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The American Renaissance

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The American Renaissance 1840-1860 Declaration of Literary Independence A rebirth American literary genius Key authors: Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: The American Renaissance


1
The American Renaissance
  • 1840-1860

2
Declaration of Literary Independence
  • A rebirth American literary genius
  • Key authors Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne,
    Melville, Poe

3
Lyceum Movement
  • 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

4
Transcendentalists
  • Another utopian group that formed
  • Term comes from Immanuel Kant based on
  • 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

5
Transcendental Roots
  • 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)

6
Emersons Outlook
  • 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.

7
The Anti-Transcendentalists
  • The Dark Romantics
  • Hawthorne, Melville, Poe
  • Not so optimistic
  • Felt the Transcendentalists ignored the dark
    sidefrom Original Sin.
  • Explored conflict between good and evil, the
    psychological effects of guild and sin.
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