The nation was developing an American identity

By picturing American heroes, Depicting important events

Giving expression to American landscapes

Creating an American MythologyDiscovering what it meant to be

American Reasons: Free public schools More leisure time Better lighting

Gilbert Stuart

Gilbert Stuart

Gilbert Stuart

Gilbert Stuart

John Trumbull

John Trumbull

John Trumbull

John Trumbull

John Trumbull

Emanuel Leutze

Emanuel Leutze

The Hudson River School

Most important members:

Thomas Cole, Asher b. Durand,

William Bryant

The Hudson River School

Most important members:

Thomas Cole, Asher b. Durand,

William Bryant

The Hudson River School

George Caitlin

George Caitlin

George Caitlin

George Caitlin

George Caitlin

George Caitlin

George Caitlin

George Caitlin

John James Audubon

John James Audubon

John James Audubon

John James Audubon

•After 1815, a distinctive American literature began to develop.

•Literature in which:

•Scenes were set in America

•Names were American

•Background was American

•As the ideals of American nationalism grew, the writers began developing ideas of what it meant to be an American

•As more and more people acquired a taste for reading, writers were assured of a growing audience

•The public enjoyed and was delighted by a steady stream of stories, poems, essays, and novels

American Literature

•There were several reasons for the increasing interest in books.

•Free public schools were spreading

•More young people obtained an education

•People began to have more leisure time

•Especially in the urban areas of the East

•The development of better lighting

•Easier for people to read in the evening

•This period in literature is known as the Romantic Period.

•Romanticism is characterized by a greater emphasis on nature and the individual and by the expression of a wide variety of emotions.

Literacy Expands

James Fenimore Cooper

•First important American novelist•Frontier setting, emphasized individual spirit•Most famous novel:

•The Last of the Mohicans•Set during the French and Indian War

Nathaniel Hawthorne

•Short story writer and novelist•Portrayed the stern Puritanism of New England in the early days of the colonies.•Most famous novels:

•The Scarlett Letter•The House of the Seven Gables

Washington Irving

•Wrote about the early Dutch settlers of New York•Dietrich Knickerbockers’ History of New York poked fun at Dutch manners and customs•Stories are based on legends of the Hudson River Valley•Most famous novels:

•Rip Van Winkle•Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

•Brought early American history and legends to life•Most famous poems include:

•“The Song of Hiawatha”•“Evangeline”•“The Courtship of Miles Standish”•“Paul Revere’s Ride”

Herman Melville

•His most famous book:•Moby Dick•Set in New England during the era of the Nantucket whalers•The story is of Captain Ahab and whalers of New England and his obsession with a legendary white whale•This is America’s greatest sea story

Edgar Allen Poe

•Won acclaim throughout the world as a poet, short story writer and literary critic•His short stories were filled with horror and suspense•Most famous short stories

•The Pit and the Pendulum•The Cask of Amontillado•The Gold Bug•Murders in Rue Morgue

Edgar Allen Poe

•Most famous poems:•“The Raven”•“Annabel Lee”

•Poe’s stories always evoked great emotions; anger, disgust, horror, fear•Poe encouraged Americans to develop an American style•Stop trying to copy European writers•Develop American’s literary nationalism

Ralph Waldo Emerson

•An outstanding American essayist, journalist, philosophers, poet•His essays advised readers:•To be self-reliant•To lead noble lives•To seek truth and beauty•Emphasize a love of nature and the individual•Most famous essays;•“Self-reliance,” “Love,” “Prudence,” “Heroism,” “Intellect,” “Art,” “The Poet,” “Experience,” “Character,” “Nature,” “Politics.”•His speech “The American Scholar” was seen as America’s intellectual Declaration of Independence•Emerson was a leader in the Transcendentalist movement

Henry David Thoreau

•A student of nature •A disciple of Emerson•He believed in simple living and self-reliance•Most famous book:•On Walden Pond•Describes his experiences and observations while living in the woods•He stressed civil disobedience in his protest of the Mexican War and slavery•Thoreau will influence Gandhi and Martin Luther King

Walt Whitman

•A poet and innovator

•He broke with establish literary tradition

•Very influential in the abolitionist movement

•Most famous works:

•“I Hear America Singing”

•“Leaves of Grass

Noah Webster

•Brother of Massachusetts Senator Daniel Webster•Called the father of American scholarship and education•He wrote the Blue-backed Speller which taught spelling and reading to millions •He published An American Dictionary of the English Language in 1828.

Alexis de Tocqueville

•Tocqueville published Democracy in America, in 1835•He wrote of the New World and its democratic order

•Tocqueville traveled through America in the early 19th Century when the market revolution, Western expansion, and Jacksonian democracy were transforming American life. •He wrote about liberty and equality, concern for the individual as well as the community, political and civil society. •He wrote about developing morals and opinions that were uniquely American