Novels as a form of literature represent a new age marked by social and political changes and economic revolution. It is difficult to say when the era of the English novel began since there are controversies among literary scholars on the first novel in English literature. Undoubtedly, the controversies will not soon end in a consensus, as the components that make a fiction novel still need to be debated. This essay does not aim to become engaged in this debate but will try to find out what initiated the era of the novel. As it is found, this was around the time when the slave trade began, and colonialism was emerging as the pivotal factor in the economy of the country. This essay will try to show how the British psyche received colonial activities of the age and how imperialism encouraged writers to make new stories of age in a new form, like a novel. In other words, it is worthwhile to look into how the early novels are archives of empire both in form and content. Here, two early novels- Oroonoko by Aphra Behn and Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, are taken as examples to illustrate the points.