James Fenimore Cooper was an American author of the Romanticism movement, whom who wrote an astonishing number of works. Many of his writings were inspired by his personal experiences, current events of his lifetime, or the places Cooper had either lived or seen. Cooper grew up in Cooperstown, New York on several acres of land along the Susquehanna River, which became the setting or was referred to in many of his future novels. Interestingly, Cooper attended Yale at only the age of thirteen, but after being expelled for his childish behavior, he became disenchanted with college. At the age of seventeen, Cooper joined the crew of a merchant vessel, and by 1811, obtained the rank of midshipman in the United States Navy. On one of his voyages
