The early stages of American fiction (1607-1765) were greatly influenced by the European, primarily English, artistic tradition. Its first examples were mainly diaries, religious treatises and historical essays.
The era of colonization was also marked by the dominance of Puritan morality, patriarchal and pious morals. Poems and poems were published, mainly of a patriotic nature. Among them are the narrative of Captain D. Smith (1579-1631) about the times of the founding of the Virginia colony, the “Diary” of D. Winthrop (1588-1649), which described the ideals, religious disputes and hardships of the colonists, and others.
Among theological writers, Hooker, Cotton, Roger Williams, Bayles, J. Wise, Jonathan Edwards stand out. At the end of the 18th century, agitation for the liberation of blacks began: “Some considerations on the Keeping of negroes” (1754) by J. Woolmans and “A caution to Great Britain and her colonies relative to enslaved negroes” (1767) by Ant. Benezet. The transition to the next era was provided by the works of B. Franklin – “The Way to Wealth”, “The speech of Father Abraham” and others; he founded “Poor Richard’s Almanack”.