Themes Of The Fireside Poets

Langston Hughes was the leading voice of African American people in his time, speaking through his poetry to represent blacks. His Influence through his poems are seen widely not just by blacks but by those who enjoy poetry in other races and social classes. Hughes poems, Harlem, The Negro speaks of rivers, Theme for English B, and Negro are great examples of his output for the racial inequality between the blacks and whites. The relationship between whites and blacks are rooted in America's history for the good and the bad. Hughes poems bring the history at large and present them in a proud manner. The injustice that blacks face because of their history of once being in bondage is something they are constantly reminded and ridiculed for but must overcome and bring to light that the thoughts of slavery and inequality will be a lesson and something to remember for a different future where that kind of prejudice is not found so widely.

Since the beginning of writing, literature has played a pivotal role in shaping the history of the world. The same holds true when referring to the early American history topic of slavery. Many abolitionists wrote in hopes that their views will persuade people in America to take a stand against slavery. While there were many authors that led the anti-slavery movement, the most successful writers were the slaves that lived through this atrocious time period and were able to recall their experiences. Two prominent authors during this time period were Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs. While the two writers shared many common experiences due to their time being a slave, they also had had a variety of differences. Harriet Jacobs wrote mostly wrote in a way that appealed to people’s emotions and focused on what a woman goes through as a slave; whereas Douglass focused on freedom and manhood.

In the 1800’s, slavery was a huge part of America. Slavery helped boost the economy and was heavily dependent upon by Americans. Slaves were treated as if they were not humans, but property. Slaves natural right of freedom was taken away by the white Americans. This oppression occurred in America, while they claimed that their nation was the nation of freedom and liberty. One of the slaves that would help change history was named Frederick Douglass, and he had a lot to say about American hypocrisy. Frederick Douglass was a former slave. He taught himself to read and write at a young age, and years later he started his own newspaper called “The North Star”, and ended up writing and editing most of the articles himself. Another thing he

Slavery was an embarrassing time in America’s history. In 2016, slavery has become a distant memory. It’s easy for us to admit that slavery is wrong but, in Frederick Douglass’s time no one thought that it was. Frederick Douglass went on to write books and give speeches in hope that one day all slaves would be free. In the book called “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, he attempts to shine light on the American Slave system in the 1800’s.

The phrase “art imitates life” can be used to describe many works of literature. Authors and the stories they write are often influenced by the changing world around them along with the evolution of new perspectives and ways of thinking regarding a subject. While this may sound simply like a common literary trope, it is of great importance and significance in many genres of literature. None has this been more apparent than in both the anti-slavery and women’s empowerment movement of the early to mid-1800s. Two major influence authors in their respective subjects, Frederick Douglass and Fanny Fern, were heavily influenced by the changing societal trends of the time of which they expressed through their writing. Douglass’s speech in particular “What to a Slave is the 4th of July?” was heavily influenced by Douglass’s own personal experience as a slave as well as the rising prominence of the abolitionist movement in the United States. By referencing the contradictory nature of the Constitution relegating personal freedoms exclusively to white, property owning males, Douglass bluntly references the systematic inequalities faced by people of color in the United States. Never would the works of an African American author, especially one challenging the established institution of slavery, gain so much attention if not for the anti-slavery movement and shifting perspectives surrounding it.

The fireside poets were popular at a time when the United States was a new nation, suffering pressure from outside governments as well as growing pains of its own. Historical events such as the War of 1812 threatened to overwhelm the young democracy. At the same time, there was the beginning of the push for westward expansion, and the beginnings of the schism over slavery which would culminate in the Civil War. The fireside poets represented a movement to involve the reader in events of the current day through literature. Most of them had causes about which they were passionate, and they incorporated this into their writing, inviting readers to consider highly charged issues such as abolition, workers’ rights, and immigration on a level that was more personal than had previously been done. Literature has frequently been reflective of the social and political climate in which it is written. The fireside poets were one of the first groups to take their views to a more real-world level, in founding magazines such as the Atlantic Monthly (John Greenleaf Whittier), supporting public projects such as Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (William Cullen Bryant), and even founding a political party and running for Congress (John Greenleaf Whittier). The lead-up to the Civil War was also weighing on the minds of many, which prompted Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to write “Paul Revere’s Ride”, an encouragement to a young country facing a serious conflict. Far from

As Douglass began to acquire a greater understanding of his condition through reading, he felt as if “the silver trump of freedom had roused [his] soul to eternal wakefulness.”20 Douglass’s use of the word silver helps express the precious nature of freedom, as well as the idea that it’s beckoning the enslaved with its gleam. Through the contrast between the purity of freedom and the corruption of slavery, Douglass’s choice of words humanizes himself because it demonstrates his attention to detail as he constructed this narrative. Likewise, he expresses that “[the slaves selected to go to the Great House Farm] would make [woods] reverberate with their wild songs, revealing at once the highest joys and the deepest sadness.”21 Douglass's usage of juxtaposition to draw attention to the vastness of emotion expressed by these songs demonstrates his own humanity, for this selection highlights Douglass's talent to capture the emotional peaks and troughs that are endured by

When a man grows up as an untaught slave in the southern eighteenth-century, he has no other ambitions than to be free. But for Frederick Douglass, freedom was merely step one. Douglass began his life on a plantation owed from the moment he arrived. He was not destined to stay put there. Born in (what he can come close to) 1818, he began life out as a man in chains but ended up a respected wordsmith, but still apologetic for his short comings. Douglass learned how to read, write, and give speeches; he influenced a nation for changes among writers today; and he had different approaches to the era he lived in, but knew he wanted change to exist among all. These things were needed to occur in order for the slavery and African-American society to be recognized as equals among all. His wit was not small nor was his leadership not seen as defiance. Each step of his journey, brought him to a different place where he faced a challenge that could not have been met any other way, but with strength and education where he was successful in obtaining. Douglass was not only a speaker, but was an author of his time. Many colleagues wrote of him and his life even after he passed away. In Douglass’ works he spoke of his ignorance and blunders, but continued to sow his good seed. In the book “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas an

Frederick Douglass should be considered a Maryland State Author despite the deplorable societal conditions that constrained lives of African-Americans. Frederick Douglass managed to rise above them, and ascended from the society’s lowest conditions of slavery and racism, to become an important, and a strong proponent of change in the ancient American society. Because of his enthusiasm to work towards achieving change for himself and for society, he has received tribute of admiration from various races and classes of people. Some of the reasons why Frederick Douglass is admired not only by African-Americans, but also the American society at large are that, he achieved his elevation from a despised African-America slave into a figure of reference through his native energy, that was guided by wisdom and prudence. This research papers seeks to establish an argument that Frederick Douglass should be considered a Maryland State Author. The paper will establish that Frederick Douglass was born in Maryland and he used his impeccable skills as a journalist, an orator, and a writer to fight for the rights of African-Americans, including abolition of slavery and eradication of racial discrimination. He used his skills to fight for his fellow Americans; in Maryland and in American at large.

   Frederick Douglass was arguably the most prominent African American abolitionist during the mid-19th century. He established his notoriety through his narrative entitled Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave published in 1845. Frederick Douglass also produced an African American newspaper, Frederick Douglass' Paper, which highlighted the reception and critiques of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. Frederick Douglass praised Uncle Tom's Cabin through not only his writing but in the critiques and letters contained in his newspaper. It is important to look at these reviews to understand Douglass' intentions. However, C.V.S. from the Provincial

All three of the poems discussed in this essay relate to the struggles suffered by African Americans in the late 18th century to the early 19th century in many different ways. They had to live under harsh

“The Harlem Renaissance was a time where the Afro-American came of age; he became self-assertive and racially conscious… he proclaimed himself to be a man and deserving respect. Those Afro-Americans who were part of that time period saw themselves as principals in that moment of transformation from old to new” (Huggins 3). African Americans migrated to the North in great numbers to seek better lives than in the South as the northern economy was booming and industrial jobs were numerous. This movement brought new ideas and talents that shifted the culture forever. Black writers, such as Langston Hughes, used their work to claim a place for themselves and to demand self-respect in society. Poems that Langston Hughes wrote captured the essence of the complexity of a life that mixes joy and frustration of black American life through the incorporation of jazz and blues in order to examine the paradox of being black in mostly white America, the land of the not quite free.

John Greenleaf Whittier was born on December 17, 1807 in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Being the son to John Whittier and Abigail Hussey Whittier, two devoted Quakers1, he grew up at their countryside homestead given little formal schooling due to the lack of economic stability as their farm was not very profitable. Whittier was however an eager reader, studying his fathers books on Quakerism until he later on got introduced to poetry by his teacher. On June 8, 1826, Whittier's sister sent his very first poem “The Exile's Departure” to William Lloyd Garrison, an editor to the Newburyport Free Press, who published it even though neither he or Whittier's sister had the permission granted by Whittier himself to do so. The year after, Whittier

African American literature is the body of work produced in the United States by writers of African descent. This particular genre traces back to the works from the late eighteenth century by writers such as Phillis Wheatley to later reaching early high points with slave narratives and the Harlem Renaissance, and thus continuing today with authors such as Colson Whitehead and Maya Angelou. Among the themes and issues explored within African American literature are the roles of African Americans within the larger American society, African-American culture, racism, slavery, and equality. African American writing has also tended to incorporate oral forms such as spirituals, gospel music, jazz, and rap. Dating back to the pre-Revolutionary War period, African American writers have engaged in a creative dialogue with American letters. The result is a literature rich in culture and social insight. These pieces offer illuminating assessments of American identities as well as its history. Since the time of early slavery African American literature has been overlooked within the literature criticism. This essay thrives to show that within the English profession African American literature does belong alongside the great works such as A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and poetry as A Road less taken by Robert Frost. I will dive deep into history to not only investigate what critics think about African American literature, but why is it not held to a higher standard just as American

America experienced profound changes during the mid 1800’s. New technologies and ideas helped the nation grow, while the Civil War ripped the nation apart. During this tumultuous period, two great American writers captured their ideas in poetry. Their poems give us insight into the time period, as well as universal insight about life. Although polar opposites in personality, Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman created similar poetry. Dickinson’s “Hope is a Thing with Feathers” and Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!” share many qualities.