American Art and Literature

Vocabulary The Hudson River School – A group of American artists who painted landscaped of mainly of the Hudson River in the mid 1800s. It is NOT actually a school. Transcendentalists – members of the small, influential group of New England writers and thinkers who believed that the most important truths in life went beyond human reason. They were very active in social reform. Civil Disobedience – Idea that people have the right to disobey laws they consider to be unjust if their consciences demand it.

American Art American artists and writers were breaking free of European tradition to create a unique American Vision. Their work expressed themes such as love of nature, and the desire for liberty. By the mid 1800’s, American artists were developing their own style. For instance, artists from the Hudson River school began painting vivid landscapes, scenes of hard working country people, and scenes of Native American life.

Thomas Cole

Asher Durand

American Literature American poetry emerged, and themes of freedom and democracy emerged through the poems of Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Novels Like Moby Dick written by Herman Melville and The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne showed that American Authors were thinking about the United States in new and different ways and creating their own distinctive American voice

The Poetry of Democracy Henry Wadsworth Longfellow based many of his poems on events in history, including “Paul Revere’s Ride” and “The Song of Hiawatha”.

John Greenleaf Whittier and Frances Watkins Harper wrote poetry about the evils of slavery. From “our Countrymen in Chains” by Whittier What, ho !— our countrymen in chains !— The whip on WOMAN'S shrinking flesh ! Our soil yet reddening with the stains, Caught from her scourging, warm and fresh ! What ! mothers from their children riven !— What ! God's own image bought and sold !— AMERICANS to market driven, And bartered as the brute for gold ! Anti-slavery Poetry

The Poetry of Democracy Walt Whitman’s collection of poetry titled “Leaves of Grass” celebrated democracy. From “The Song of Myself” “At home on the hills of Vermont or in the woods of Maine, or the Texas ranch, Comrade of Californians, comrade of free North Westerners…Of every hue and caste am I, of every rank and religion” He also expressed his sadness after Lincoln’s assassination in the poem, “Oh Captain, My Captain”

Washington Irving Washington Irving was a popular American author who wrote The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle.

Cooper and Melville James Fenimore Cooper wrote The Deerslayer and The Last of the Mohicans. His most famous character was Natty Bumppo, a heroic frontiersman. Herman Mellville did not have much success when he was alive, but today Moby Dick it is thought to be one of the greatest American novels.

Hawthorne Nathanial Hawthorne turned to history for inspiration. His most famous novel, The Scarlet Letter, is set in a colonial Puritan village. William Wells Brown was an African American who wrote Clotel, a story about slave life.

Transcendentalists Transcendentalists believed in the importance of human emotions, and believed the most important truths in live transcended, or went beyond, human reason. This belief caused many transcendentalists to write about and support social reforms. The two major transcendentalists were Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. They both urged people that listening to ones conscience and then following that conscience was the most important thing in life.

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson was the most famous transcendentalist. He often wrote about the “inner light” that people should use as a guide to improve society. “Trust thyself…Every heart vibrates to that iron string”

Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau was against the growth of industry and urbanization. His novel, Walden, described Thoreau living a year in isolation in Massachusetts on Walden Pond.

Civil Disobedience Thoreau believed that slavery was wrong. Thoreau believed in civil disobedience – the idea that people have the right to disobey unjust laws if their consciences demand it. He refused to pay taxes in a protest of the Mexican American War.