The United States of America was founded on firm ideals of both the pursuit of happiness and a spirit of reverence. Through a close reading of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The May-Pole of Merry Mount," you can examine what some consider was a...

Terror, mystery, excitement. American writers of the 19th century, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Emily Dickinson, used these elements to create morally ambiguous tales that challenged the prevailing belief in...

A description of American Romantic authors, their backgrounds and what they wrote. These writers made American literature truly American.

A timeline of political and social events and American literature. Part of a larger site. Hyperlinks to information about individual authors.

A good look at the first major American philosophy, transcendentalism. Read about the ideas that transcendentalists believed, and find out the members of the Transcendental Club. Many American authors of the time espoused the ideals of...

A brief timeline which includes American literature and American historical events. Ranges from 1830 to 1839. Includes the first co-educational college, Oberlin College. Hyperlinks to various authors of the period.