American Romantics: The Birth of Creative Geniuses - Essay Sample

Introduction

The literary movement regarded as the American Romanticism was conceived on 31st August 1837 when Waldo Emerson held a conference at Phi Beta Kappa Society at Harvard College. His phrases became regarded as the dazzling spell of creative energy that generated some of the most esteemed works of all moments: Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Edgar Allen Poe, Ralph Waldo, and Henry David Thoreau. American Romantics was undeniably impacted by the dramatic social, and political changes happen in the 1800s. American Romanticism is considered to be the most critical period in American Literature. This movement, however, gives more attention to nationalism, imagination and individualism, allowing many writers to come up with interesting stories and imaginary elements. American Romanticism marked the beginning of Americans venturing into new territories and authors writing the beauty of nature. Venturing into the unknown brought about the spirit of optimism and the idea that any person can achieve anything depending on the mindset of an individual. The literature of American Romanticism is taken into account as the initial illustration of American literary genius.

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The Spirit of Exploration

Although American Romanticism was seen as a great opportunity for young people, the Westward expansion came with a price. Louisiana Purchased doubles the country's size, and as the white Americans invaded their land, the Native American population had no choice but to accept as they were brutally forced to leave. However, in the middle of the century, the notion of "manifest destiny" was embraced by Americans to expand the Pacific Ocean into Mexico territory but let to Mexican-American War. The writer Henry David Thoreau among other Americans, found out that the war was mainly to expand slavery. He went ahead and wrote, "Can there be no government in which majorities do not virtually decide right or wrong but conscience?" (Poe et al., 2015). In the end, the United States won and through land purchase from Mexico government, 48 contiguous borders of United Nation were established.

Transcendentalism

Ralph Waldo Emerson led a group of transcendentalism which emphasized the simple life and appreciating the truth in nature, personal emotion and imagination. The transcendentalism believed that people are good, and they should stick to their belief and form their norms. Henry David Thoreau's on "civil obedience "essay address the integrity of an individual (Pakditawan., 2007). The transcendentalists opposed the America life characterized by commercial and financial and emphasize on human well-being achieved through a relationship with nature and human intellectual activity. The transcendentalist work lived for long in American culture, but it began to fade due to persistence in slavery

American Gothic

All American romantics were positive in the goodness of humankind. Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne were termed as "anti-transcendentalists" and believed in the human capacity for evil (Poe et al., 2015). Edgar Allan Poe wrote on human psychology from inside and outside. Nathaniel Hawthorne emphasizes emotion and individual. Both writers explore issues of good and evil and used gothic elements such as bizarre situation and violent events to describe their beliefs. They forwarded the shadowed civil war in America and affected the development of America's literary voice.

Conclusion

As illuminated above, romantic enforcement not only created both positive and negative atmosphere but also gave people a chance to view the world differently. Based on the ideas of the movement, a person may choose to either be pessimist or optimist. American Romanticism, therefore, brought about the concepts of power of darkness, individualism, kinship with nature and optimism. These themes, which were developed long ago are still relevant in today literature.

References

Pakditawan, S. (2007). Aspects of American romanticism in short stories by Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne. BoD-Books on Demand.

Poe, E. A., Hawthorne, N., Melville, H., & In Cohen, Y. R. (2015). Selected short stories and poems of american romantics (illustrated).