The great nation today known as the United States of America, has not always existed in its current state of glory. It too had to start from the bottom of the chain, and work its way up to the greatness of today. This start began during the time period that can be referred to as the age of exploration and colonization, and it took place between the years of 1492 and 1750. This time period is extremely important to the birth of American Literature, and it was thanks to many settlers coming to this New Land, now the United States, that we have great literary works to refer back to when speaking about the beginning of our nation. The focus for the duration of this paper will lean more towards the important women writers of this time period. This is due to the fact that during this time where Puritanism was the common religion, women had certain restrictions placed upon them due to the ideals and beliefs of the Puritans. One of these specific restrictions is that women of this time were not allowed to have a public voice, however throughout this paper I hope to shed some light on the important women of this era who defied the restrictions at times, yet reinforced them in others. These women are Anne Bradstreet and Mary Rowlandson, who were the authors of some of the most prestigious Early American Literature works referred to today. .
In order to discuss Anne Bradstreet and her work, it is important to know her history. Bradstreet was born in England in 1612 to a fairly wealthy family. As she grew up, her father placed a great emphasis on her ability to read, and encouraged her to not only learn how, but to excel at it. With this being said, it is obvious that Bradstreet was by far more highly educated than the majority of women who lived during this time period. Bradstreet married at age 16 to a man by the name of Simon Bradstreet, and came to America 2 years later where she lived a difficult life.