Reflection on American Literature [1820-1865]

This time in history can also be known as the American Romanticism, American Renaissance, or the Age of Transcendentalism. It was a time of becoming a more independent country, and literature was a step in the right direction to become more free from English tradition.

The literature during this time focused a lot on nature imagery, and ran away from an artificial mindset. It also broke down on the emphasis of rhythm in poetry. It had a lot of emotion and instinct over reason and also individual mindset over society as a whole. It really celebrated the individual, and pushed for one to make choices for themself. It really started forming American literature because it wanted to break away from the regular British tradition of literature and the question "Who are we as a country?" started being answered through people thinking independently from what they had always known. The book states, “England may have had Spenser, Shakespeare, and Donne, but America, Matthiessen argued, had Emerson, Hawthorne, Melville, and Whitman” (431). Their independence was starting to be revealed even more.