Slavery’s Affect on Literature

Slavery’s Affect on Literature

Throughout the clip of bondage, literature changed every bit rapidly as America. It helped open up the eyes of the people, helped convey the people closer together, and helped work out the one job that destroyed a state. The Civil War and bondage helped form literature in a manner that was necessary for the reassembling of a state. Slavery and the Civil War made literature all about stating the truth whether it was beautiful or non, compose about common people, and open up the eyes of the people.

Before bondage, literature was all about the beautiful in the universe. Sentimentalists cherished nature and emotions, and used this as their chief subject in their literature. As bondage appeared throughout America, the thought of transcendental philosophy died out. This manner the thought that every adult male has his ain truth, and that every bit long as a adult male is true to himself, he is right. Among the greatest authors from the nonnatural group are Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, who both believed in one’s ain truth.

Transcendentalism contradicted itself when Hagiographas about the intervention of slaves arose in America. This gave hope to a new group of authors ; The Gothics. The Gothics wrote about decease and agony in life. They wished to direct out the message that life was non all about the beautiful. Writers from this group believed that everyone had something evil concealed interior of them ( Brians ) .

The American Gothics, besides called The Brooding Romantics, were the closest thing to pragmatism, nevertheless, Gothics normally included a scoundrel in their narratives, and ever something dark. Realism wrote, unlike sentimentalists, about the true life. There were narratives about the good life, but besides narratives about war and decease. They wanted to direct out the message that no genre had been able to so far ; they drew a image of the existent universe utilizing literature ( Brians ) .

Realist authors wrote, unlike sentimentalists, from a realistic position. They wrote about ordinary people with normal jobs and normal battles. They focused on jobs in society, and wanted to open the eyes of the people through their literature. Fictional characters were frequently more of import than the existent secret plan, and they were ever shown in their natural place with normal emotions, and in times of crisis they get stressed. Normally in realistic authorship, the stoping is predictable. Realistic authors tended to jump the dramatic effects, and travel directly to the flood tide, merely like it would go on in existent life. Realism was all about the existent universe, and what happened around us ( Campbell ) .

A celebrated author from the realistic epoch was Ambrose Bierce. Ambrose Bierce served for the Union during the civil war, which about got him killed when he got hit in the caput with a slug. After the war, he chose to concentrate on literature, largely to compose about his experiences from the Civil War, and approximately world as he knew it. These narratives frequently included decease and satiric elements. He used this sarcasm to convey out strong point of positions of war and decease, which earlier was seen as something heroic and brave ( Hart ) .

Another celebrated author from the realistic epoch was Walt Whitman. Walt Whitman feared that the civil war would split his beloved and beautiful state, if it did non stop before force was used. When he heard that his brother, George Whitman, was hurt, he made the travel to Virginia to see him. He chose to go an unofficial nurse for the hurt northern and southern soldiers. Whitman said in “Battle of Bull Run, July, 1861:

The dream of humanity, the vaunted Union we thought so strong, so inviolable — lo! it seems already smash’d like a China home base. One bitter, acrimonious hr — possibly proud America will ne’er once more cognize such an hr. She must pack and wing — no clip to save. ( Whitman )

With this quotation mark, Whitman described how America, who everyone idea of as such a strong state, was being destroyed by its ain citizens. In merely one hr, when force was introduced in the war, America the beautiful was destroyed, shattered. He hoped that America would take this as a warning, and halt the war.

Walt Whitman’s foremost poem about the civil war, called “A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Grey and Dim” , is about his sights as a nurse. As he uncovered the covers, he saw an old adult male, a immature adult male, and the organic structure of Jesus. Whitman wanted to demo the reader that everyone is a victim of a war. The immature adult male who was still turning up was now dead, and the organic structure of Christ, whom was earlier seen as a Jesus, was now dead. Walt Whitman used this parallel to elicit a subject of the manner soldiers sacrificed themselves for their state ( Fuller ) .

The North and the South invariably competed against each other, non merely in the war, but besides with literature. The south wanted to support themselves from the accusals that they were incorrect and that bondage was atrocious. They responded with literature that attacked the North, so they could support themselves ( “Southern Nationalism” ) . Abraham Lincoln, Honest Abe, responded with a address where he, among other things, said: “Although volume upon volume is written to turn out bondage a really good thing, we ne’er hear of a adult male who wishes to take good of it by being slave himself. ” ( “Thoughts on Slavery” ) . Abraham Lincoln wished to demo how incorrect it was to support bondage, and how hypocritical they were when seeking to protect themselves from the charges.

Defenders of bondage used the Bible and Abraham as an statement for bondage. Full books with Bible transitions were produced merely for the cause of protecting bondage. The publishing houses of these books thought that since Jesus ne’er spoke against bondage, it could non be considered a offense, nor could it be bad for the slaves. Another common statement was unemployment. Slaveowners were certain that if slaves were released, pandemonium would go on because of all the unemployed people in America. All of these statements were largely written in non-fiction. Slave proprietors used their ain slaves as illustrations by composing about how they lived a good and comfy life while working ( “Southern Argument” ) .

This southern literature gave life to Slave Narratives, narratives told by slaves. Slaves wanted the truth to be told, and they saw this as the lone manner to be heard. So far, literature with false information had been published and read all around America. Literature like this gave the incorrect position on bondage. One of the most known Slave Narratives is Frederick Douglass’ autobiographyNarrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,of which he published to open the eyes of the people, and acquire the truth out. In his autobiography, he tells the reader about his atrocious experiences and visual perceptions during his clip as a slave ( Andrews ) .

Slave narrations were dependable, primary beginnings of bondage. It was the beginning of the terminal, slaves were eventually heard and listened to. The earlier published southern literature was because of this seen as undependable beginnings. More and more slave narrations was published, slaves and their conditions were more known than of all time. These became eye-openers to America and other states with slaves.

Writers went from composing about the beautiful universe, to their experiences of the existent universe. These plants frequently featured decease, because it was an element no 1 could run from. No affair high up a individual was in the authorities, everybody had the same destiny in the terminal. The civil war broadened authors heads, whether if it was because of personal experiences or people’s observations of their milieus.

Writers found their inspiration from the common people, who were the chief victims of the war. Life and nature was non merely beautiful, America was easy being destroyed by their ain people. Without literature, The Civil War could hold ended in a wholly different manner than it did. Information to the common mans was an of import component of the war, since it was used as their chief information-source. Newspapers were different from the South and to the North, but who told the truth? Literature was a dependable beginning, who did non merely concentrate on the good and bad things in the universe ; it likewise focused on the existent things. It opened up the eyes of a coevals in a clip of crisis.

Plants Cited

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Andrews, William L. “ Slave Narratives. ” Documenting the American South. The University of North Carolina, n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.

Brians, Paul. “ Romanticism. ” Washington State University. Washington State University, 1 Oct. 2004. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.

Campbell, Donna M. “ Realism in American Literature, 1860-1890. ” Literary Motions. Dept. of English, Washington State University. 4. June. Web. 20. Feb.

Fuller, Randall. “ How the Civil War Transformed American Literature. ” Humanities Texas. Humanities Texas, Feb. 2012. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.

Hart, James. American Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 1983. Print.

“Literature of the Civil War.” EDSITEment. Humanistic disciplines, n.d. Web. 10 Feb 2014.

“Southern Nationalism. ” Digital History. Digital History, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.

“The Southern Argument for Slavery. ” Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.

“ Ideas on Slavery. ” National Parks Service. National Parks Service, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.

Whitman, Walt. “ Battle of Bull Run. ” Specimen Days & A ; Collect. Philadelphia: R. Welsh, 1882. 24. Print.

“1860-1914.” Volume Library 2. 1998. Print