AP Literature and Composition Hawthorne Essay 2-25-16 Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts on July 4th, 1804. He lived in a household that struggled for money most of his life, despite his ancestry. His ancestry has a lot to do with how he led his life, and it also had a lot to do with why he wrote mostly about Puritan related fiction, such as The Minister?s Black Veil and Young Goodman Brown. Despite his ancestors being involved in the Salem Witch Trials, he also had an interest in Puritan life as well, despite his upbringing in the 1800s. Him, along with his surviving family, were devout Puritans. His contempt and guilt towards his ancestry is reflected within Young Goodman Brown and The Minister?s Black Veil.