Historical Context in The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter is set in colonial Boston and begins in June of 1642. The story references other Massachusetts Bay Colony towns such as Salem and highlights the meaning and legacy of Puritan culture during that period while questioning the repressive nature of the culture.

Historical Context Examples in The Scarlet Letter:

The Custom-House

"making an investment in ink, paper, and steel-pens, had opened his long-disused writing-desk, and was again a literary man. " See in text (The Custom-House)

Here Hawthorne explains that although he got fired, and it was an embarrassing problem at the time, it was a actually good because it made him pursue his dream of being a writer. Ending this introductory essay with the sentiment of this dream is serendipitous because Hawthorne became an iconic American literary figure almost instantly after the release of The Scarlet Letter.

"My own head was the first that fell. " See in text (The Custom-House)

This is not meant to be taken literally. Hawthorne was fired when the Whig party came to power because he was a Democrat holding a job in a government office. It was the death of his job at the Custom-House, that enabled him to seriously pursue his desired career of being a writer.

The famous English poet Geoffrey Chaucer is best known for writing The Canterbury Tales. Hawthorne mentions Chaucer and Burns to make the point that the people he comes in contact with on a daily basis would not care, if they knew, if he was a good writer, not only because he wasn’t yet successful, but because they do not have refined literary taste.

"General Taylor to the Presidency. " See in text (The Custom-House)

Zachary Taylor was the 12th President of the United States and a member of the Whig Party. Hawthorne was a Democrat and would have been strongly opposed to Taylor being elected president.

"I know not whether these ancestors of mine bethought themselves to repent, and ask pardon of Heaven for their cruelties. " See in text (The Custom-House)

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a descendant of John Hathorne, the only judge who sentenced people to death during the Salem witch trials that did not repent for the wrongful executions. Hawthorn was so distraught by this relation that he added the “w” to his last name to try and remove the association between him and his ancestor. Hawthorne alludes to this ancestor during this section of the essay.

Hawthorne had a deep admiration for the work of Scottish poet and songwriter Robert Burns. It is thought that his short story “Young Goodman Brown” was inspired by Burns’s poem “Tam O’Shanter.” Burns’s mention here can be read as a tribute from Hawthorne acknowledging Burns as one of his inspirations.

"Hillard's culture. " See in text (The Custom-House)

The American author and lawyer George Stillman Hillard rented rooms to Hawthorne, who had recently taken a job at the Custom-House. He was a Democrat who opposed slavery and founded the Five of Clubs, an informal social group. His political beliefs were influential in Hawthorne’s own decision to be a Democrat.

"it would be quite as reasonable to form a sentimental attachment to a disarranged checkerboard. " See in text (The Custom-House)

Here the narrator explains why he has spent so much time away from Salem. Although this text is meant to be a fictional story/essay, there are many characteristics of the narrator that parallel the actual life of Nathaniel Hawthorne. For example, they were both born in Salem and they both spent time working in the Custom-House. This essay can be read as a fictionalized account of Hawthorne’s three-year stint working as a Custom-House Officer.

Salem is a coastal town in Massachusetts, historically famous for the Salem witch trials. The witch trials began when a group of young girls claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused several local women of witchcraft. Between February 1692 and May 1693 more than 200 people were accused of witchcraft while 20 of them were executed, before the hysteria calmed down.

The American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was among the first to write about American history, landscape, and Native American themes in a changing land. Longfellow met Hawthorne when the they were young and they became lifelong friends. When Hawthorne died, Longfellow wrote him a tribute poem called “The Bells of Lynn.”

The Transcendentalist educator Amos Bronson Alcott was influential in developing educational programs. He introduced fine arts, nature study, field trips, and physical education into his schools, and he abandoned traditional forms of physical punishment. He was a neighbor and longtime friend of Hawthorne’s, and served as pallbearer at his funeral.

The American poet Henry David Thoreau was a Transcendentalist who wrote a number of essays and other publications. He is most famous for Walden, an essayed account of the two years he spent living by Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts. Hawthorne criticized Thoreau for desiring to live a simple life in the face of civilization.

"Ellery Channing. " See in text (The Custom-House)

Ellery Channing was an American Unitarian leader during the first half of the 19th century. Unitarianism is a Christian denomination that accepts the moral teachings of Jesus but rejects the concept of the Holy Trinity, suggesting that God exists in one form. Channing was neighbors with Hawthorne at the Old Manse and they became good friends who discussed philosophy, nature, and religion.

The American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson was considered one of the founders of the American Transcendental movement. Transcendentalism is a philosophy that seeks to discover the nature of reality through spiritual intuition. Emerson left his career as a Unitarian minister to become a writer and public speaker. Hawthorne and Emerson were extremely close, so much so that Emerson was a pallbearer at Hawthorne’s funeral.

The Chippewa, or Objiwe, is an indigenous tribe in North America. The Objiwe allied with France because of a mutual trading alliance during the Seven Years’ War against the British. Then they adjusted to British colonial rule and allied with them against the United States in the War of 1812. This reference suggests the old age of General Miller, with this story being written in 1850.

Ticonderoga is a fort in northeast New York that was originally built by the French, seized by the British, and then seized again by the Americans during the Revolutionary War. This allusion suggests that the former inspector was a historical artifact, comically as old as Fort Ticonderoga.

Boreas was a Greek god artistically depicted as strong man with winged feet who brought winter, controlled the north wind, and whose name means “North Wind” or “Devouring One.”

The Whigs were members of the American political party in the 19th century. The party opposed the Democratic Party and promoted the protection of industry and limitation on the power of the executive branch.

A manse is a house meant for the minister of a presbyterian church. The Old Manse is a historic building in Concord, Massachusetts, originally built for Ralph Waldo Emerson’s father, Rev. William Emerson. It housed Nathaniel Hawthorne and his wife Sophia Peabody for three years soon after their marriage.

Quakers are members of the Religious Society of Friends, a sect of Christianity founded by George Fox in England during the late 17th century. Quakers strongly oppose violence and have no formal creeds, rites, or clergy.

The Puritans were a powerful religious and political force in the 16th century. They emerged when certain Protestants were not satisfied with Henry VIII’s Church of England. Those that segregated became known as Puritans because they wanted the church to return to its “purest” state. New England Puritans were descendants of the pilgrims who traveled to North America, seeking religious freedom. Puritans believed any deviation from biblical teachings would bring the wrath of God on the community, so governments made sins punishable offenses.

The word "Loco-Foco" is an allusion to the defunct Locofoco Party that existed in the USA in the mid 19th century. It was an offshoot of the Democratic Party and was originally called the Equal Rights Party. They pushed for the rights of the common working man and passionately campaigned against monopolies.

In coastal New England towns, the Custom-House was the specific building that held the government offices that regulated maritime commerce. The people working in the Custom-House would be in charge of taxing imported goods as well as processing all of the various paperwork associated with all the town’s imports and exports.

King Derby refers to a man named Elias Derby, who lived in the late eighteenth century. He was the son of the merchant who helped establish Salem as trade center, helping establish Salem as an important town in the Americas.