I. Overview
Romanticism first showed in Germany in the second half of the 18th century. It is characterized by some type of journey that is glorified through the story description. The characteristic Romantic journey is to the countryside, which is associated with independence, moral clarity, and healthful living. "The Romantics searched for exotic settings in the more natural past or in a world far removed from the grimy and noisy industrial age. Sometimes they discovered this world in the supernatural realm or in old legends and folklore" (Arpin 166). In terms of Dark Romanticism, it was also sometimes characterized as a psychological journey through the imagination.
Romantics of the time period believed poetry to be the highest embodiment of imagination. Romanticism had a strong influence on literature, music, and painting in Europe well into the 19th century. Because it blossomed during the Industrial Revolution, with the low moral and little to no power in the hands of the lower classes, it was an escape from the harsh reality of everyday life. Rationalism, for this reason, was not popular among Romanticists because it focused on these harsh realities.
The typical hero of Romanticism was youthful, innocent, intuitive, and close to nature. They were characters ruled by emotions and intuition, rather than common sense and reasoning. Often, they were shown as running from something to something else.
Some of the great Romantic authors are Edgar Allan Poe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Nathanial Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Walt Whitman. All had very different styles, even though they were all contemporary Romanticists. They believed that copying the style of another author was one of the worst things you could do. Emerson himself said "Imitation is suicide."
II. History
The literary movement of Romanticism took place during a time when African Americans were, in large masses, beginning to pursue the prospect of freedom from their white masters. The founding of the Underground Railroad, fronted by African American rights activist Harriet Tubman (1804), was perhaps the most efficient, most highly publicized movement to encourage and aid African American slaves in their pursuit of escaping to the northern states, where slavery had by this time already been made illegal.
Less than 4 years later, in 1808, the United States government passed a federal law forbidding any man to own another man as a slave or for any other purpose. With the total emancipation of African American slaves approaching rapidly (the strife of which would put the country at war within the next 50 years), the future seemed bright for common mankind.
By the 1820's and 1830's, a "religious revival, known as the 'Second Great Awakening' ushered? in a tide of reform throughout America" (Moss, Wilson 34) as well as throughout the rest of the world.
Along with the "Awakening", westward expansion reached its peak, and a plethora of eastern Americans began to flock to the western United States. By the Gold Rush of 1849, millions of Americans inhabited the territories of present-day Oregon, Washington, and California; land that had been nearly desolate just a decade before.
III. Culture
By the mid 1800's, social reform was a rising interest. The Lyceum Movement (launched in 1826) was an effort to educate adults, ins**ute social reform, and provide opportunities for the public to otherwise educate themselves. Museums were established, as well as the desire for self improvement and intellectual inquiry. In New York City, ideas of constructing an enourmous public park for health and recreation (as the city was cramped and dirty) began to circulate. In 1876, Central Park was completed. In general, the need to improve the worldy conditions was becoming a concern.
IV. Politics
1803: One of the biggest land deals in history was settled between France and the United States with The Louisiana Purchase.
1830: First railroad system was created (100 miles) in the United States
1877: The Great Railroad Strike of 1877. It lasted for two weeks.
Works Cited
Arpin, Gary Q. "American Romanticism." Orlando: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 2007
Mass, Wilson. "Chronology of Relevan Events." Literature and It's Times, Volume II,1997