works published during the romantic era. -
The Romantic Era Ends
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My Bondage and My Freedom is Published
Fredrick Douglas's autobiographical slave narrative was published in 1855 and is one of the first pieces of slave narratives to be published. -
Romanticism to Realism
The transition from romanticism to realism occurred during the American Civil war. The war happen toughened everyone and instead of hearing optimistic stories that the romantic writers had striven so hard to produce they wanted to hear what was actually going on in the world. This gave lead to slave narratives becoming extremely popular during this era of literature.Realism brought blunt honesty and depicted life without idealizing it. -
Preston S. Brookes Beats Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner
Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner gave an impassioned speech against slavery and berating his colleagues for two days for their support of slavery.Days later South Carolina congressman Preston S. Brookes retaliated by beating by attacking Sumner with his cane until he was unconscious. -
Incidents in the life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs
Incidents in the life of a Slave Girl is the first autobiography by a formerly enslaved woman. -
The Start of the Civil War
The Civil War is what sparked this drastic change in literature from romanticism to realism. The death of half a million people and the destruction throughout the U.S gave way to Americans yearning for the truth in literature instead of it being idealized and optimistic, something that the romantics urged upon readers. -
The End of the Civil War
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End of The Realism Era in Literature
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Modernism
The era of modernism in literature roots back to the Industrial Revolution and in the theories of thinkers such Marx, Freud, Darwin and Nietzsche. In addition, it is said that Modernism started a decade before WW1. Often times modernist depict loneliness and isolation in their works. Equally Important, modern literature have a strong and intentional break in tradition rather it be the subject or the writing style. -
The End of WW1
The war’s extreme brutality led to an outpouring of literature concerning its conduct and effects. -
Roaring 20s
The roaring twenties sparked a decade of change throughout the U.S which in tern changed literature as authors began exploring non traditional writing styles and topics. -
James Joyce Publishes "Ulysses"
James Joyce is a renowned modernist author known for his most famous work, "Ulysses" which was published in 1922.In this play he modernizes Homers "The Odyssey. -
Waste Land Publication
The "Waste Land" is 434 poem that was published in 1922 by T.S Elliot. The poem can be divided into 5 parts (The Burial of the Dead, A Game of Chess,The Fire Sermon, Death by Water, and What the Thunder Said). After the poem was published it was met with great controversy as some critics saw it as too modern and its complex and erudite style was denounced for its obscurity. -
The Great Gatsby is Published
The Great Gatsby is a very modern story written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, who was somewhat of an unsuccessful author as he only had a handful of his work become published. -
Ezra Pound/The Cantos
Ezra Pound is an American modernist writer who was born in 1885.In addition, he is regarded as the one responsible for defining and promoting a modernist aesthetic in poetry. One of his famous poems, "The Cantos" is an encyclopedic epic poem published in 1925. -
The Crucible
The Crucible is a play dramatized and to a certain degree a fictional representation of the Salem witch trials
