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- - - - In America, Henry James & Mark Twain, among others, wrote fiction devoted to an accurate representation of American life, reflecting the changes and problems in American society at the time. While romanticists followed emotion, the inner world, the idealized past or the supernatural; and naturalists were interested in how the conditions of society influence human action (determinism), realists centred their attention on the ordinary (everyday life, lower classes), the complexities of human nature, moral dilemmas and social issues.
        
        Whereas for the Romantic American writers the typical features of romance were the crime, religion, ghosts, magic, which are used as the basis of a tale of terror, Twain and James reflected the social tragedies and the connections with the European continent.
  - - - Herman Melville (Moby-Dick)
        
        Washington Irving (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow),
        
        James Fenimore Cooper (The Last of the Mohicans),
        
        Nathaniel Hawthorne (The Scarlet Letter),
        
        Mark Twain,
        
        Henry James,
        
        Emily Dickinson (poems),
        
        Edgar Allan Poe (poems),
        
        Walt Whitman (poems),
        
        Ralph Waldo Emerson (non-fiction),
        
        Henry David Thoreau (non-fiction),
        
        In Great Britain, literature is to be framed mainly into Victorian literature (1837-1901) where the novel and the romance are the most popular literary forms. 19th c. literature in the Victorian period coincides with the late consequences of the British imperialism. Yet, the turn of the century is associated to the end of British economic supremacy and, therefore, to the decline of the British empire. Also, the period of pre-war literature is associated with a stream of realism, both in America and Britain, which brought attention to social problems.
        
        After the American Revolution, New England was the dominant region not only in terms of economic or demographic expansion, but also in sociocultural life (education, politics, theology, literature, sciency, technology...)
  - - - They dealt with global, universal themes and attempted to cross boundaries and frontiers of nations by means of their writings, and tried to depict societies and individuals as globally representative
- - - - Named "Samuel Clemens" and born in Missouri, his family had a slave, Jenny, who influenced his writings later in life (had a profound impact on his views on slavery & racism).
        
        As a young man, Twain had a restless spirit. When his father died, he worked at several odd jobs in town, he became a printer apprentice, journalist (writing for his brother's newspaper), & silver miner. Before becoming a writer, Twain worked as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River. The name "Mark Twain" is a river term that means the water is two fathoms deep, or safe for navigation. The Civil War put an end to steamboat traffic/his former job and he moved to Virginia City, where he worked as an editor for the Territorial Enterprise. Twain realized he needed a pen-name for the more comedic and fantastic columns he was writing, and eventually, he chose a river term/pseudonym, thus, "Mark Twain" was born.
        
        Twain travelled around Europe & other continents. His voyages across the globe not only gave him a broader perspective of the world but also provided rich material for his stories, essays & lectures. His travel writings are filled with vivid descriptions, humor, and insightful commentary on the cultures & customs he encountered.
        
        Twain's life was marked by loss & personal hardship. He and his wife, Olivia Langdon, had four children, but only one, Clara, outlived her parents. The deaths of his children and his wife deeply affected him.
        
        Despite his literary success, Twain faced financial difficulties. He invested heavily in failed inventions, such as the Paige typesetting machine, and eventually went bankrupt. To pay off his debts, he went on a worldwide lecture tour that became highly popular.
        
        The Innocents Abroad (1869)
        
        The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)
        
        The Prince and the Pauper (1881)
        
        The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)
        
        A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889)
        
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  - - - He followed the "Frontier Humor" tradition of vital & exuberant literature, initiated by the westward expansion of the US, which employs satire, exaggeration, and wit to comment on the tough, unpredictable, and often absurd aspects of life by means of exaggerated feats of strength, rough practical jokes and tales of wild animal encounters filled with homely wisdom. The spontaneity, sense of fun, exaggeration, fierce individuality and irreverence for traditional Eastern values reflect the optimistic spirit of pre-civil war America.
    - - He also promoted the so-called "Local Color", by presenting/capturing the features/distinctiveness of a particular locality/region and its inhabitants. Hence, depicting the character of a particular region, concentrating especially on the peculiarities of its regional dialect, manners, folklore, and landscape that distinguish the area. Twain adapted the local-colour story to his native Mississippi River life, using a spontaneous style to depict warm humanity in his characters. Today, he is considered the 1st American writer to write in the vernacular language, he used the speech of different classes around the Mississippi, employing this vocabulary for the first time in American literature.
    - - With his characters, he often employed a double vision of the world through the eyes of a child as a narrative technique, by presenting the world and its complexities from the perspective of a young, innocent, and often uneducated protagonist, providing both a childlike and a more mature view of events and society.
    - - The question of slavery is always present in his works since he was brought up within the perspective of slave-owning (southern) tradition, but his conscience was Northerner (he was against slavery/racism). He wrote about the civil war in a realistic, cruel, tragic, yet humorous way. His key to success was that his writings involved humour with tragedy behind.
- - - - Born in New York City, but he spent much of his adult life in Europe, mainly in England. He felt a strong connection to both American & European culture, and this duality is a major theme in many of his works, which often explore the differences between the Old World (Europe) & the New World (America), often to the detriment of Europe, in works like The Portrait of a Lady (1881) & The Ambassadors (1903). In 1915, during WWI, James became a British citizen as a gesture of solidarity with his adopted country.
        
        Born into an intellectual, affluent & socially prominent family. His father, Henry James Sr., was a well-known theologian and philosopher, while his brother, William James, became a famous philosopher and psychologist, known as one of the founders of modern psychology.
        
        As a child, James traveled extensively throughout Europe (Manhattan, Geneva, Paris, London) with his family, which exposed him to different cultures & languages. He was a shy, quiet observer and a book-addicted boy who acquired several languages & an awareness of Europe few Americans could fathom. After spending much time in Europe, he finally moved (permanently) to England, living in London and Rye (Sussex), where he spent the rest of his life. James began his writing career as a journalist & literary critic.
        
        James is considered the master of the (modern) psychological novel because of his psychological realism in his characterizations. James is concerned with the detailed study of human behaviour. Critics hated that his stories never describe exciting action or big events, but the life of the mind (the changing consciousness /mental processes is the real story). He was only interested in how the characters' minds respond to the events of the story. He was a pioneer in developing/exploring the stream-of-consciousness, a literary technique used to explore the psychology of his main characters. He looked into their thoughts, emotions, and motivations, often portraying the inner conflicts and moral dilemmas they faced.
        
        He was talented/gifted in literature, psychology, philosophy and would become a prolific writer (20 novels, 112 tales, 12 plays, 10.000 letters) from the end of the American Civil War to the beginning of WWI. Henry James’s influence on literature is immense. His works have inspired countless authors such as Virginia Woolf, T.S. Eliot & James Joyce. His exploration of consciousness and his use of free indirect discourse paved the way for modernist techniques. Although he didn't achieve widespread popularity with the general public, his reputation grew significantly after his death, known today as one of the greatest novelists in the Enlgish language.
        
        Works
        
        Early period
        
        Roderick Hudson (1875)
        
        The American (1877)
        
        The Europeans (1878)
        
        Daisy Miller (1878)
        
        The Portrait of a Lady (1881)
        
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        the international theme:
        the American abroad (his thoughts and feelings as an American living in Europe)
        
        Middle years
        
        The Princess Casamassima (1886)
        
        The Bostonians (1886)
        
        What Maisie Knew (1897)
        
        *The Turn of the Screw (1898)
        
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        his social novels (where a prevailing social issue is explored through its effect on the characters of a novel)
        
        Major phase
        
        The Wings of the Dove (1902)
        
        The Ambassadors (1903)
        
        The Golden Bowl (1904)
        
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        regaded as the peak of his achievement
  - - - Although living in Europe, James published his work in both American & British journals and newspapers. After the Civil War, the Old World was seen by many American writers as a place to visit, and some of these visitors settled there permanently. European art style was considered superior to its American counterpart. Staying in Europe was sometimes associated with class distinction, as with Henry James, who loved London so much that he became a British citizen in 1915.
- - - - Southern states defended slavery, but most northerners opposed it for moral and religious reasons. Also, the American Revolution (1776 Declaration of Independence-1783) had been fought to validate the idea that all men are created equal, so from the Northern States’ point of view, African slavery was against the principles on which the Constitution was based.
        
        The Emancipation proclamation (1863) by Abraham Lincoln: was supposed to free all slaves who were in territory under Confederate control at the time of the Proclamation. Yet, although this did not occur until the passage of the 13th Amendment in 1865, the Proclamation changed the war's character/nature by making the abolition of slavery a central goal.
        
        However, the Southern States based its economy on agriculture. So, they needed slaves, the rapid expansion of the cotton industry increased its demand. The South felt that the federal government was taking away their rights & powers.
    - - In fact the American Civil War has been called the first industrial war. The period between 1861-1914 is regarded as the great era of national prosperity in America. It was the time when the systematic development of the continent began. By 1900 the US was the richest and most productive industrial country in the world.
        
        The effects of the Industrial revolution on society made the spirit of reform be stronger while thousands of people moved from farms to cities, leading to a new distribution of the social classes:
        
        A small percentage of high social class, namely the industrial capitalists, who accumulated significant wealth & power;
        
        A larger percentage of middle class, namely the skilled workers in technical or professional occupations, who lived comfortably;
        
        A huge number of people from the working class/low social class, who lived in extreme poverty (marked by significant disparities in income, working conditions & living standards).
    - - The expansion of the West started when the Congress passed the Homestead Act (1862) by means of which public land was offered to people at very low cost, provided they improved the land by settling there and cultivating crops. This act encouraged westward expansion as it allowed many people, including immigrants, to acquire land and establish homes in the American frontier.
        
        Thousands of Americans and immigrants started farms in the West, on the Great Plains. Mine and cattle industry also developed in that area, and after the war, settlement became so widespread in the West that it was no longer possible to draw a continuous frontier line.
        
        This expansion to the West also meant the end of native Indians since new settlers occupied their land and slaughtered indiscriminately buffalo herds, their main way of survival.
    - - The North’s defeat of the South resulted in:
        
        The abolition of slavery & the citizenship of former slaves
        
        Universal male voting rights
        
        Increase in technological development
        
        After the Civil War, American industry grew quickly/dramatically. Machines replaced hand labour as the main means of manufacturing, thus increasing the production capacity of industry. Moreover, a new nationwide network of railroads enabled businessmen to distribute goods far and wide and promoted the rise of big business and the industrialization of the South and the West. In the same way, there was the so-called division of labour, which had a tremendous impact on economy. Throughout the American industrialization, the South region remained an agricultural area despite some industrialization.
  - - - which brought a period of diplomatic conflict between the US and Great Britain and between the US and Germany since it was an outgrowth of European territorial problems and nationalism. The great majority of Americans were firmly neutral and determined to avoid intervention unless American rights and interests were violated.
        
        Yet, in April 6, 1917 the United States was finally drawn into the war against Germany and its allies due to the unrestricted German submarine warfare on Atlantic shipping. The United States contribution was decisive in the outcome because of its military superiority.
      - (1914-1919)
    - - The 1920s saw the rise of mass law-breaking & organized crime. Thus, several acts were passed, such as the Volstead Act/the Prohibition Amendment (1920), which prohibited the manufacture, sale or transportation of alcoholic liquors/beverages (the Prohibition era). Yet, the end of this prohibition was due to the 1929 Stock Market Crash and the turn of the decade saw the Great Depression which was an unparalleled/unmatched economic disaster in the history of the US.
      - (1920s, 1929-1939)
    - - (1890s-1920s)
      - During the 1890s-1900s, the reformers wanted to improve the living conditions by addressing social and political issues. By the 1920s, since the reformers had achieved most of their aims, they were called "progressives" and this period came to be known as the Progressive Era.
        
        Social reforms:
        
        Poverty
        
        Child labour
        
        Unsafe working conditions
        
        Worker's rights
        
        Regulating big business
        
        Political reforms:
        
        A more transparent gov.
        
        More citizen participation in politics
        
        Putting an end to corruption
        
        The women's suffrage