SUMMARY
The paper explores the "fears and fantasies" of the American nation in a post-revolutionary period. This period in the history of the American statehood is marked by the formation of national identity, new ideals of the post-Puritan stage and the Enlightenment. The literature of this period also reflects the double standards of a society freeing itself from the dogmas of puritanism and forming the Enlightenment ideals.The article examines these processes on the samples of literary works by the American writer of the end of the XVIII century, Charles Brockden Brown, who is considered the founder of the American story and the Gothic novel. Depicting the problems of social and legal dependence of women in post-revolutionary America, the writer draws the attention of readers to the problems of the nation and its ideology.