Historical and Cultural Connections - What is Romantic Literature?

The Romantic period in American literature produced many great and powerful literary works that embodied the spirit of the new evolving nation. The new personal and literary freedoms gained after the Revolutionary War gave birth to several literary movements and groups: the Romantic Fiction Writers, the Fireside Poets, the Transcendentalists, and the Dark Romantics. The authors in these movements composed different forms of literature, but they all rejected rational thought in favor of using intuition; held strong beliefs in regard to mankind, society, and the individual; and respected both the light and dark sides of nature.