How American Romanticism and Seeking the Sublime Helped Bring about Social Reforms, Like Slavery

As was usual in the Early Republic, America was behind the times, and America's own fascination with Romantic Philosophy and Art lagged behind Europe by about half a generation.  This lag time allowed American Romanticism to develop in more sophisticated ways than its European counterparts (there's much debate on this point) and to avoid many of the worst aspects of Romanticism as it was expressed in Europe.  For instance, Lord Byron was a kind of poster child for the Brooding, Bad Boy Romantic artist.  Here, think bad boy singer or movie star.  If you've ever wondered where one of the prototypes for today's teenage Vampires came from, look no further than Lord Byron. His life does not end well, and the excesses of his life became the stuff of tabloid legend.  Another example can be found in Samuel Coleridge, who took drugs to attempt to find an easy road to the sublime.  Byron found the sublime in fame; Coleridge sought the sublime in drugs.  Regardless, both were looking for moments which overwhelmed and let them feel as if they were living as intensely as possible.

As it began to explore Romanticism, America managed to avoid most of the worst of these excesses.  The closest we came to Lord Byron or Coleridge was Edgar Allen Poe, and Poe was not anywhere as bad as his press has made him out to be.  We've all heard that Poe was into drugs and a drunkard, but recent evidence and critical analysis of his life has uncovered much of Poe's legend was hype put together by a publisher who wrote a biography of Poe after Poe's death.  Poe had insulted this publisher by writing a scathing review of the publisher's earlier writing, and the myths and invective about Poe were largely vindictive, and they went unchallenged because Poe didn't have much in the way of family to defend him.  Poe was no more or no less than a young writer trying to make a living as one of the first Americans to adopt the profession of letters, that is, to try and to make a living by writing.  Prior to cheap paper and rotary printing, making a living by one's pen in America was nearly impossible, and Poe's continued problems with money were as much due to the fact that he was trying to figure out how to make a living with few models to pave the way as to the fact of the various lifestyle choices he made.  Writing has rarely payed well, and it paid even worse before international copyright (1851).   Poe was late in life before his particular means of helping his readers find the sublime--horror, madness, killings, the loss of beautiful lovers--began to catch on and had sufficient, consistent outlets.  In fact, Poe made a much better living as a critique and an editor than he ever did as a writer.

Because America started late, American Romanticism tended to take on a more optimistic character than its European counterpart.  Politically, the idea was that Romantics would change society one individual at a time, and they would made these changes by helping their readers feel more intensely.  Most American Romantics tended to be optimistic, to seek beauty, and to try and help Americans feel and act for others.  Like their European counterparts, American Romantics believed strongly in the immense power of the individual's imagination, insight, intuition, and cultivated ability to feel.  The idea that was by helping others to feel strongly--even by making them feel horrified (as with Poe)--the Romantic artist would help their readers feel strongly for others and learn to care for others more.  By learning to feel with and for others, those influenced by Romantic art would come to be more caring citizens, and America could begin to temper the developing strain of "I am in this only for my own benefit."  Many Romantics also hoped that by helping people to appreciate Nature more, they would influence others to create beauty.  This last strain of Romanticism was operating against the early factory system and the beginnings of urbanization.  Where American Romantics differed from most European counterparts is that Americans believed that every individual had a unique genius and ability to feel strongly, and Americans tended to celebrate all individuals, not just the Romantic genius.

By providing a consistent philosophical framework to justify deep feeling--a framework that dovetailed well with the idea that all are created equal and, hence, helped to cultivate a uniquely American culture--American Romantics created the conditions where people would feel strong enough to go out and actively fight evils like slavery, child labor, poverty, and lack of public education.  It is no accident that the great progressive movements in America began in the Romantic era.  They would also encourage Americans to begin defining a culture which didn't lag behind and follow Europe but would celebrate the unique American landscape and the society which was still developing.  In the process, Romantics would add into the American tradition our celebration of the underdog, our wanting to help others who are perceived as needing our help, and--for good or bad--Romantics would help temper the idea that public discourse and debate should be based solely on reason and fact.  It was also in the Romantic period that Americans came to see it as their Manifest Destiny to conquer the Continent, so that the "great American experiment" might have room to succeed.  The Frontier and the Pioneer settlers took on larger than life roles as Romantic figures of one aspect of what it means to be American, and the great American West was born.

What aspects of your character and that of America can you trace to the American fascination with intense feelings and the legacies of Romanticism?

So far, you've seen the American search for the sublime take on the form of horror (Poe), the search for one's best self (Emerson), an intense focus on the unique in each individual (Emerson), and trying to figure out how to cultivate the full engagement of the individual with the spiritual and social world (Thoreau).  Over the next few weeks, we'll begin to explore how Romanticism influenced the political and social aspects of Antebellum America.