American Literature 1800 – 1860
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Transcript of American Literature 1800 – 1860
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American Literature1800 – 1860
Romanticism & Transcendentalism: Shifting the Focus to the Individual
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American Romanticism 1800-1860
• The Industrial Revolution brought economic growth to the United Sates, and it transformed American society.
– Hundreds of new factories were built
– Expansion of roads and canals were built
– The railroad and the steamboat were invented
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Industrial Revolution• This Revolution created a division
between the North and South,
– The North was run by factories – The South was run by farms
This division later caused the Civil War.
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Roots of Romanticism• A movement in art and thought that
dominated Europe and the U.S. throughout the 1800s
• Romantic writers valued imagination and feeling over intellect and reason. – Some went bright and cheery, life full of
goodness and possibility (Transcendentalism)– While others went dark and gloomy, life full of
evil and insanity (gothic, brooding literature)
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You could see it in the art too
Thomas Cole: The Connecticut River
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Thomas Cole—Ruined Tower
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Thomas Cole--The Titans’ Goblet
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But remember, the Europeans started this movement before we did…
John Henry Fuseli (German)—The Nightmare
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Caspar David Friedrich (German)—The Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog
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My favorite!
JMW Turner—Rain Steam and Speed The Great Western Railway
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Transcendentalism• Believed that
intuition is a valuable guide
• Truth is in nature• Rejected organized
religion• Viewed individual
conscience as superior to law
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TranscendentalismKantian Philosophy—the transcending, or going beyond empiricism (scientific knowledge) and ascertaining a priori, the fundamental principles of human knowledge.
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They were:• Well-educated, trying to create a
uniquely American body of literature (wanted to achieve literary independence)
• Mostly New Englanders (Boston, mostly)
• A generation struggling to define spirituality and religion
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Transcendentalists• Became involved in social reform
– Anti-slavery– Women’s rights
• Believed that at the level of the human soul, all people had access to divine inspiration and sought and loved freedom and knowledge and truth
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Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 1836 essay, “Nature” is considered the moment transcendentalism became a major cultural movement.
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Transcendentalism
Civil Disobedience
Oversoul: The spiritual connection among all living things
Optimism
Nature
Simplicity
Individuality
Intuition
Self-Reliance
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Transcendentalists• Ralph Waldo Emerson
is considered the father of Transcendentalism; however, Henry David Thoreau also made a huge contribution to it.
• Others: Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Walt Whitman.
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Transcendentalists• Believed that a new era of American
life was at hand • Criticized society for unthinking
conformity• Urged that each individual find, in
Emerson's words, “an original relation to the universe” (O, 3)
From The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
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Modern Transcendentalist: Chris McCandless
• College graduate • Eschewed all of his
savings and personal belongings
• Wanted to survive off of as little as possible
• Cherished the beauty and fragility of nature
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Impact of Transcendentalism TodayTranscendentalists’ Impact: 1960s Civil Rights: MLK continually promoted peaceful resistance to unjust authority: civil disobedience. This is a value that finds its roots in Thoreau’s essay “Civil Disobedience” National Parks: John Muir (as WI man!) was influenced by the Transcendental philosophers of his time, deciding to explore the natural wildlife of our country. His writings later influenced President Teddy Roosevelt in his decision to establish the National Park system. So, if you’ve been to a Nation Park, you should thank the Transcendentalists
Other writers/artists/thinkers influenced by the TranscendentalistsWalt Whitman (poet, Leaves of Grass)Louisa May Alcott (Little Women)John Muir (famous naturalist and nature writer)John Burroughs (famous naturalist and nature writer)Robert Frost (poet, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood…”)Wallace Stevens (modernist poet)The Indigo GirlsEddie Vedder, Pearl JamMovie, Into the WildPresident Theodore RooseveltRev. Martin Luther King Jr.Mahatma Gandhi