Major Works of Literature in (Fiction and Non-fiction) in US History

  1. J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur’s Letters from an American Farmer – 1782 book by a Frenchman living in the United States; his impressions of the new republic included that it was home to one of the most free and equal societies in the world. He focuses on the absence of an aristocracy.
  2. Thomas Paine’s Common Sense – 1776 pamphlet urging the colonists to split from England, using “common sense” arguments for making the break; cited by historians for encouraging the support for revolution.
  3. Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America – 1835 and 1840; two volume work; an account of the U.S. written by a visiting Frenchman; attempts to describe what makes America unique; talks about specific societal traits, importance of free press in a democracy, etc.
  4. Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience - 1849 essay on the right and obligation to follow your conscience, inspired by the Mexican American War he opposed.
  5. Henry David Thoreau’s Walden - Thoreau's 1845 experiment in living well simply by removing himself to nature for a while, considered the defining work of the transcendentalist movement.
  6. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin – 1852 novel that attempted to portray the negative consequences of slavery on the family to readers; sparked much controversy; southerners denounced it as full of lies. Had a major impact on the Civil War.
  7. Helen Hunt Jackson’s A Century of Dishonor – 1881 book condemning the government’s Indian policy and its record of broken treaties.
  8. Jacob Riis’ How the Other Half Lives – 1890 expose of poverty in New York that chronicled the plight of the poor in the cities and their shocking living conditions
  9. Frederick Jackson Turner’s The Significance of the Frontier in American History – 1893 essay in which Turner stated his belief that the most important effect of the American Frontier was its impact on individualistic democracy. Turner offered his thesis as both an analysis of the past and a warning about the future. If the frontier had been so essential to the development of American culture and democracy, what would happen to America now that the frontier was closed?
  10. Frank Norris’ The Octopus – 1901 novel about the stranglehold the Southern Pacific Railroad had on California farmers (The RR = the octopus)
  11. W. E. B. du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk – 1903 book describing the strengths of black culture and attacked Booker T. Washington’s Atlanta Compromise;
  12. Lincoln Steffens’ The Shame of the Cities – 1904 series of muckraking articles in McClure’s magazine on the workings of political machines; hidden connections between supposedly respectable businessmen and known corrupt politicians, etc.
  13. Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle – 1906 novel detailing the conditions in meatpacking plants; author aimed to raise awareness for the plight of the workers but many Americans were more concerned with the quality of the pot roast on their table. Prompted Meat Inspection Act
  14. John Spargo’s The Bitter Cry of the Children – 1906 muckraking book by socialist author to raise awareness about child labor
  15. Sinclair Lewis’ Babbitt – 1922 novel that ridiculed middle class society, its narrow business culture and its shallowness
  16. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby- 1925 novel that reveals the emptiness of wealth and criticizes the pleasure-seeking and wealthy society of America in the 1920’s
  17. Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms – 1929 novel criticizing the “glory” of war

***15-17 have been called The Lost Generation

  1. John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath – 1939 novel that tells the story of the Joads, a family of “okies” who leave the Dust Bowl in search of a future in California. The story stresses the need for cooperative solutions as opposed to individualism in response to the economic crisis brought on by the Depression and the Dust Bowl.
  2. David Potter’s People of Plenty – 1954 book arguing that the American national character had been shaped by the abundance of natural resources in the nation
  3. William Whyte Jr.’s The Organization Man – 1956 book about the junior executives of big corporations that revealed the dilemmas of the modern American corporate world.
  4. Sloan Wilson The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit – 1955 best-selling novel about the search to find meaning in an America dominated by white-collar business and its values.
  5. Jack Kerouac’s On the Road – 1957 novel that is considered the defining work of the Beat Generation. Semi-autobiographical and written in stream of consciousness style, the novel tells the story of several road trips undertaken in mid-century America. The Beat authors often criticized the conformity of post WWII American society and culture.
  6. C. Wright Mills’ The Power Elite - 1956 book cautioning against the dangerous and powerful alliance of the government, big business and the military in the context of the Cold War (this is also what departing President Eisenhower cautioned against in his Farewell Address; he called it the military-industrial complex.)
  7. John Kenneth Galbraith’s The Affluent Society – 1958 book in which the author predicted that the great challenge of the future would be to fairly distribute national wealth
  8. Michael Harrington’s The Other America – 1962 book about the poor in America; reminding Americans that there were millions of poor, even after two decades of prosperity
  9. Rachel Carson’s The Silent Spring – 1962 book that chronicled the harmful effects of the chemical pesticide DDT on the environment, specifically on bird populations. She also documented the misinformation from chemical companies with regard to the safety of their products. Carson is credited with starting the environmental movement with this book.
  10. Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique – 1963 book that recognized that thousands of middle class housewives were not content with their lives; they wanted more.
  11. Kenneth Jackson’s The Crabgrass Frontier – 1985 sociology book chronicling the suburbanization of America and its consequences.