Key American Literature Works and Their Impact

Literature Quiz: Key Works and Their Significance

• A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies (Bartolome de las Casas, 1542)
  Critique of Spain's policies in the New World.

• Poor Richard’s Almanack (Benjamin Franklin, 1732)
  Collection of Franklin's famous sayings.

• Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God (Jonathan Edwards, 1741)
  Sermon reflecting religious revivals during the "Great Awakening."

• Common Sense (Thomas Paine, 1776)
  Pamphlet advocating for colonial separation from England, catalyzing the revolutionary cause.

• The Wealth of Nations (Adam Smith, 1776)
  Advocacy for free market economics and laissez-faire approach.

• The Federalist Papers (Madison, Hamilton, Jay; 1787)
  Essays supporting Constitution ratification.

• The Last of the Mohicans (James Fenimore Cooper, 1826)
  Novel set during the French and Indian War.

• The Liberator (William Lloyd Garrison, 1831)
  Publication calling for immediate abolition of slavery.

• Democracy in America (Alexis de Tocqueville, 1835)
  Observations on American society by a French historian.

• McGuffey Readers (William McGuffey, 1836)
  School literature with moral messages, prevalent pre-Civil War.

• North Star (Frederick Douglass, 1847)
  Significant publication in the abolitionist movement.

• Civil Disobedience (Henry David Thoreau, 1849)
  Essay defending citizens' right to resist unjust laws.

• The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1850)
  Exploration of Puritan morality and sin; a landmark of American Romanticism.

• Moby Dick (Herman Melville, 1851)
  Classic tale of man vs. nature; often called the "Great American Novel."

• Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1852)
  Influential in advancing the abolitionist movement.

• Walden (Henry David Thoreau, 1854)
  Critique of society during the Market Revolution from a transcendentalist perspective.

• Leaves of Grass (Walt Whitman, 1855)
  Collection of influential free verse poetry.

• The Impending Crisis of the South (Hinton R. Helper, 1857)
  Discusses slavery's detriment to poor southern whites.

• Das Kapital (Karl Marx, 1867)
  Examination of Marxist socialism.

• Ragged Dick (Horatio Alger, 1868)
  Classic rags-to-riches tale popular in the "Gilded Age."

• Progress and Poverty (Henry George, 1879)
  Sociological study of wealth and poverty in the "Gilded Age."

• A Century of Dishonor (Helen Hunt Jackson, 1881)
  Criticism of U.S. policies on Native Americans.

• Dynamic Sociology (Lester F. Ward, 1883)
  Argument for human intervention in natural laws.

• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain, 1884)
  Twain's masterpiece; example of American Regionalism.

• Looking Backward (Edward Bellamy, 1887)
  Vision of America as a socialist utopia set in the future.

• The Gospel of Wealth (Andrew Carnegie, 1889)
  Reflections on the meaning of wealth.

• The Influence of Sea Power Upon History (Alfred T. Mahan, 1890)
  Advocacy for U.S. naval expansion for global power.

• How the Other Half Lives (Jacob Riis, 1890)
  Exposé of urban slums through photography.

• History of the Standard Oil Company (Ida Tarbell, 1904)
  Muckraking work uncovering Rockefeller’s practices.

• The Jungle (Upton Sinclair, 1906)
  Exposé of meatpacking labor conditions, leading to consumer protection laws.

• Principles of Scientific Management (Frederick Taylor, 1911)
  Introduction of "Taylorism" for production efficiency.

• The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925)
  Critique of 1920s materialism, representative of the "Lost Generation."

• The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck, 1939)
  Narrative of an "Okie" family during the Dust Bowl.

• Silent Spring (Rachel Carson, 1962)
  Criticism of pesticide use; pivotal to environmental movement.

• The Feminine Mystique (Betty Friedan, 1963)
  Key work in the modern women's rights movement.