The United States has ever professed itself to be the “land of the free. ” In fact. most of its traditions are rooted in its value for freedom. household and state. How frequently is it in public addresss that we are reminded that “all work forces are created equal that they are endowed by their Godhead with certain inalienable rights…that among these are life. autonomy and the chase of felicity. ” Literary pieces produced between the old ages of 1865 and 1912 show a turning consciousness and hunt for apprehension of civil rights and democracy.

Singularity and personal individualism and position were reflected in the authorship manners and narratives that appeared during this clip. Nineteenth century poet Emily Dickinson’s poems in “The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson” reflect her positions and consciousness of the function of adult females in a patriarchal and free society. Indeed her Hagiographas could really good be considered ‘feminist. ‘ Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass’ was representative of an America that was alive. rich and natural.

He states: “The Americans of all states at any clip upon the Earth have likely the fullest poetical nature. The United States is basically the greatest poem” ( Whitman. 1855 ) Yet while his positions were by and large “romantic” in nature. his demonstrates a acute awareness societal issues such as the turning philistinism brought about by industrialism. He called for literature that would adhere the readers in a more religious and inventive province as persons in his “Democratic Vistas” ( 1871. ) American Literature saw the birth of consciousness and definition of freedom.

Freedom was so excessively general a construct yet the literary merchandises in this period showed the outgrowth of looks for individualism against convention. true autonomy. and pride in individuality. American Literature 2 2. GENDER AND ETHNIC MINORITIES IN THE ECONOMIC AND LITERARY DEVELOPMENT IN 1865-1912 Literature has been used as an look of freedom of idea. feelings. and ideals. It has besides been used as a tool of societal consciousness and activism that meant to animate reform peculiarly in

the disparity experienced by adult females and cultural minorities in that epoch. As the industrial age prepared to take root in the United States. cultural minorities like the Native Americans. Africans and Asians. and other cultural groups grew more marginalized in being. Africans became slaves who were made to work in the baccy and cotton Fieldss. Others were pressed into domestic servitude in the places of the affluent White work forces. Literature at in mention to adult females and the cultural minorities viewed them as objects that “White men” ain.

This dehumanisation served as a kind of “muse” for the emerging “realist” authors. If popular literature referred to them as non-entities. the realists raised their predicament up as a mark for the demand for societal consciousness and alteration. In her “Woman in the Nineteenth Century. ” essayist and on of America’s foremost respected female journalists Margaret Fuller. brought up the being of sexual favoritism and suggested stairss in an attempt to advance the independency of adult females. She was an advocator of equality gained through human freedom and self-respect.

Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn” defied conventions and spoke out against the pattern of bondage and the unreason of “civilized” society. The friendly relationship of his lead characters Jim and Huck went beyond the stenosiss of a slave-owning society and culminated in something that was happy and generous. Emancipation of adult females. abolition of racism. marginalisation and bondage harmonizing to the realist authors. were what should specify American freedom. humanity and democracy…not the philistinism and human ownership brought by industrialisation.

Mentions

“The Romantic Time period. 1820-1860. Essayists and Poets” . Outline of American Literature. United States International Information Programs ( 2006 ) Retrieved August 29. 2007 from hypertext transfer protocol: //usinfo. province. gov/products/pubs/oal/lit3. htm “The Rise of Realism: 1860-1914” . Outline of American Literature. United States International Information Programs ( 2006 ) Retrieved August 29. 2007 from hypertext transfer protocol: //usinfo. province. gov/products/pubs/oal/lit5. htm