Older universities also contributed to the development of a national identity. A group known as the Hartford Wits, most of them Yale graduates, gave birth to a new literary tradition. Its members identified mainly as Federalists and published paeans to democracy, satires about Shays’s Rebellion, and plays about the proper role of the central government in a republican nation.

A number of novelists emerged in the early republic as well. Advances in printing and the manufacture of paper increased the circulation of novels, a literary genre developed in Britain and continental Europe at the turn of the eighteenth century. Improvements in girls’ education then produced a growing audience for novels among women. Authors like Susanna Rowson and Charles Brockden Brown sought to educate readers about virtuous action by placing ordinary women and men in moments of high drama that tested their moral character. Novelists also emphasized new marital ideals, by which husbands and wives became partners and companions in creating a home and family.

Washington Irving became a well-known literary figure in the early republic. He wrote a series of popular folktales, including “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle,” that were published in his Sketchbook in 1820. They drew on the Dutch culture of the Hudson valley region and often poked fun at more celebratory tales of early American history. In one serious essay, Irving challenged popular accounts of colonial wars that ignored courageous actions by Indians while applauding white atrocities.

Still, books that glorified the nation’s past were also enormously popular. Among the most influential were the three-volume History of the Revolution (1805) written by Mercy Otis Warren and the Life of Washington (1806), a celebratory if fanciful biography by Mason Weems. The influence of American authors increased as residents in both urban and rural areas purchased growing numbers of books.

Artists, too, devoted considerable attention to historical themes. Charles Willson Peale painted Revolutionary generals while serving in the Continental Army and became best known for his portraits of George Washington. Samuel Jennings offered a more radical perspective on the nation’s character by incorporating women and African Americans into works like Liberty Displaying the Arts and Sciences (1792). Engravings, which were less expensive than paintings, also circulated widely. Many highlighted national symbols like flags, eagles, and Lady Liberty or uniquely American flora and fauna. William Bartram, the son of a botanist, journeyed through the southeastern United States and Florida, and published beautiful illustrations of plants and animals in his Travels (1791).

In 1780, the Massachusetts legislature established the American Academy of Arts and Sciences to promote American literature and science. Six years later, Philadelphia’s American Philosophical Society created the first national prize for scientific endeavor. Philadelphia was also home to the nation’s first medical college, founded at the University of Pennsylvania. Frontier colleges like Bowdoin also promoted new scientific discoveries. As in the arts, American scientists built on developments in continental Europe and Britain but prided themselves on contributing their own expertise.