ENGL 3307

The United States formally declared its national independence on July 4th, 1776, but whether it had a distinct national culture reflected in its literature was an issue that preceded nationhood and remained contested throughout the nineteenth century. From the colonial period through the Revolutionary era, the crisis of the Civil War, and the dashed hopes of post-war Reconstruction, the development of American literature to 1900 responded to and shaped debates about national identity. In this course, we will explore how literature contributed to cultural negotiations over the meaning of "America," whether by celebrating the spirit of the nation or by amplifying the diverse voices that traced the country's failures in living up to its founding values.