Camelia Elias

American Studies

The Declaration of Independence

overall the Declaration of Independence was, and is the single greatest United States document.

it provided freedom from Great Britain’s oppressive rule.

The Meeting of the Continental Congress

September 1774: 55 men arrived in the city

of Philadelphia.

aim: to establish a political body to represent American interests and challenge British control.

the new organization was called the Continental Congress

May 10, 1776

the Continental Congress adopted a resolution that urged the states to form their own independent governments to replace the defunct royal governments.

opinion remained divided

over wisdom of having congress itself make a statement of independence

Richard Henry LeeRichard Henry Lee

June 7, 1776: Richard Henry Lee

proposed resolution to Congress, stating:

“these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States.”

6th president of Congress 1784-1785

June 11, 1776: Congress chooses a committee of 5: Ben Franklin (PA), John Adams (MA), Roger Sherman (CN), Robert R. Livingston (NY), Thomas Jefferson (VA, chairman, principle writer).

Thomas Jefferson born on April 13, 1743 in

Virginia to a wealthy family. was very well educated was unanimously chosen by

the Committee of Five to prepare a draft of the Declaration alone

believed in the separation of church and state.

believed that the colonies had the right to overthrow a tyrannical government.

Document never called “The Declaration of Independence”________________________________________________________

Committee submitted Declaration to Congress on June 28- “A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress Assembled”

Document printed as “The Unanimous Declaration of the 13 United States of America”

The signing

Lee’s resolution passed on July 2

Draft of Declaration approved on July 4

Declaration printed on parchment and on Aug. 2 remaining members sign

remaining members signed later

some never sign.

The Thirteen Colonies of America

The declaration of independence on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

assumptionsAll men are created equal. “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.Men are given by god certain unalienable rights. “They are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among

these are Life, liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”We have the right by god to declare our independence from England. “When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to

dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them…

Governments derive their authority from the consent of the people. “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent

of the governed.” When a government abuses its power, the people have the right to overthrow it. “That whenever any form of Government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the

Right of the People to alter or to abolish it…The colonies tried repeatedly to compromise with King George, but he has been a tyrant. “Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the

necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.

…and what happened afterwards 5 signers were captured by the British as

traitors, and tortured before they died. 12 had their homes ransacked and burned. 2 lost their sons in the Revolutionary Army,

another had two sons captured. 9 of the 56 fought and died from wounds or the

hardships of the Revolutionary War

what kind of men were they? 24 were lawyers and jurists11 were merchants9 were farmers and large plantation owners, men of

means, well educated

The American Constitution 1787

It broke the US into two parties: federalists anti-federalists Divided into 2: 7 articles: rights of government 27 amendments: rights of the individual No one holds “too much” power Legislative branch makes the laws Executive branch carries out the laws Judicial branch interprets the law

The federal government(Federalist)

Legislative br. Executive br. Judicial br.

House ofRepresentatives

Senate

committee

sub-committee

committee

sub-committee

President

Vice-presidentCabinet ofadvisors

Supreme court

Court of appeal District courts US Bankruptcy

the function of the arts

To mediate between America’s: newness and classicism radicalism and traditionalism democracy and high religious principles

turning points

From Neoclassicism (1730s) to Romanticism (1790s) the age of reason is replaced by the age of the

imagination the role of the poet in society is to show others what is

beyond the reality that everyone could see the world can only be understood in terms of faith,

feeling and things that go beyond reality emphasis on the inner spaceFrom romanticism to transcendentalism the age of the imagination is enhanced by belief in

nature and its relation to intuition focus on individualism, spiritual values, and the role and

function of intuition

American Renaissance (1836-1861)

Forms of expression the poem the questing travel tale the essay the novel the modern short story

Emerson, Thoreau, HawthorneMelville, Whitman, Poe

Transcendentalism context & influences

utopianism – imaginary and ideal society sectarianism – rejecting puritan ideals mesmerism – belief in magnetic fluids phrenology – determine character,

personality traits, and criminality on the basis of the shape of the head

Transcendentalism and philosophy

Plato introduced idealism: reality exists beyond the appearances of the world

Immanuel Kant supported the importance of the natural spontaneity of the human mind Emerson credited Kant for the term

‘transcendentalism’

John Locke introduced the concept of the mind as a tabula rasa (blank slate) that all knowledge develops from sensations

background it began as a reform movement in the Unitarian church. it centered around Boston and Concord, MA. in the mid-

1800s it is not a religion, but:

a pragmatic philosophy a state of mind a form of spirituality a form of idealism

influenced by: Puritanism Quaker beliefs Unitarianism Romanticism

Transcendentalist ideas

there is an ideal spiritual state which “transcends” the physical and empirical.

an individual is the spiritual center of the universe

in an individual can be found the clue to nature, history and, ultimately, the cosmos itself.

not a rejection of the existence of God, but a preference to explain an individual and the world in terms of an individual.

basic premises

the structure of the universe literally duplicates the structure of the individual self all knowledge, therefore, begins with self-knowledge. transcendentalism follows Aristotle's dictum "know thyself"

nature is a living mystery, full of signs nature is symbolic. the aim is to reconcile two universal psychological

tendencies: the desire to embrace the whole world—to know and become

one with the world. the desire to withdraw, remain unique and separate—an

egotistical existence.

focus

on the intuitive faculty, instead of the rational

on the conscious union of the individual psyche (known in Sanskrit as Atman) with the world psyche or Oversoul, the life-force, prime mover and God (known in Sanskrit as Brahma).

on the individual human soul which is part of the Divine Soul or Oversoul

pre-civil war context

antislavery movement 1840s abolitionism feminism 1840s (Margaret Fuller)

Ralph Waldo Emerson

1803-1882 Unitarian minister Poet and essayist Founded the

Transcendental Club Popular lecturer Banned from Harvard for

40 years following his Divinity School address

Supporter of abolitionism

Henry David Thoreau

1817-1862 Schoolteacher, essayist,

poet Most famous for Walden

and Civil Disobedience Influenced environmental

movement Supporter of abolitionism

Herman Melville 1819 – 1891 essayist and poet (now hailed

as the best American novelist) his early novels were popular,

but his popularity declined later in his life.

was nearly forgotten by the time of his death

his masterpiece is Moby-Dick - which was largely considered a failure during his lifetime

was "rediscovered" in the 20th century

Edgar Allan Poe 1809 – 1849 poet, short story writer,

playwright, editor, critic, essayist and one of the leaders of the American Romantic Movement.

best known for his tales of the macabre and mystery

one of the early American practitioners of the short story and a progenitor of detective and crime fiction.

credited with contributing to the emergent science fiction genre

Walter Whitman 1819 – 1892 poet, essayist, journalist Proclaimed the "greatest of all

American poets" is among the most influential and

controversial poets in the American canon.

his work has been described as a "rude shock" and "the most audacious and debatable contribution yet made to American literature.

abandoned the metrical structures of European poetry for an expansionist freestyle verse

America was destined to reinvent the world as emancipator and liberator of the human spirit.

Leaves of GrassShall I pray? Shall I venerate and be ceremonious?I have pried through the strata and analysed to a hair,And counselled with doctors and calculated close and found no

sweeter fat than sticks to my own bones….

Divine I am inside and out, and I make holy whatever I touch or am touched from;

The scent of these armpits is aroma finer than prayer,This head is more than churces and biblees and creeds....

I dote on myself... There is that lot of me and I shall be luscious...

One’s self I sing, a simple separate person;Yet utter the word Democratic, En-Masse

Hawthorne: Young Goodman Brown (1835)

Setting: The Puritan age the forest: dark dangerous, alienating, a

place for secretes and hidden meanings, the forest is more natural

the village: ‘cheerful’, ‘pious’, ‘sincere’ hypocrisy the village is artificial

symbolism

Faith’s pink ribbons:are a sign of innocence in the village, and a

sign of depravation in the woods

the staffa symbol of power when in the hands of a

priest ref. to Aarona symbol of deceit: a serpent when in the

hands of a sorcerer

character

Young Goodman Brown innocent simple-minded satisfied with his life and with following the

community’s injunctionsThe elderly Brown has been around fearless a father figure

themes

tale of sin and guilt complexities of isolation haunting need for the community of the

human heart moral theme but in tension with itself,

disputing itself discovers ambiguity between imagination

and reality

imagery

unstable allegory offers readable meanings

symbolic ambiguity: the difficulty of reading a signthe staff, the fire, the ribbons

context

Puritanism Biblical exegesis (Hermeneutics) Salem witchcraft trials two-fold critique

critique of transcendentalism critique of religion

Poe: The Man of the Crowd (1840)

Form a modern tale, both in composition and

theme long and detailed descriptions characters wear clothes but few have

faces

themes

modern preoccupations with the growing anonymity of the city as a result of industrialization

anonymity nullifies intellect you can’t use your ratiocinations (the detective mind, the intellect) to read the signs the observations remain pointless the theme of anonymity reflects the form (Poe anticipates the

best kind of modernist writing around) the flâneur vs. the crowd wandering restlessness the desire to know secrets is always punished

context

phrenology (it wants to create typology) between the individual and the total undifferentiated mass

industrializationA different type of horror in facing the masses

than Hawthorne’s horror of naturethe devil is both civilized and primitive

the sublime

Whitman: As I Ebb’d with the Ocean of Life (1860)

Themes articulation: your eloquence against

nature’s shift from mysticism to personalism the song of self is a song of Paumanok, of

seeing and being being one with and part of nature the speaker of the poem is the big

connector

The holy 3 were 4

Hawthorne: lost in the woods Poe: lost in the city Whitman: loses himself everywhere but

also finds himself everywhere simultaneously

(Dickinson): finds herself nowhere