Unit 3: The American Classic
1840-1870
All information is taken from the introduction to the unit in your book.
All information is taken from the introduction to the unit in your book.
1. The American Classic
- “We have listened too long to the courtly muses of Europe. We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; and we will speak own minds.” §Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1837
- During this time period, American writers began to distinguish themselves and an American writing style.
- By 1850, some of the greatest American Classics began to appear, ushering the American Renaissance of Literature.
- During this time period, American writers began to distinguish themselves and an American writing style.
- By 1850, some of the greatest American Classics began to appear, ushering the American Renaissance of Literature.
2. American Classics Written During this Time Period
- Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter
- Herman Melville: Moby Dick
- Harriet Beecher Stowe: Uncle Tom's Cabin
- Ralph Waldo Emerson: Representative Man
- Henry David Thoreau: Walden, Civil Disobedience
- Walt Whitman: Leaves of Grass
- Herman Melville: Moby Dick
- Harriet Beecher Stowe: Uncle Tom's Cabin
- Ralph Waldo Emerson: Representative Man
- Henry David Thoreau: Walden, Civil Disobedience
- Walt Whitman: Leaves of Grass
3. Transcendentalism
- Transcendentalism was the predominant philosophy of the time.
- It is a philosophy of Individualism and Self-Reliance.
- In order to understand the Literature of this period, one must understand the climate that produced these dominant ideas.
- It is a philosophy of Individualism and Self-Reliance.
- In order to understand the Literature of this period, one must understand the climate that produced these dominant ideas.
4. Political Reforms Lead to Religious Reforms and new denominations: Puritanism is challenged.
Quakers: - Believed they did not need a minister to mediate between them and God.
- They could know the Deity through an Inner Light. Deists- Believed Nature, not the Bible was the principal Revelation of God.
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Unitarians - Rejected belief in the trinity in favor the a belief in a Unitary God.
- Rejected beliefs in Original Sin and predestination. - Believed in the basic goodness and innate free will of the individual. |
5. Emerson and Transcendentalism- Transcendentalism is partly Emerson’s invention and partly borrowed ideas from Unitarianism and the American frontier society.
- Emerson went to Harvard Divinity School, which was Unitarian then. - He became a Unitarian Minister in Boston. - In 1832, he resigned because he believed Unitarianism was too restrictive. - Transcendentalism: a belief that the transcendent (or spiritual) reality, rather than the material world, is the ultimate reality. - This Transcendental reality cannot be known by rational or logic, it can only be known by intuition or mystical insight. - All people are open to this higher knowledge. - Transcendentalism is a philosophy of Individualism and Self-Reliance, traits that had always been treasured in the American frontier. - No writer of the American Classic Period escaped the influence of Transcendentalism - “I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be on a crowded velvet cushion.” §Thoreau - Even Hawthorne and Melville, who attacked transcendental thought, were affected by it. |
6. Reform
- Utopian Societies and Cooperative Living
- Women’s rights movement
- Abolition of Slavery
- Women’s rights movement
- Abolition of Slavery
7. Utopian Communities & Communes
- Feelings of self-sufficiency and trust in the goodness in others lead to new ideas in cooperative living.
- Brook Farm was the most famous and it attracted famous authors, like Hawthorne.
- All members of the community shared in the work on the farm, drew similar pay, and participated in the cultural and intellectual life.
- Hawthorne was quickly disillusioned and later wrote: “No sagacious man will long retain his sagacity, if he live exclusively among reformers an progressive people, without periodically retuning into the settled system of things.”
- Brook Farm was the most famous and it attracted famous authors, like Hawthorne.
- All members of the community shared in the work on the farm, drew similar pay, and participated in the cultural and intellectual life.
- Hawthorne was quickly disillusioned and later wrote: “No sagacious man will long retain his sagacity, if he live exclusively among reformers an progressive people, without periodically retuning into the settled system of things.”
8. Women's Rights Movement
- 1848: 1st Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, NY.
- Organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
"Because man and woman are the complement of one another, we need woman's thought in national affairs to make a safe and stable government." -Elizabeth Cady Stanton
- Activist Sojourner Truth delivered a speech entitled "Ain't I a Woman?" at the 1851 Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio.
- One famous line stated, "If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again!"
- Organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
"Because man and woman are the complement of one another, we need woman's thought in national affairs to make a safe and stable government." -Elizabeth Cady Stanton
- Activist Sojourner Truth delivered a speech entitled "Ain't I a Woman?" at the 1851 Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio.
- One famous line stated, "If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again!"
9. Native American Rights
Indians like Chief Seattle spoke out against a government that often seemed indifferent to the rights of Native Americans
10. The End of Slavery: "Land of the Free"
Tensions Grow
- The Mexican War 1846-1848: Abolitionists viewed it as an attempt by slavery advocates to extend slave holding territory.
- Congressional Acts inflame Controversy and Inspire Defiance
The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850: Compelled the return of runaway slaves to their owners.
Some Northerners refused.
Emerson and Thoreau publicly stated that they would not uphold this law.
- The Underground Railroad
The “Underground Railroad” was set up by Northerners to assists escaping slaves on their way North and into Canada.
The escape of slaves to Canada provided the climax for Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Harriet Tubman, after escaping slavery, lead, on 15 trips to the South, hundreds of Blacks to freedom, via The Underground Railroad, in the North and Canada.
- Congressional Acts inflame Controversy and Inspire Defiance
The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850: Compelled the return of runaway slaves to their owners.
Some Northerners refused.
Emerson and Thoreau publicly stated that they would not uphold this law.
- The Underground Railroad
The “Underground Railroad” was set up by Northerners to assists escaping slaves on their way North and into Canada.
The escape of slaves to Canada provided the climax for Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Harriet Tubman, after escaping slavery, lead, on 15 trips to the South, hundreds of Blacks to freedom, via The Underground Railroad, in the North and Canada.
11. The Civil War 1861-1865
North: The Union Army- Had twice the population of the South, therefore, had more men to fight.
- Had a strong industrial system that could support both the military and domestic populations. |
South: The Confederate Army- With few industrial or trade centers, they were forced to buy most of its war materials from Europe.
- It had some military and strategic advantages, but was ultimately ravaged by the human and military costs of war. |
12. Major Dates in the Civil War
- 1861: Southern states seceded and the firing on Fort Sumter began the conflict
- 1863: The Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves
- Battle of Gettysburg won by the Union army
- Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address.
- 1865: April 9, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox
- April 14, Abraham Lincoln assassinated
- 1863: The Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves
- Battle of Gettysburg won by the Union army
- Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address.
- 1865: April 9, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox
- April 14, Abraham Lincoln assassinated