American Romanticism: 1800-1860 Introduction to the Literary Period

American Romanticism: 1800-1860Introduction to the Literary Period Feature Menu Fast Facts Key Concept: The Nation Expands Key Concept: New Ideas Take Root Key Concept: Differences Threaten National Unity Your Turn

American Romanticism: 1800-1860Fast Facts Historical Highlights • Rapid growth of industrialization, education, transportation, and cities transforms society. • Numerous reform movements, centered in New England, seek to improve social conditions. • Discontent over slavery intensifies as the abolitionist movement gains momentum.

American Romanticism: 1800-1860Fast Facts Literary Highlights • Romantic writings, such as Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book (1820), look to feeling and imagination to reveal higher truths. • Ralph Waldo Emerson’s first collection of essays (1841) discusses Transcendentalist thought. • Edgar Allan Poe, an influential Gothic writer, publishes The Raven and Other Poems in 1845. [End of Section]

Key Concept: The Nation Expands History of the Times • In 1803, the Louisiana Purchase added significant land to the United States. • A new era of westward expansion began. • This migration west intensified with the Gold Rush of 1849.

Key Concept: The Nation Expands History of the Times • The Industrial Revolution was changing the way people worked and lived. • Many were optimistic that machines would advance the nation’s progress. • However, the rise of industry led to overcrowding and disease in the cities.

Key Concept: The Nation Expands Literature of the Times • The Romantic movement helped express the discontent arising from the Industrial Revolution. • Romantic writers viewed cities as places of immorality, corruption, and death. • By contrast, they associated the countryside with independence, clarity, and healthful living.

Key Concept: The Nation Expands Comprehension Check How did the United States expand both geographically and culturally during the early nineteenth century? [End of Section]

Key Concept: New Ideas Take Root History of the Times • An era of reform took hold in the first half of the nineteenth century. • The Lyceum movement used public lectures and discussions to institute social reforms. • Reformers throughout New England sought various social changes. • Interest in social causes led to Utopian projects—plans for creating a perfect society.

Key Concept: New Ideas Take Root Literature of the Times The Transcendentalists believed • people must go beyond everyday experiences in order to understand God, the Universe, and the self • true reality is found in ideas rather than in the world as perceived by the senses • human perfection can be achieved

Key Concept: New Ideas Take Root Literature of the Times • Ralph Waldo Emerson, the best-known Transcendentalist, encouraged people to find God directly in nature. • He believed that even tragic events could be explained on a spiritual level. • Emerson’s optimism appealed to people living in a period of strife and economic downturns.

Key Concept: New Ideas Take Root Comprehension Check How would reformers and writers in the Romantic Age describe an ideal society? [End of Section]

Key Concept: Differences Threaten National Unity History of the Times • Most Northern states had abolished slavery by the early 1800s, but the number of slaves in the South was increasing. • Antislavery activists in the North wanted to put an end to slavery everywhere. • Southern slaveholders felt threatened, and violence against abolitionists rose.

The Granger Collection, New York Key Concept: Differences Threaten National Unity History of the Times • Many Native Americans, particularly the Cherokee, were forced to give up their way of life to take up farming and other livelihoods. • Seen as competition for valuable land, these Native Americans later were forcibly relocated.

Key Concept: Differences Threaten National Unity Comprehension Check What reaction did the Cherokee experience after making the transition to farming? [End of Section]

Key Concept: Differences Threaten National Unity Literature of the Times Nathaniel Hawthorne • Like the Transcendentalists, the Dark Romantics valued intuition over logic and saw signs and symbols in all events. • However, their works explored the conflict between good and evil and the psychological effects of guilt and sin. Herman Melville Edgar Allan Poe

American Romanticism: 1800-1860 Your Turn As you outline the main ideas of the unit introduction and as you answer questions about the literature in the unit that follows, try to use the following Academic Vocabulary words: factor transform implicit principal integral [End of Section]

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American Romanticism: 1800-1860 Introduction to the Literary Period