Download The Civil War Era

1850-1880
Before the Civil War,
America was essentially an
idealistic, confident, and
self- reliant republic. After
the war, the United States
emerged as a nation whose
purpose and place in the
universe was shaken.
1. Very little important poetry and fiction
came directly from the Civil War
because most of America’s major
writers didn’t have first hand war
experience.
2. Direct accounts of the war found their
way into other types of literature.
A. Emotional letters
B. Diaries
3.
4.
The Civil War directly affected the style of writing in
the United States.
Examples of Civil War literature:
A. Slave narrativesFrederick Douglass
Sojourner Truth
B. Political speechesAbraham Lincoln
C. PoetryWalt Whitman
Emily Dickinson
The literary form most appropriate
for handling such strong material as
found in war- the realistic novelwas not developed until after the
war. As a result, the “real war”
did not find a place in
American literature until the
rise of realism.
 Follow the Drinking Gourd
 Swing Low Sweet Chariot
 Wade in the Water
 Keep Your Hands on the Plow