Early American Literature

When I think about the development of America and American society, literature and more importantly, the print culture, is not the first thing that comes to mind. I think about wars and the industrial revolution. But when you really think about it, most developments in American society were spread around the nation by print. Newspapers were the only way current issues and news traveled in the early days of American development. If it had not been for the printing culture, it would be crazy to think America would be as unified and intelligent as it is today.  Whenever this country needs to come together and make a stand, whatever the cause may be, mass media is responsible for that unification. And without the print culture, we would not have mass media today. Reading this intro really puts into perspective how important the print culture was in the early stages of America. I just hope that more people come to understand how important early American literature was to the development of the United States. With that in mind, I hope more people take the time to read and understand early American literature.