Interactive Time Line Milestone: Rise of American RomanticismMilestone: Rise of American Romanticism Milestone: The Louisiana Purchase Milestone: Education and Reform Milestone: Transcendental Influence Milestone: The Gold Rush Milestone: The Slavery Issue What Have You Learned? Feature Menu American Romanticism 1800–1860

1803 The Louisiana Purchase Choose a link on the time line to go to a milestone Rise of American Romanticism 1830s–1850s Transcendental Influence 1849 The Gold Rush 1850–1859 The Slavery Issue 1826 Lyceum Movement American Romanticism 1800–1860

Forces Historical, Social, and Cultural Forces The Industrial Revolution * In the mid-1700s, a huge economic change known as the Industrial Revolution happened Manufacturing shifted from skilled workers using hand tools to unskilled laborers tending large, complex machines. Factories, some housing hundreds of machines and workers, replaced homebased workshops.

Forces Historical, Social, and Cultural Forces The Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution brought economic growth, but it also helped divide Americans into two nations. The North had large cities and an economy based on manufacturing. The South had few large cities and a farming economy dominated by a single crop—cotton.

Forces The Age of Reform In the 1820s, idealistic Americans produced an outburst of reform movements. Many of these reformers were inspired by the Second Great Awakening, a major religious movement that reached its peak in the 1820s and 1830s. During the Age of Reform, Americans banded together in dozens of organizations to end slavery, stop drunkenness, secure women’s rights, provide better care for the mentally ill, and improve prisons.

Characteristic Romantic journey to the countryside, away from city Reaction Against Rationalism Value placed on nature and exotic settings Cities filled with poor living conditions and disease Rise of American Romanticism

Poetry highest expression of imagination Romantic Escapism Found beauty in exotic locales and supernatural Valued feelings and intuition over reason Rise of American Romanticism

Fireside Poets Wrote about American settings and subject matter using traditional styles and forms Rise of American Romanticism Very popular— families read their poems at family firesides for entertainment Henry Wadsworth Longfellow John Greenleaf Whittier Oliver Wendell Holmes James Russell Lowell

James Fenimore Cooper’s Natty Bumppo is the first American heroic figure Romantic Heroes Typical Romantic hero youthful, innocent intuitive, close to nature Frontier life idealized in novels Rise of American Romanticism

immediately doubled in size Westward Expansion paid about four cents an acre for the land The United States The Louisiana Purchase gained all land between Mississippi River and Rocky Mountains Louisiana Purchase “Oh Susanna! Polka”

More people moved into frontier areas. Westward Expansion President Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to explore western territory. Louisiana purchase launched 100 years of westward expansion. The Louisiana Purchase

Intuition allows people to behold God’s spirit revealed in nature or in their own souls. True Reality Is Spiritual Physical facts of natural world are a doorway to spiritual world. Everything, including humans, is a reflection of Divine Soul. Spontaneous feelings are superior to intellectualism and rationality. Transcendental Influence

Optimism appealed to people living in period of economic downturn, strife, and conflict Ralph Waldo Emerson Had an extremely optimistic view of the world and nature Combined beliefs from Europe and Asia with Puritan, revival, and Romantic traditions Published important essays such as “Self-Reliance” and “The Over-Soul” Transcendental Influence

They saw the natural world as a doorway to a mystical or ideal reality. A group of nineteenth-century writers and artists who believed in the goodness and ultimate perfectibility of human beings. Valued self-reliance and individualism over custom and tradition. Who Were the Transcendentalists?

The Dark Romantics Challenge to the Transcendentalists

A Dark Romantic View I know not how it was—but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. I say insufferable; for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half- pleasurable, because poetic, sentiment, with which the mind usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate or terrible. From “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe © clipart.com

Who Were the Dark Romantics? The Dark Romantics were a group of nineteenth-century writers who explored the dark side of human nature. Dark Romantic writers explored the human potential for evil, including the psychological effects of guilt, sin, and madness. The Dark Romantic view countered the optimism of the Transcendentalist writers of the time.

Differences Between Transcendentalists and Dark Romantics Saw divine goodness and beauty beneath everyday reality Believed spiritual truths may be ugly or frightening Embraced the mystical and idealistic elements of Puritan thought Reintroduced the dark side of Puritan beliefs: the idea of Original Sin and the human potential for evil TranscendentalistsDark Romantics

Similarities Between Transcendentalists and Dark Romantics True reality is spiritual. Intuition is superior to logic or reason. Human events contain signs and symbols of spiritual truths. TranscendentalistsDark Romantics

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) Hawthorne’s short stories and novels reflect Dark Romantic views of humanity. In “The Minister’s Black Veil,” a Puritan minister decides to wear a black veil for the rest of his life to represent the universality of sorrow and secret sin. The novel The Scarlet Letter tells a story of sin and redemption and explores the evil of hypocrisy.

Herman Melville (1819–1891) Herman Melville’s short stories and novels also reflect a Dark Romantic view of nature and humanity. In the novel Moby-Dick, Captain Ahab doubts whether there is any real truth or meaning behind the appearances of nature.

Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) Poe’s masterful short stories told tales of madness, revenge, and tragic fate. In the classic horror tale “The Pit and the Pendulum,” the narrator barely escapes a horrible death in a dark dungeon.

The Dark Romantic Legacy Dark Romantic themes still appear in stories, books, movies, TV shows, and comic books. Present-day horror stories and movies borrow images and themes from the original master of horror, Edgar Allan Poe. The conflict between good and evil and the effects of guilt and sin are major themes in current literature, popular writing, and television.

The Devil and Tom Walker Short Story by Washington Irving Introducing the Short Story Literary Analysis: Satire Reading Skill: Analyze Imagery Vocabulary in Context

Satire Irving was a master of satire, a literary device in which people, customs, or institutions are ridiculed with the purpose of improving society. In this passage, Irving pokes fun at quarrelsome, complaining women:... Though a female scold is generally considered to be a match for the devil, yet in this instance she appears to have had the worst of it. Washington Irving Satire is often subtle, so as you read, watch for its indicators: humor, exaggeration, absurd situations, and irony.

... There lived near this place a meager, miserly fellow, of the name Tom Walker. He had a wife as miserly as himself.... They lived in a forlorn-looking house that stood alone and had an air of starvation. Analyze Imagery Irving develops his characters and establishes mood through imagery—words and phrases that appeal to the five senses.

What Have You Learned? 1. The Transcendentalists had a dark vision of the world. a. trueb. false 2. Hawthorne was a Transcendentalist. a. trueb. false 3. The Dark Romantics believed in spiritual but not necessarily optimistic truths behind nature. a. trueb. false

______ Novelists popularize the American Romantic hero. ______ Western New York represents frontier of the country. ______ The first transcontinental railroad is built. ______ Education reform begins in Massachusetts. Indicate whether the following statements refer to the time before, during, or after the Gold Rush. During before Before before What Have You Learned?