Political and Social Milestones :
Political and Social Milestones The Louisiana Purchase - 1803
The Gold Rush - 1849
Education and Reform
Rationalism vs Romanticism :
Rationalism vs Romanticism The rationalists believed the city to be a place to find success and self-realization The romantics associated the countryside with independence, moral clarity, and healthful living.
Characteristics of American Romanticism :
Characteristics of American Romanticism Values feeling and intuition over reason
Places faith in inner experience and the power of the imagination
Shuns the artificiality of civilization and seeks unspoiled nature Prefers youthful innocence to educated sophistication
Champions individual freedom and the worth of the individual
Contemplates nature’s beauty as a path to spiritual and moral development
Characteristics (continued) :
Characteristics (continued) Looks backward to the wisdom of the past and distrusts progress
Finds beauty and truth in exotic locals, the supernatural realm, and the inner world of the imagination Sees poetry as the highest expression of the imagination
Finds inspiration in myth, legend, and folk culture
Rising to higher truths :
Rising to higher truths through the exploration of the past and of exotic, even supernatural, realms--the Gothic novel--old legends and folklore
through the contemplation of the natural world--lyric poetry--its underlying beauty and truth