Brief History of the Life of James Fenimore Cooper

James Fenimore Cooper was born on September 15, 1789 in Burlington, New Jersey. James was the eleventh of twelve children. He was born to Judge William Cooper who established Cooperstown when was a year old. James attended a private school in Albany, New York. In 1803 he was admitted to Yale but was expelled during his junior year due to his mischievous behavior. After being expelled from Yale he went to sea. From 1808 to 1811 he served as a midshipman in the U. S. Navy. In 1809, he inherited $50,000 from his father who was assassinated while leaving a political meeting. He married Susan DeLancy in 1811. About ten years after marrying Susan, his five older brothers died leaving James to pay their debts and support their widows. James and Susan had five children.

Cooper is most famous for being a well known and respected author. He wrote thirty-four fiction books and seven non-fiction. His first book was written on a bet to his wife that he could write a better book than the one he was reading to her. James' career as a writer started at the age of thirty. Precaution was written in 1820 on English manners, it was not a success. His second book, The Spy, was a novel on the American Revolution set in New York. The Spy was a success both in the United States and abroad. The Pioneers was written in 1823 and was the first of five novels in the Leatherstocking Tales. The Leatherstocking Tales were noted for their portrayal of Americans in American settings. The main character of this series is Natty Bumpo, a white man with ties to the settlers but who spends much of his time in the wilderness. The other four books in the series are: The Last of the Mohicans, The Prairie, The Pathfinder, and The Deerslayer. Cooper also wrote several sea novels. During 1833, James lived abroad in Europe. He wrote a number of novels on the feudalism of medieval Europe.

Influence for his book The Last of the Mohicans came from the wilderness of New York. Another influence was the historical massacre of Fort William Henery. Before he wrote the book he visit Fort William Henergy and researched the massacre. Much of his knowledge of the forest and of the Native Americans was gathered first hand during his childhood growing up in a region that was still very much a wilderness.

When Cooper returned to the U. S. he wrote several books of social criticism in which he expressed his feelings towards democracy. Despite the criticism of the press toward his works, his books remained popular. He wrote four books on his travels in Europe called Gleanings from Europe.

James spent the remaining part of his life in Cooperstown, New York. He continued to write, including some novels on naval history. He also wrote a trilogy telling the story of several generations of a New York family in which he defends landed wealth against the new aristocracy which was based on industry and finance. James later died in Cooperstown on September 14, 1851, just one day before his sixty-second birthday.