Before the Civil War, America was essentially an idealistic, confident, and self-reliant republic. Read the quote from Stephen Crane’s “War is Kind” and decide what he is suggesting happened to America after the Civil War. A man said to the universe: “Sir, I exist!” “However,” replied the universe, “The fact has not created in me A sense of Obligation.” -- Stephen Crane from “War is Kind”

Sojourner Truth, abolitionist and women’s rights advocate, dictates Narrative of Sojourner Truth, 1850 Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 1851 Louisa May Alcott publishes a popular novel about growing up, Little Women, 1868 Henry James publishes the novel Daisy Miller, a study of European and American Manners, 1879

Herman Melville, best-known for his novels of the sea, published Moby Dick in 1851 "Perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer; than to remain a dupe to illusions all one's life.” The Awakening was published in This work was condemned in its time because of its sexual openness. It was rediscovered in the 1950s and has since received many accolades for the beauty of its writing and for its modern sensibility. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, tells the story of a teenaged misfit who finds himself floating on a raft down the Mississippi River with an escaping slave, Jim. The Red Badge of Courage (1895) ranks among the foremost literary achievements of the modern era. The Red Badge of Courage depicted the American Civil War from the point of view of an ordinary soldier. It has been called the first modern war novel.

The war with its defeats and uncertainties is immensely better than what we lately called the integrity of the Republic, as amputation is better than cancer – Emerson Emerson warned for decades that war would come if slavery were not abolished Though the North was badly defeated at Bull Run in the War’s first battle, many felt the war must still be carried out Walt Whitman noted the look of disillusionment on the faces of embattled Northern troops as they poured into Washington after their first defeat Future years will never know the seething hell and the black infernal background of the countless minor scenes and interiors... and it is best they should not – the real war will never get in the books – Walt Whitman The same war that strengthened Whitman’s optimism also seemed to justify Melville’s pessimism In Melville’s writing from the period, there is a sense of human nature being stripped bare and the exposure of humanity’s basic evil

Many works of historical interest were written during the war, mostly soldiers’ journals, letters, and diaries Few major American writers experienced the war firsthand; thus, very little important poetry and fiction came directly from the Civil War, largely because few major American writers experienced the war firsthand The great novel of the war, The Red Badge of Courage, was written by Stephen Crane who was born six years after the was ended “The cold passed reluctantly from the earth, and the retiring fogs revealed an army stretched out on the hills, resting.” -- Stephen Crane

One of the most enduring subjects for prose fiction has always been the exploits of larger-than-life heroes The Romantic novel, born of the chivalric romance, presents readers with lives lived idealistically beyond the level of everyday life After the Civil War, a new generation of writers, called realists, came of age. Instead of idealistic heroes, their leading characters were factory workers, corrupt politicians, and even prostitutes The literary movement known as realism dominated American fiction from the late 19 th century to the middle of the 20 th. Realists sought to portray real, everyday life as accurately as possible, without filtering it through personal feelings, romanticism, or idealism

Realism had its roots in regionalism, literature that emphasizes a specific geographic setting and that makes use of the speech and manners of the people who live in that region Regionalism flourished in the 1920’s and 1930’s, especially in the South “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn” – Ernest Hemmingway Naturalists relied heavily on the growing scientific disciplines of psychology and sociology Naturalists attempt to dissect human behavior with as much objectivity as a scientist would dissect a frog