The romantic period in American literature spanned from the early 1800’s to shortly after the civil war. The Romantic period is placed within the historical context of westward expansion and the increasingly heated nature of the slavery. This is the era were tensions were high and resulted in the civil war. Romanticism is a movement where artists move from the constraints of Realism toward seeing individuals as a creative being.
Most of the works from this unit describe the theme that people care more about the things they don’t have than what they do, they care more about money and belongings than the people their around. One of the writings from this era that shows this well is The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving. One example from