The American
Renaissance
1840-1860
Declaration of Literary
Independence
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A “rebirth” American literary genius
Key authors: Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne,
Melville, Poe
Lyceum Movement
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Began 1826
Lectures about music, history, philosophy,
famous people, scientific advancement
Goals of this movement: educating adults,
training teachers, instituting social reform,
establishing museums
Time of social improvement and improved
public education
Transcendentalists
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Another “utopian” group that formed
Term comes from Immanuel Kant based on:
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Idea that one must “transcend” everyday reality to
determine ultimate reality of God
Idea that intuition is important to the discovery of
truth
Ideal belief in human perfectibility
Transcendental Roots
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Immanuel Kant (German philosopher)
Plato (Greek philosopher)
Ideas from Europe and Asia fused with
American philosophy
Puritan beliefs (ie, Bradford, Jonathan
Edwards)
Romantic traditions (ie, William Cullen
Bryant)
Emerson’s Outlook
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Optimistic
God is good.
God can be found directly working through
nature.
Death is simply part of cycle of life.
Man is capable of evil when separated from
direct, intuitive knowledge of God.
Each of us is part of the Divine Soul.
The Anti-Transcendentalists
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The Dark Romantics
Hawthorne, Melville, Poe
Not so optimistic
Felt the Transcendentalists ignored the dark
side—from Original Sin.
Explored conflict between good and evil, the
psychological effects of guild and sin.