American Romantic Unit

The American Romantic movement began in the early 1800s. It drew its influences from European Romantics and developed a unique American flavor under the influence of American writers such as James Fenimore Cooper, Washington Irving, William Cullen Bryant, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittier, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. The movement began as reaction against the increase of industrialization and rationalism. Many people were feeling a growing sense of dissatisfaction with their lives with the monotony of factory work, the crowded and dirty conditions of urban centers, and a growing sense of separation from Nature. Westward expansion gave people a chance to escape these conditions in a search of a life more fulfilling and adventurous. There was a much greater emphasis placed on the emotions and intuition with individuals realizing the limits of rational thought. These ideas were reflected in the art and literary work of the early to mid-1800s marking a sharp transition from the literary work of the era before with heavy rational and political influences of the Puritans and early colonists.