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Period: Jan 1, 1550 to
American Authors Timeline
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William Bradford
Link to Text Read, Summary of Text, Other text titles and Historical Events(1590-1657) William Bradford was Governor of the Plymouth Colony in America for 30 years. He helped organize an expedition of about 100 Pilgrims to the New World. He helped draft the Mayflower Compact aboard the group's ship, and he served as governor of the Plymouth Colony for 5 years. His journal is a source of information on both the voyage of the Mayflower and the challenges faced by the settlers. -
Anne Bradstreet
Link to Text Read, Summary of Text, Other text titles and Historical Events(1612-1672) Anne Bradstreet was one of the first poets of the American Colonies. She wrote many of her poems while raising 8 children. Without telling her, her brother-in-law took her poems to England, where they were published in 1650. Many of her poems were published in the 19th century. -
Edward Taylor
Link to Text Read, Summary of Text, Other text titles and Historical Events(1642-1729) Little is known about his childhood. In his mid-twenties he moved from England to America to get a job in the ministry. He was very well educated and become a minister in Westfield where he spent the rest of his life. A significant amount of his poems were not published until 1939. -
Jonathan Edwards
Link to Text Read, Summary of Text, Other text titles and Historical Events(1703-1758) Jonathan Edwards was the 5th out of 11 children in his home growing up. At only age 13 he entered Yale. After graduating he became a pastor in his grandfather's church in Massachusetts. His sermons were greatly influential during the Great Awakening. -
Modoc
Link to Text Read, Summary of Text, Other text titles and Historical Events(1801-?) North American Indian people who lived mostly in present day Oregon. Their economy consisted of Hunting and Gathering. An estimated 1,500 population of Modoc people. The Modoc were very well skilled in farming, hunting, fishing, gathering etc. -
Edgar Allan Poe
Link to Text Read, Summary of Text, Other text titles and Historical Events(1809-1849) Poe was an American Poet, Critic, and Short Story writer. Poe was raised by foster parents in Richmond Virginia. He attended the University of Virginia where he wrote a pamphlet of poems. He become an editor for a newspaper, and married his 13 year old cousin. His works are famous for their mystery and horror. -
Abraham Lincoln
Link to Text Read, Summary of Text, Other text titles and Historical Events(1809-1865) Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States. Lincoln is famous for his acts against slavery such as the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln created the 13th Amendment which completley abolished slavery. He was a very inspirational figure in history and literature. His most famous work was his speech called the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln was assassinated while attending the theatre by John Wilkes Booth. -
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Link to Text Read, Summary of Text, Other text titles and Historical Events(1896-1940) Fitzgerald was an American novelist and short-story writer. Fitzgerald attended Princeton University and married Zelda Sayre. His most famous work was the Great Gatsby. Overwhelmed with fame he became an alcoholic. His wife had a mental breakdown that she never recovered from. He died of a heart attack at age 44. -
Ernest Hemmingway
Link to Text Read, Summary of Text, Other text titles and Historical Events(1899-1961) Ernest Hemmingway was a American writer. He started off as journalist after high school. After being wounded in World War 1, He journey on an adventure to get ideas for his works. He lived in Cuba for a while, and received the Nobel Prize for Literature. A year later he left Cuba and commited suicide. -
Langston Hughes
Link to Text Read, Summary of Text, Other text titles and Historical Events(1902-1967) Langston Hughes was an American poet, novelist, autobiographer, and a writer of childrens books. Langston Hughes started his literary carrer while attending Columbia University. After leaving the University he traveled the world. When he returned to the United States he was a well known African American Poet. His best works were done in World War 2 when he moved more into politics. He began writing children books because educating them was very important to him. -
John Hersey
Link to Text Read, Summary of Text, Other text titles and Historical Events(1914-1993) John Hersey was an American Writer and Journalist. Hersey's best success came from World War 2. Working for a magazine, it was Hersey's job to cover the fighting in Europe and Asia. At the end of the war he met a survivor of the Hiroshima bomb, and was inspired to write his best work called Hiroshima. -
John F. Kennedy
Link to Text Read, Summary of Text, Other text titles and Historical Events(1917-1963) John F. kennedy was the 35th President of the United States. Growing up he attended Harvard University. After he graduated he joined the navy and commanded a patrol torpedo boat in World War 2. After being wounded he dropped out of the war and was elected United States House of Representitives and United States Senate. Years later he won the Democratic nomination for President. He was the youngest person to ever be elected president. John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Oswald. -
Flannery O' Connor
Link to Text Read, Summary of Text, Other text titles and Historical Events(1925-1964) Flannery O' Connor was an American female writer. Being a Roman Catholic, her works consisted of relationships between the individual and God. Her works had a strange imagination on religion, but she still won the award for short fiction writer. She died at age 39 due to Lupus. -
Anne Sexton
Link to Text Read, Summary of Text, Other text titles and Historical Events(1928-1974) Anne Sexton was a female American poet, model, librarian, and teacher. She had several mental breakdowns that she explains in her works. She commited suicide and her works were published shortly after. -
Martin Luther King Jr.
Link to Text Read, Summary of Text, Other text titles and Historical Events(1929-1968) Martin Luther King Jr. was a United States civil rights leader who devoted his life to gaining equal rights for African Americans. In his early years out of college he became a pastor in Alabama, then received his doctorate at Boston University. He created the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and lecturing worldwide for rights for African Americans. Years later he formed the March in Washington of 200,000 protestors and gave his I Have a Dream Speech. -
Sylvia Plath
Link to Text Read, Summary of Text, Other text titles and Historical Events(1932-1963) Sylvia Plath was a female American poet who wrote her first poem at age 8. She attended Smith college where she attempted early suicide. Years later she attended Cambridge where she married poet Ted Hughes. After they broke up she commited suicide at age 30.
