CLT's America 250 Reading Challenge
By Faith Walessa
Celebrating the Birth of American Literature
As we celebrate 250 years since the American founding this summer, it is important to recognize that America’s birth sparked more than just political change. Accompanying the obvious political shift of the American revolution was an intentional artistic disruption. A new civilization broke away from the traditions of Europe and its writers began to desire a literary tradition of their own. Most particularly, in the 19th century American writers began to explicitly realize the weight of their calling to invent a type of literature that was no longer derivative of European techniques but was distinctly American–and something Americans could be proud of. This desire for innovation became a matter of great concern in the writings and letters of authors like Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Herman Melville, all of whom pushed themselves to create original, democratic literature alongside their contemporaries.
Their works are a testament to the dedication of early American writers who wished to forge a new kind of art, but they are also a window into the concerns of the American people in the wake of the American revolution. Even as society settled into place and reached a level of political peace, many questions still remained to be answered in the formalizing of a nation, including concerns about advancing science and technology, the industrial revolution, and the relationship between man and nature. These are concerns we inherit today, and there is comfort in knowing that they were considered by Americans who lived long before us.
With this in mind, the following is a brief collection of five pivotal works authored at this transitional time in American artistry. We hope that this reading list provides some inspiration for powerful summer reading, and that reflecting on some of America’s earliest literary voices helps remind you of another unique aspect of the American story.
1. Moby Dick and other short stories by Herman Melville
Famous for its brilliance and infamous for its length, Moby Dick is widely regarded as Herman Melville’s masterpiece. While superficially it is the story of a whaling voyage, Moby Dick remains focused on a wide range of metaphysical themes throughout, including the relationship between man and the universe, the power of ambition, and the morality of the natural world–marking it as foundational for future American literary concerns. Melville’s unconventional grand style and encyclopedic prose also helped establish the ability of language to question European tradition by re-inventing the known boundaries of the novel.
Lesser known of Melville’s works but equally relevant to the concerns of his day are some of his less imposing short stories, including “Bartleby the Scrivener.” In the 1850s, Melville witnessed absurd growth in the wealth of American society even as he experienced great personal financial struggle. Society grew more and more confident in the dream of American prosperity, but Melville harbored concerns about the way the economic system traps and fails individuals. Wickedly funny and linguistically clever, “Bartleby the Scrivener” questions the power of the individual against an economic brick wall and affirms the necessity of originality for a fulfilling life.
2. Walden by Henry David Thoreau
Another beloved piece from this era of American literature, Walden is both Thoreau’s narration and manifesto about his personal experiment as he struck out alone into the woods to find the value of the simple things in life. He direly urges to his reader to live deliberately in the same way. The text establishes itself as uniquely American through an intentional focusing around the power of the American landscape and by drawing on themes of the power of nature, the role of the individual, and the dangers of an overly materialistic life.
3. Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Embracing similar themes as Thoreau’s Walden, Emerson’s Nature pleads with its reader to see the power of nature as deeply spiritual. He argues that man has found many uses for nature, but often stops with the earliest, practical use of nature as commodity. Instead he suggests man must operate in the essential role of perceiver and delve deeper into the truths the natural world has to offer to the soul. This thesis embraces the rising theme of American individualism by insisting on the power of the individual to make meaning of the world. Only by the unity of the mind and the symbol of nature is the true significance and metaphorical power of the world unlocked. And it requires the deliberate participation of man with the beauty he sees and the harnessing of the imagination to unlock the meaning latent in the universe.
4. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Set in Puritan Massachusetts Bay, this early American classic tells the story of Hester Prynne, a woman forced to wear the scarlet letter “A” for bearing a child from an unknown father. The secrets surrounding her life and the demands of the townspeople to find out the truth draw out the power of isolation, guilt, and social shame to weigh on and break the conscience, even as Hester maintains a level of kindness and dignity that slowly earns back the town’s compassion. Hawthorne’s brilliance allows him to perform this moral investigation while also questioning appropriate social conduct and the power of the will.
5. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845) by Frederick Douglass
In a slightly different vein, Douglass’ autobiography wholeheartedly belongs on this list of early American literary giants as a shining example of the power of the individual to re-invent his life. The book was hugely influential from its publishing and served to legitimize Douglass’ story by proving his literary ability to skeptics. While the autobiography primarily tackles the contradictions between the American declaration of freedom and the persistence of slavery, its emphasis on the originality and dignity of the individual mark it as a part of this emerging literary movement as well, showing the unity between political and artistic change.
As America celebrates its 250th year, we hope this introduction to the birth of American literature helps you consider the power of art as a cultural force in the civic journey. Revolution alone was not enough; Americans knew they needed to construct a new way of life–including a new approach to literature–that was distinctively American, original, and free.
Faith Walessa is from Ontario, Canada, and is a rising junior at Hillsdale College. She loves fanciful poetry, reading by flashlight, and freshly brewed coffee.
If you enjoyed this piece, be sure to check out The Anchored Podcast. For more Journal content, check out this post on the role of civics in the liberal arts. From all of us at the Journal, thanks for reading and have a great rest of your week.
Published on 8th June, 2026.