RomanticismDavid, Eddie, Reinelda, And Shay

Eugène Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People 1830

Introduction to Romanticism

• Romanticism was a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that spanned across the second half of the 18th century until the first half of the 19th century.

• Romanticism emerged as a reaction to the rationalism of the Enlightenment. Emotions and non-rational aspects were central to the movement, also the creative power of the individual played a key role.

• Romantics wanted to escape the Enlightenment thought. Some looked back to the gothic past, some to religion (Second Great Awakening), or the supernatural, while others tried to find it in Nature.

Emanuel Leutze , Washington Crossing The Delaware, 1851

Two Revolutions, Two Outcomes

French RevolutionJuly 14, 1789 - Storming of the Bastille• The people of Paris stormed the

Bastille, the prison that symbolized the absolute monarchy, which had oppressed France for so long.

Industrial RevolutionAugust 26, 1791 – John Fitch is granted a

patent for the steamboat.

March 14, 1794 - Eli Whitney is granted a patent for the cotton gin.

French RevolutionAugust 27, 1789 – The Assembly adopts

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

• This document presented the ideals and principles of the Revolution, which condemned a government based upon absolutism (all power lies with one ruler), and justified the establishment of a new regime based upon the rights of the individuals.

September 3-7, 1792 – The September Massacres

• In the weeks prior to the massacres, the monarchy was overthrown. The people of Paris believed that political prisoners were planning a counterrevolutionary plot. This resulted in deaths of half of the prison population in Prison (which was over 1,200 people).

Industrial RevolutionFebruary 21, 1804 – Robert Trevithick

demonstrates a steam locomotive.• The locomotive led to construction of

railways and the use of steam power for both passenger and freight trains.

French RevolutionJanuary 21, 1793 – Louis XVI brought to

trial and guillotined• The king, Louis XVI, was convicted of

treason in the previous month and sentenced to death. He was guillotined in front of a cheering crowd and this symbolized the horrors of the Revolution.

September 5, 1793 – Start of Reign of Terror

• Fearing an end to the Revolution, the Committee of Public Safety was formed to seek out people who were considered “enemies” of France. During this period, trials were held often and many people were brought to the guillotine and killed, most of the victims being commoners. This scared the people of France and the revolts against this new government ended.

Industrial RevolutionAugust 17, 1807 – Robert Fulton’s Clermont, first successful steamboat

• This was the first commercially used steamboat , utilizing the steam engine, which carried passengers between New York City and Albany, New York.

September 15, 1830 – The Liverpool and Manchester Railway begins first regular commercial rail service.

• This was the world’s first railway to regularly transport materials and passengers and was the foundation for the modern railroad industry.

French RevolutionNovember 2, 1795 – The Directory is

established• This new type of government was

established after the end of the Reign of Terror. Five directors held executive power in France during this time.December 24, 1799 – Napoleon

overthrows the Directory• Napoleon won many battles against

and the British and when he returned to France, he was seen as a war hero. With the help of his troops, he overthrew the government.

Industrial RevolutionJune 20, 1840 – Samuel Morse develops

the telegraph and Morse Code.

Impact of the French Revolution on Art & Literature

• An overturned monarchy resulted in the casting off of the classical era. The new style of expressing the nature of man through emotion was known as romanticism.

• The separation between the people was disappearing, along with the social standings that confined literature and expression. They broke away from the forms of the past to see society and humanity in a different perspective.

• The drastic changes in society and rush of emotions and human nature inspired writers, poets, and artists. Rousseau’s philosophy - the outlook that man is good by nature but corrupted by society – and his praise of nature had heavy impacts as well. These influences, with the spirit of the revolution and republicanism, even brought the return of William Wordsworth to England.

• No stones were left unturned as feeling and imagination were explored, and reason, logic, and science were overpowered. Lengthy fast moving plots in literature and varying arts of nature quickly became popular.

Caspar David Friedrich, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, 1818

Impact of the Industrial Revolution on Art & Literature

Fears in Solitude -1 lit.

War of 1812• Due to the ongoing war with France, the

British restricted American trade with France.

• The British attacked US shipping vessels and impressed thousands of American sailors into the service with the British navy .

• Finally, the US declared war on Britain on July 18, 1812.

• The war quickly turned into a “Second War of Independence” for most Americans, feeling like Britain never truly gave up thinking of America as a “lost colony” that should be punished.

• To many Americans, this served as a reaffirmation of American independence from the British.

• Both sides were weary of the cost of the war and signed the “Treaty of Ghent” which resulted in a stalemate.

Impact of War of 1812

Tale of Two Cities Summary

Transcendentalism

Nature Summary

Gothic History

Impact of Gothic on Lit & Art

Frankenstein

Dracula