Childhood Literature Theories

“Written out of concern for children and country, the literature could not but embody something of its authors’ expectations and apprehensions for the future of both” (Macleod). Children’s literature evolved in a rapidly changing time for a plethora of people due to the separation from Britain. Children’s literature spread across the nation to become a “guide” for raising the children and to also help the adults adjust to change. To analyze children and childhood literature there are five main theories that must be considered. Childhood literature is influenced by the desire to create morals through stories by leading example, an idea that good always prevails over evil, and a mold of what children should look like when they are adults. Two other vital theories is the acknowledgment of the change occurring for a new American society and the desire to separate completely from the British culture and literature.

“The focus of the stories was extremely narrow. They were written to teach, and specifically, to teach morality. All Americans of the period agreed that a high level of individual morality was indispensable if the promise of the nation’s future was to be fulfilled.” As MacLeod presents his ideas it is shown to the reader that the focus of stories was directly dedicated to teaching morals, which correlates with the other five theories. Morality is taught to give children a good background of how to be an “American”. In this new world they wanted to create new generations to become American with the morals of an American.

In the majority of childhood stories there are direct examples and endings to stories that prove evil is conquered by good. MacLeod states that, “Obedience was the most fundamental virtue for a child to acquire”. Children were read these stories to be able to interpret certain messages. Various tales were read that demonstrated the defeat of evil. Learning that good prevails over evil allows the children to learn how to behave, which relates to my next theory.

Throughout life children learn the ways to behave, the ways to interact with people appropriately, about life, and much more. Literature read to children during this time was used as a guide to lead children in the correct direction of life. There are a great deal of lessons taught by families and childhood literature was a very influential way to enforce these concepts of how to behave and essentially to become an adult. “It was undoubtedly the American preoccupation with the future that was the strongest impetus behind the development of a nonschool juvenile literature before 1860. The children who were to inherit the republic were increasingly the object of adult attention,” writes MacLeod. This is the first time American society has had to adopt the idea of children as the future so the parents put their ideas into children’s literature.

As stated in previous paragraphs the American’s have taken on the task of creating a new society. Due to the fact that this is a new home with new rules they wanted to make a world of their own, completely separate from Britain. This also relates to the final theory that Americans had a desire to be completely different and separated from British culture, which includes literature. Using childhood literature was a way to differentiate them from a society that they have broken completely away from. Overall all five theories thread together to create the purpose and rising of children’s American literature.

By reading children’s literature, even though all of it does not follow these theories in all cases, and analyzing MacLeod and Sanchex-Eppler’s articles we can learn that is one central theme of children’s literature. After creating a new world for the Americans childhood literature of the nineteenth century was used to shape and fold the new generations to come. The overwhelming desire to create a new world within this American society pushed children’s literature to be created and to have the main ideas it holds.