Age of Faith Puritan Beliefs Religion: left England to worship as they pleased, Protestants, arrived 1620 Bible: nearly all colonists were literate and read the Bible. It was the literal word of God Original Sin: Adam & Eve, we re all sinners and going to Hell unless we please God Pre-destination: God s got a list, no one knows if they re going for sure Virtues: industriousness, temperance, sobriety, and simplicity. Idle hands are the devil s playground Literature: plain style and language. Wrote primarily journals and pamphlets, histories and detailing the works of God Faith: the Puritans feared the wrath of God, he revealed his purpose for humans in three ways: Bible, Natural World, and Divine Providence/Intervention snake in the church
Age of Reason Revolutionary Period Beliefs: Rationalism: we can arrive at truth by using our reason rather than relying on God or religion or faith Social: change and reform were needed to survive the wilderness tinkerers Science: took precedence because of epidemics like smallpox, Newton s watchmaker theory God: his special gift to us is the ability to make our own decisions and use our God-given reason to think logically Inventions and Inventors: made significant improvements to the lives of the colonists; bi-focal glasses, fire/library/sewer systems, telegraph, railroads, etc. Reason provide the basic principles of the American Revolution and government Deists Discovery occurs thru the natural world God is accessible to everyone because we all have reason Religious sects are not important: best way to service God is to do good by and for others
Universe was orderly and good Humans are inherently good Literature Grounded in reality rather than religion Best minds were concentrating on social and political, and scientific improvements Pamphlets were most common form of literature (persuasive) Masterpiece of the time period was Franklin s Autobiography
Age of Romanticism Beginnings in Germany in the late 17 th c. continuing through the 19 th c. Valued INTUITION over rational thought Believed that you could arrive at higher truth than even reason could achieve by exploring exotic settings, nature and beauty of the natural world Journey AWAY from civilization to the country (uncivilized) City represents death, destruction, immoral behavior, evil The uncivilized country represents independence, morals, good health Values Distrust for civilization, nostalgia for the past, concern for the individual s freedom, interest in the supernatural, love for beauties of the natural landscape, imagination, spontaneity, individual feelings and nature were more important than reason, logic, planning and cultivation Typical Romantic Hero Youth-like innocence, love of nature, distrust of town life, uneasiness with women, (women represented domestication) quest for higher truth in the natural world American Novel Focus on frontier life, coincides with westward expansion. Virtue was to be found in innocent characters, eternal youth, wild wilderness, and exploration of uncharted territory Romantic Poetry Wanted badly to prove American poets were sophisticated and every bit as good as the Europeans Fireside poets wrote many poems that Americans sat around the fireplace and read aloud at night with their families
American Renaissance Optimists: Emerson & Thoreau Transcendentalists, matters of reality can transcend or go beyond the human experience, God, the Cosmos and Self Idealists, everything is achievable and can be perfect True reality is spiritual rather than physical Characteristics: optimistic, mystical view of nature, intuition was spontaneous and emotional, spiritual world valued Views on God: found in nature, good, works through nature, capable of evil, but not because of Original Sin Pessimists: Melville, Poe, & Hawthorne Anti-transcendentalists Nature: dark, isn t good, will do evil Emphasized conflict between good and evil in their writing Still valued intuition and individualism
Age of Realism Causes for change from Romanticism: Civil war, telegraphs, rail roads, industrialization and urbanization, mass immigration, sciences, sociology (Darwin), psychology, biology Literature: REAL characters with believable mannerisms, dialogue and ordinary lives with realistic setting Regionalism: characteristic of specific area and environment; prominent writers were Twain, Harte, Jewett, Stowe Naturalism: dissection of human behaviors, looking at life bluntly and crudely, Darwinism, not in control of our own destiny, live by instinct alone, much like animals do; prominent writers were James & Crane