10
1855 - 1870 INTRO. NOTES TO REALISM & CIVIL WAR PERIOD
1 8 5 5 - 1 8 7 0
INTRO. NOTES TO REALISM & CIVIL WAR PERIOD
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
• A cultural divide began to spread between the North and South during the period leading up to the Civil War.
• While the South’s economy was based on agriculture and therefore was dependent upon slave labor, the North’s economy was based on manufacturing.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
• Abraham Lincoln, who openly denounced the spread of slavery, was elected in 1860, and his election, in part, fueled the start of The Civil War.
• The South seceded to form The Confederate States of America.
EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION
• This proclamation, delivered on January 1, 1863, declared that slaves residing in secessionist states were free.
http://www.history.com/shows/classroom/videos/gilder-lehrman-the-emancipation-proclamation#gilder-lehrman-the-emancipation-proclamation
1) What was the purpose of this important document?2) What exceptions limit the effect of Lincoln’s
proclamation? (lines 5-7)3) Why is this a significant document of the Civil war
period?
FREDERICK DOUGLASS
• Endured 21 years as a slave before escaping to freedom in the North• Gave powerful speeches, leading
the abolitionist cause• Published Narrative of the Life of
Frederick Douglass, an American Slave in 1845• Advised President Lincoln during
the Civil War http://www.history.com/videos/the-underground-railroad-frederick-douglass#the-underground-railroad-frederick-douglass
A TIME OF LITERARY TRANSITION
• After the brutality of The Civil War, Americans no longer had a taste for romantic literature; realism, with its preference for fact-based literature, became new writing style in the post-war period.
A NEW KIND OF POETRY…
Walt Whitman (1819-1892)• A true innovator of American
poetry• Grew up in West Hills, Long
Island• Had the unique opportunity
of experiencing both country and city life• Published Leaves of Grass,
his first book of poems, in 1855
THEMES / TECHNIQUES USED IN WHITMAN’S POETRY:
1. The American democratic spirit and promise
2. The power of the individual 3. A sense of unity with nature
and all of humanity that transcends any force that would attempt to divide
4. Free verse: poetry without a regular rhyme scheme or meter
5. Catalogs: long lists of related things, people, or events
http://www.biography.com/people/walt-whitman-9530126
A NEW KIND OF POETRY…• Emily Dickinson (1830-1886):
• Born to a religious, well-to-do New England family
• Fell in love with Charles Wadsworth, a married pastor in Philadelphia
• Wadsworth leaves and Dickinson is permanently affected by the loss of him
• Lived as a recluse, wearing white all the time (like the bride she would never be)
• Her primary contact with the outside world was through letter-writing.
LITERARY CAREER:
• Published only a handful of poems in her lifetime
• She wrote with no audience in mind, yet she did save bundles of poems for family members to read after her death.
• In 1955, a collection of her work called The Poems of Emily Dickinson was made available.
• The scholar who published these poems aimed to remain true to Dickinson’s baffling use of rhyme scheme, syntax, and word choice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5u-qcbvnwo
