How did American literature begin to reflect American culture

answer:

This history of American literature begins with the arrival of English-speaking Europeans in what would become the United States. At first American literature was naturally a colonial literature, by authors who were Englishmen and who thought and wrote as such. John Smith, a soldier of fortune, is credited with initiating American literature. His chief books included A True Relation of…Virginia…(1608) and The General Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles (1624). Although these volumes often glorified their author, they were avowedly written to explain colonizing opportunities to Englishmen. In time, each colony was similarly described: Daniel Denton’s Brief Description of New York (1670), William Penn’s Brief Account of the Province of Pennsylvania (1682), and Thomas Ashe’s Carolina (1682) were only a few of many works praising America as a land of economic promise.

atman means 'eternal self'. the atman refers to the real self beyond ego or false self. it is often referred to as 'spirit' or 'soul' and indicates our true self or essence which underlies our existence.

there are many interesting perspectives on the self in hinduism ranging from the self as eternal servant of god to the self as being identified with god. the understanding of the self as eternal supports the idea of reincarnation in that the same eternal being can inhabit temporary bodies.

the idea of atman entails the idea of the self as a spiritual rather than material being and thus there is a strong dimension of hinduism which emphasises detachment from the material world and promotes practices such as asceticism. thus it could be said that in this world, a spiritual being, the atman, has a human experience rather than a human being having a spiritual experience.

explanation:

it was certainly a debatable decision, mainly because it was based primarily on political - and not on legal or social - views. since the congress at that time was led by members of the republican party, and the territory that the tribes wanted to turn into an exclusively indian state was predominantly democratic, the proposal (as expressed in the constitution) did not succeed, but the constitution itself proved to be of crucial importance in the creation of the state of oklahoma, and, most importantly, it guaranteed the involvement of representatives of the indian tribes in the government of the future joint state.  

as a member of congress, i would have voted to ratify the constitution, or at least to have it tabled. ignoring it was an interested and partial decision.