1. Captain John Smith:(1580-1631) The first american writer Primarily an adventurer, explorer, and trader 2. New England Literature: a literature of Ideas John cotton: the first major intellectual spokesman of The Massachusetts Bay Colony The Patriarch of New england 2021/2/21 32021/2/21 3 1. Captain John Smith: (1580—1631) The First American Writer— Primarily an adventurer, explorer, and trader. 2. New England Literature: a literature of ideas: John Cotton: the first major intellectual spokesman of The Massachusetts Bay Colony. “The Patriarch of New England