American Realism Civil War - 1914

Causes In the time leading up to the War, slavery, states’ rights, and national identity all took center stage in the minds of Americans Writers were interested in expressing the ever changing opinions on these important points

Slavery The ethical practice of slavery, though always argued and controversial, was one of the primary foci of writers of the time Treatment and ownership of slaves was heavily scrutinized and writers (both slaves and abolitionists) sought to show the horror of slavery in as much detail as possible The goal of much of this writing was to convert readers and bring these issues to light in politics

States’ Rights Slavery was not just of ethical consideration; the legal ramifications ran deep and caused much discord Many who argued for slavery did not do so on ethical grounds but rather to claim the issue to not be a federal matter, as it was not covered in the Constitution. In other words, the Federal Government could not disassociate property for purely ethical reasons Opponents of slavery argued that the states could not grant ownership of any person; therefore, slavery could not be protected by the 10th amendment

Changing Attitudes The Civil War was unique in that Americans were fighting other Americans At first, many American romanticized the War and the reasons for it. Many claimed honor, legality (states’ rights), and tradition to be noble and enchanting reasons to fight However, the realities of the War caused writers to shed the romantic qualities of their work and show the unbelievable sadness of families torn asunder and the mounting death toll

Changing Attitudes As the War progressed, it became clear that there would be no real winner and people grew weary of the death and pressures of War, such as the scarcity of food and lack of workers After the War, Americans were left with unbelievable debt, both in terms of wealth and loss of life, and the South bore the brunt of the blame; however, the entire nation was left to clean up the misery after the War As detail became clear, families had to deal with their losses, some loosing children as young as 12 in the War

National Identity Following the War and western expansion, Americans were left to reestablish an already immature national identity This resulted in Regional Literature that reflects the beliefs and values of an extremely limited area of the country Think Mark Twain and Southern Lit

Realism in Lit Other than Regionalism, Naturalism and Psychological Realism were all seen in American Lit. Naturalism was dedicated to showing the unbiased judge that is nature Psychological Realism sought to show the effects of life on the human resolve

Characteristics Realists rejected the “gloss” of Romanticism and sought to show life with all its grit Characters tend to be everyday people surviving normal or extraordinary circumstances Simplistic language and focus on ethical struggles without an easy solution