James Fenimore Cooper Influence

James Fenimore Cooper was an extremely popular novelist in the United States during the early 19th century. He was known for his romantic adventurous tales of historical fiction, particularly about the sea or the frontier. Cooper spent time in the navy before getting married and embarking on his writing career. Influenced by the relationship with his wife and his time at sea, Cooper went to on to become one of America’s most influential writers.
James Fenimore Cooper was the son of William Cooper, a merchant and politician who founded Cooperstown, New York. Given his privileged background, James Fenimore Cooper was able to attend Yale at an early age but was expelled due to mischief. This led to him finding work as a sailor and eventually joining
Cooper seemed to enjoy these settings and made them popular, “Almost single-handedly in the 1820s, Cooper invented the key forms of American fiction—the Western, the sea tale, the Revolutionary romance” (Franklin 1). His time in the Navy gave him the knowledge he needed for the sea tales and explains why he wrote about it, but he had little experience with the frontier. He must have been very interested in it since it was common in his writings despite the lack of experience with it.
The second aspect that influenced his writing career was his romantic relationship with his wife. “According to Susan Fenimore Cooper, her father began his first novel in response to a challenge from his wife” (Taylor 2). Cooper was reading one of his wife’s novels and thought it was so bad that he said he could write better. His wife laughed at the idea and challenged him to do so. Cooper accepted and went on to become one of the most accomplished writers ever. Without her challenging him he may have never even attempted to
This was a great contribution to literary works as it was regarded as a literary society, which he steered to develop. ‘’This new development brought literary prestige and a great deal of success as well as money ‘’ (Trninic et al., 59). The Bread and Cheese club was very popular and had many authors, scholars, artists, and politicians join it.
Most of Cooper’s novels and stories were tales of adventures and many still remain in the literary canon to this date. A few of his works have been chosen to be included in American literature classes due to their complex portrayal of the Native American and the white interactions (Trninic et al., 70). These are a great part of the American history and some may be considered to be politically incorrect. However, some of his popular works have provided the readers with a realistic form of understanding regarding such relationships, making them ideal for American literary classes.
In conclusion, James Fenimore Cooper is one of the most distinguished writers to this very day. The experiences of his life helped to greatly influence his works and helped shape some of the best novels ever written. His use of African-American and Native-American characters was a first for his time and helped influence future writers. He combined romantic tales with adventure and helped pave the way for American writers and inspired a new generation of American