American Literature to 1900

3 credits · Undergraduate

The nineteenth century was a turbulent and formative period in American history, marked by the legacy of revolution along with civil war, the abolition of slavery, the emergence of feminism, and the settlement of the West. This course will examine how different writers engaged with the political, moral, and cultural implications raised by these issues, and the distinctive literary culture that grew out of this engagement. Although most course time will be spent in the nineteenth century, the course will look back to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to examine the literary, intellectual, and religious contexts that were relevant to the shaping of this culture.