The Cambridge Introduction to Early American Literature offers students a literary history of American writing in English between 1492 and 1820, as well as providing a concise social and cultural history of these three centuries. Emory Elliott traces the impact of race, gender, and ethnic conflict on early American culture, and explores the centrality of American Puritanism in the formation of a distinctively American literature. Elliott provides an overview of the oral and written literature of the Europeans who explored, settled and colonised the North American continent. He goes on to focus on the New England Puritans and demonstrates the lasting impact of their thought and writing on early American literature. Elliott traces the evolution of forms and genres that have come to be seen as quintessentially American. This highly engaging and comprehensive study will be essential reading for students of the literature, history and culture of early America.