1850-1880

Before the Civil War, America was essentially an idealistic, confident, and self- reliant republic. After the war, the United States emerged as a nation whose purpose and place in the universe was shaken.

1. Very little important poetry and fiction came directly from the Civil War because most of America’s major writers didn’t have first hand war experience.

2. Direct accounts of the war found their way into other types of literature.A. Emotional lettersB. Diaries

3. The Civil War directly affected the style of writing in the United States.

4. Examples of Civil War literature:A. Slave narratives- Frederick

Douglass Sojourner

TruthB. Political speeches- Abraham LincolnC. Poetry- Walt Whitman

Emily Dickinson

The literary form most appropriate for handling such strong material as found in war- the realistic novel- was not developed until after the war. As a result, the “real war”

did not find a place in American literature until the rise of realism.

Follow the Drinking Gourd

Swing Low Sweet Chariot

Wade in the Water

Keep Your Hands on the Plow