The Rise of Realism The Civil War to 1914

The Civil War Multiple Causes War resulted from decades of sectional conflict. South produced cash crops for the North. South depended on North for financial, manufacturing, commercial services. South relied on nearly 4 million slaves as its labor force. BACKGROUND INFORMATION: There’s no one easy answer about the cause of the war. Some say it was purely slavery; others say it was states’ rights. The Confederacy fought to uphold the plantation system. Both sides fought to protect their economic interests. North valued power of federal government; South believed in states’ rights.

Infantry carried new, more accurate rifles. New Forms of Warfare Infantry carried new, more accurate rifles. Cavalry riders faced certain death attacking infantry. Toll of frontal and cavalry assaults led to use of trench warfare. More than 600,000 soldiers died. BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Old muskets could not shoot accurately at targets more than one hundred yards away. New rifles were accurate at half a mile. Generals took a long time to adjust their strategy. Trench warfare became common in World War I.

The Civil War End of Slavery Emancipation Proclamation declared that slaves in Confederate states were free. Thirteenth Amendment freed all slaves in the U.S. Even though slaves had been freed, fight for equality was just beginning. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: What challenges did the South face following the Civil War? [The South was faced with several challenges. The region’s large population of freed slaves had to build new lives. Race relations were very stressed. Southerners also had to rebuild cities and businesses, and plantation owners had to figure out how to farm their land without slave labor.] What problems do you think faced the newly freed slaves after the war? [They had to find work and housing. Few freed slaves could read or write. They also faced discrimination. Being free didn’t mean that they were accepted as equals or that they had equal rights and opportunities.] BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Lincoln wanted to issue the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862. The original text said that slaves would be free in all states that did not return to the Union by January 1, 1863. The secretary of state urged him to wait until Union forces had won a decisive victory in battle, which turned out to be the Battle of Antietam in September 1862. Lincoln signed the proclamation on January 1, 1863. Slaves in the Union were not freed until the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865.

The Civil War Literature The primary forms of war literature were journals and letters. None of the prominent writers of the time served in the war. The horror of war required a new literary form—realism. BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Along with newspaper stories, soldiers’ letters home and diaries were the most common forms of literary work during the war. The traditional literary form—the Romantic novel, with its larger-than-life hero—was inadequate to express the horrifying details of the Civil War.

The Civil War Prominent Writers Ralph Waldo Emerson was in Concord, Massachusetts, knitting for soldiers and “writing patriotic lectures.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was raising his children after his wife’s death. Oliver Wendell Holmes was working as a professor at Harvard. BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Henry David Thoreau died in 1862. Nathaniel Hawthorne died in 1864. Not yet famous, Emily Dickinson was in Amherst and didn’t address the war in her poems. Walt Whitman did write about the war, but he had yet to receive widespread critical acclaim. The younger writers William Dean Howells, Henry James, and Henry Adams were abroad. William Cullen Bryant was working as editor of the New York Evening Post.

The Rise of Realism Realists’ New View of the World Rejected larger-than-life hero of Romantic literature Depicted ordinary characters and realistic events Emphasized characters from cities and lower classes Avoidance of the exotic, sensational, and overly dramatic Use of everyday speech patterns to reveal class distinction. Sought to explain WHY people behave as they do DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: How might a writer or an artist idealize or romanticize a subject? [To idealize or romanticize a subject is to see it as the best it could be, not as it really is. A writer might romanticize being in love by talking about how wonderful love is and not mentioning all the problems that go along with being in love—the fears and jealousies, for example.] Why might writers (and other artists) want to depict life accurately, without idealizing or romanticizing their subjects? [Writers might feel that writing accurately is more honest and more responsible than writing romantically. They might think readers need to do more thinking about how the world is.] How do you think the Civil War and its aftermath contributed to the rejection or Romanticism and the rise of realism? [The Civil War was bloody and destructive. Many people probably became disillusioned or disheartened during the war. Losing loved ones or hearing about the loss of lives probably made people focus more on real-world affairs and relationships with their families.] BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Realism developed in Europe and spread to the United States. Realists avoided the exotic, sensational, and overly dramatic. They used everyday speech patterns to reveal class distinctions. They focused on the ethical struggles and social issues of real-life situations. They drew from emerging sciences of human and animal behavior—biology, psychology, and sociology. After the war, a new generation of American authors embraced the new form of writing. American realists wrote about far-from-idealized characters—poor factory workers, corrupt politicians, and even prostitutes.

The Rise of Realism Regionalism Kate Chopin Emphasized a specific geographic setting Often sentimental in depictions of characters and locations Prominent authors: Sarah Orne Jewett, Kate Chopin, Bret Harte, Mark Twain DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: How might regional writers capture the sound of speech in your geographical area? [They would need to write in the dialect of this area—so that when readers read the words, they can imagine how the characters sound. And they could use words and phrases common to this area.] Can readers trust regional writers to give an accurate “history lesson” of a region? Explain. [The slide says that regionalists sometimes sentimentalize their subjects. So readers would need to take the information about people’s speech, habits, and lifestyles with a grain of salt, at least. But readers could get a general idea about life in the region from a regionalist writer.] BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Regionalists focused on local color—the speech and mannerisms of people in a certain geographic location. Sometimes their portrayals were unrealistic and sentimental. For example, Thomas Nelson Page wrote post–Civil War novels about the South that emphasized the romantic environment but ignored the slavery. Twain is the best-known example of a regionalist, although he eventually went beyond local bounds. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is considered his best novel and a portrait of the American landscape. Mark Twain

The Rise of Realism Naturalism Frank Norris Attempted to analyze human behavior objectively, as a scientist would Sense that human beings cannot control their own destinies Believed human behavior determined by heredity and environment Viewed life as a losing battle against the universe BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Howells was editor of The Atlantic Monthly, which published works of fiction. He was the most active proponent of realism in American fiction. His “smiling realism” portrays characters who may act foolishly, but their good qualities win out in the end. Norris agreed with Howells that fiction should focus on ordinary people but said Howells’s writing was too strait-laced and narrow. Norris’s best-known novel, The Octopus, is about the struggles between wheat farmers and the railroad. He used fiction to examine social causes, working for reform. Prominent authors: William Dean Howells, Frank Norris William Dean Howells

The Rise of Realism Psychological Realism Henry James Focused on character motivation and characters at moments of stress Studied complex social and psychological situations Prominent authors: Henry James, Stephen Crane BACKGROUND INFORMATION: James lived in Europe because he considered European society more complex than that of the United States. James focused on the stresses found in society and its drawing rooms. Crane focused on what happens to people during moments of stress on the battlefield or in the slums. Stephen Crane

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) As a Realist, Bierce infused his writing with an attitude of scorn for all the sentimental illusions human beings cling to. In other words, his fiction conforms to the truth as it is experienced rather than as we would like it to be. He was fascinated with the psychology of warfare and the cruel joke it plays on humanity. His obsession grew out of his own traumatic experiences with the Civil War. Once a Confederate sentinel shot him unexpectedly during the night. Bierce recalls feeling shock and dread. A similar sense of terror and disorientation in evident in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” In 1913, Bierce left his home for Mexico to report on or join in its revolution. He was never heard from again.