James Fenimore Cooper was born in the year 1789, and lived in New York State until 1803.1 Since James Fenimore Cooper lived along the frontier, he was able to capture that way of life and accurately portray it in his novels.2 This is one of the many reasons why he was loved and admired as a writer. James Cooper attended Yale University. 3 After he was expelled his junior year in 1805,4 he enlisted in the Navy as a common seaman in 1806 and then went on to warrant a midshipman from 1808 until 1810.5 Since James Fenimore Cooper spent...
manners. However, when he returned his energies to educating his countrymen on their cultural differences, he was met with scorn and severe opposition.13 James Fenimore Cooper baffled his generation in its testy attempts to understand him. No other major writer had ever been misunderstood like Cooper was misunderstood. His outspoken individualism was a constant irritation. James Fenimore Cooper is now considered to be on of the greatest authors in American history. He had a great influence on shaping the nineteenth century image of the Indian for popular authors who also used travel accounts to give meaning to their tales.14