A Growing Nation(1800-1870)

Literature of the Period

Romanticism

• Artistic movement that dominated Europe & America during 19th century

• Not necessarily about love• Imagination over reason/intuition over fact• Great love of nature• Accented the fantastic aspects of the human

experience

New England Renaissance(1840-1855)

• Sparked by Ralph Waldo Emerson– Called for American intellectual independence

from Europe– Believed American writers should interpret their

own culture in new ways– Led to a burst of literary activity in and around

Boston

Transcendentalism

• Refers to understanding gained intuitively because it lies beyond direct experience

• Blend of the romantic, the intuitive, the mystical

• Most truths lie outside of the senses• Strong belief in the importance of the

individual

Walden

• Henry David Thoreau, protégé of Emerson• Withdrew from society to live by Walden Pond• 18 essays using nature to explore philosophies

of individualism, simplicity, and civil disobedience

The Possibility of Evil

• Nathaniel Hawthorne– Always conscious of his Puritan roots

• Herman Melville– Like his mentor, saw life in grim terms

Fireside Poets

• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow– First poet to create national interest in American

poetry– Adapted traditional European forms to American

subjects• William Cullen Bryant– Lawyer, journalist– Defender of human rights– First to win world-wide acclaim and establish the

Romantic Movement here

Fireside Poets, cont.

• Oliver Wendell Holmes– Descendent of Anne Bradstreet– Leading medical researcher of his time

• John Greenleaf Whittier– No formal education– Raised a Quaker– Deeply involved in social issues– Captured the simple rural life as it was

disappearing

Great Poets of American Literature

• Emily Dickinson– Born in Amherst, Massachusetts– As an adult, became increasingly isolated– Devoted most of her time to writing poetry– Wanted her poems destroyed after her death– Saved by her sister

Great Poets of Am. Lit. continued

• Walt Whitman– Self educated– Broke every poetic tradition…rhyme, meter,

subject matter– Strong beliefs in democracy, equality, unity, and

the potential of the human spirit– Life’s work: Leaves of Grass