DIVISION, RECONCILIATION, AND EXPANSION

1. DIVISION, RECONCILIATION, AND EXPANSION Lit. of the Civil War and the Frontier

2. The time period we are covering: 1850-1914 • The literature we read during this time will be set either before, during, and/or after the events of the Civil War • Our nation really became an industrial world power during this time (remember these things were just beginning to take shape during the transcendental movement) • The Civil War was the only time American citizens took up arms against one another in order to settle conflicts and differences mainly the issue of slavery. • Both Union and Confederacy had strengths and weaknesses in their army makeup…Union had a larger population and more industry in order to supply their army than the Confederates • The Confederates, however, had much more passion and motivation for war than the Union due the fact they were fighting for survival

3. Population, Cotton Production, and Factories/Employees 1860-61

4. Historical Background • The main idea of this time period is that of “rapid change” and “conflict” • 600,000 lives were lost in the war; the south was left in ruins, Homestead Act accelerated movement of the west which effectively removed the frontier • There was a “Second Industrial Revolution” which brought electricity, automobiles, and airplanes…this made cities much larger and also dirtier • 1857: Dred Scott decision by the Supreme Court rules that people of African descent can’t become U.S. citizens • 1860: Abraham Lincoln is elected president and is dedicated to halting the spread of slavery; when this happened South Carolina along with several other states seceded from the Union and started the Confederate States…this led to four years of intense bloodshed, unlivable conditions, and cities in the South (Atlanta for one) to be completely destroyed

5. Westward Expansion and Electricity • Once the war ended nothing would be the same again as expansion and industry dominated the landscape, the economy, and society. Money was offered as incentive to pack up homes and lives to move west and make a home out of the “wilderness” • 1869: the railroad was completed and the frontier completely disappears as miners, ranchers, and settlers continue to arrive. This affected the Indian nations of the area and by 1890 almost all Native Americans were forced from their homes to reservations • 1880s saw the introduction of the electric light, telephones, and the motion picture; emmigrants were flooding the larger eastern cities providing cheap labor in the numerous factories and the “carpetbaggers” were traveling all over the south helping newly freed slaves find work and land.

6. The Literature of the Era: How does the literature reflect society? Write down a few thoughts on this photo…Does it capture the time? Does it reflect the society we are about to talk about?

7. What forms did writers use to discuss social and political issues during this time? • Spirituals – While they were mostly sung they were not written down and were the defining literary form that came out of slavery. The rhythm was found in the work and based strongly on biblical imagery; they provided comfort, hope, and allowed the slaves to lament their lives. • Life Stories – nonfiction works that allowed the men and women to relate their dramatic events and raise the issues of the day to others. Sojourner Truth was one of these people and it helps turn these abstract truths into daily realities that happened to real human beings. • Fiction and Journalism – Newspapers really came into their own during the war period and after providing editorials, essays, and public letters. A new term “muckraker” became popular for writing about scandals, corruption, and incompetence in American society and industry

8. Realism and Naturalism • With the harsh realities of war, the writers’ romantic ideals we learned about before had disappeared. Frustration and unfulfilled ideas took over as writers began to focus on “real life.” They wanted to present honest, objective, even sometimes lonely characters. Life on the prairie could be this way and it would have been bad to present it as something else. • Naturalists took this realism further by believing that forces far more powerful than individuals shaped human destinies…things like blind fate, heredity, and pure chance determined the lives of people. • Jack London was one of these types by using the Alaskan wilderness for his characters to battle frigid and unforgiving elements/obstacles.

9. North vs. South writing elements/attitudes The North The South Regionalism – while there were cities the south still was considered overall rural; agriculture was their heart and the war had all but destroyed it; writers used these factors in their writing Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn” is an examples of using the local color, identity in writing patterns. Writers all over the country began writing about things that were unique to their areas • Industry – this affected the north in profound ways and they began to believe that anything bigger, stronger, and faster was better • Urban Life – the growth of the cities became a problem as immigrants were mistreated, spirits of the people were tested, and organized labor became strong

10. American Style in the Literature • Settings and Plots – again things in stories were very much “American” a mining town (California area), Mississippi riverboat, Civil war battlefield • Dialogue and Style – common speech and dialects are used more and more; the dialects helped identify where the characters came from in the country; speech was much more straightforward now • Humor – this was often used to expose corruption and dissect human issues • On a piece of paper answer these four questions: • 1. How did the Civil War change American life? • 2. How did the “Age of Electricity” make the lives of Americans both better and worse? • 3. Explain how the American frontier vanished a few decades after the Civil War. • 4. Would you be able to pack up all you knew and loved to go west like they did then?