HISTORY 2R03 Lecture Notes - Distilled Beverage, Henry David Thoreau, Fair Deal
Document Summary
Reformers: optimistic about humanity, enthusiastic about order. Rise of groups of people that wanted to help society because they thought it was reforming the nation. Reform meant to soothe nation as it started to modernize, there were two elemental qualities: Intrinsic goodness still needed to be controlled: optimistic- intrinsic goodness in everyone (romanticism), stark contrast to original sin. Started undergoing modernization, fair deal of liberation from medieval concepts. Most artists were interested in romanticism, landscape is the most popular kind of painting. Americans held a view that unbridled nature was the best inspiration. Southern lit- intrinsically good people are facing nature"s adversity, not everyone optimistic. Small minority of writers that focused on gritty life (poor whites) harsh realities. *walt whitman, leaves of grass (1855) popular at the time, now considered classic. *edgar allen poe, the raven (1845), much darkness can be found in the act of searching, brutal medieval commander, too much pride and too independent.
