PG+12


 * 166. Dorr's Rebellion:** Suffrage supporters headed by Thomas Dorr held a People's Convention and drafted a new constitution which granted voting rights to all men with one years citizenship. At the same time, the General Assembly held another convention drafting a separate constitution called the Freeman's Constitution. When voted upon, Dorr's constitution proved to be most popular. Dorr and Samuel Ward King were elected Governor of Rhode Island. King did not introduce the new constitution and declared martial law. Dorr's supporters called the Dorrite side, consisting of state militiamen newly enfranchised by Dorr's new system, attempted an unsuccessful attack on the arsenal in Providence. The defenders of the arsenal were on the Charterite side and supported the original charter. After being defeated, Dorr's supporters returned to Chepachet in hopes of reconvening the People's Convention. The Charterite forces returned to Woonsocket in preparation to interfere with the Dorrite retreat but it never came and the Rebellion fell apart. Finally, the Charterite forces created a new constitution giving suffrage to any freeman, regardless of race, that could pay a $1 poll fee. [KV]

Also called Wildcat Banks, this degrading term was used to describe banks selected by the U.S. Department of Treasury to receive surplus government funds in 1833. This term implied that the state banks were entirely controlled by the current President, Andrew Jackson. By 1833 there were 23 "pet banks" or state banks with US Treasury funds. The term gained currency because most of the banks were chosen not because of monetary fitness but on the basis of the spoils system, which rewarded political allies of Andrew Jackson. Most Pet Banks eventually lost money and failed. The Pet Banks and smaller "wildcat" banks flooded the country with paper currency. Because this money became so unreliable, Jackson issued the Specie Circular, which required all public lands to be purchased with metallic money. This contributed to the Panic of 1837 where there was a major dip in the economy due to the increased debt created by this banking system. //Sellers/KV// //[]//
 * 167. Pet Banks:**

This election saw Martin Van Buren fight for reelection over the Whig candidate William Henry Harrison. This was especially difficult for Van Buren since the U.S. was in the middle of an economic depression after the Panic of 1837, and Harrison was a highly supported war hero. Harrison campaigned little with the issues and instead chose to model his campaign after Andrew Jackson and rely heavily on his war hero status. He also had an image of "log cabin" living, or at least simpler than Van Buren, who was portrayed as living in lavish luxury. Though the popular vote margin was only about six in his favor, Harrison won the electoral vote by an overwhelming number, carrying the North, South and West. This election was particularly unique because electors cast votes for four men who had been or would become President; current President Van Buren, President-elect Harrison, Vice President-elect John Tyler who became President upon Harrison's death, and one electoral vote for Vice President James Polk. //Sellers// //[]//
 * 168. Election of 1840:**

The leading Transcedentalists of the time believed that American literature was long over due for a revolution and sought to create books, poetry, novels, essays, philosophies and other literature that was radically different from anything else being written in England, Germany, France or any other European nation. These people were struggling to define spirituality and religion in a way that took into account the new understandings their age made possible. Thinking was leaning in the direction of Romantic thinking and less toward rational thinking. German philosopher Kant raised both questions and insights into the religious and philosophical thinking about reason and religion. At this time scriptures of non-Western cultures were discovered in America and published so that they were more widely available. Waldo Ralph Emerson and other leading Transcedentalists read Hindu and Buddhist scriptures and compare their own religious assumptions to these. They believed a loving God would not have led so much of humanity astray and that there must be truth in these new scriptures as well. Most of the Transcendentalists became involved as well in social reform movements, especially anti-slavery and women's rights. //Sellers// //[]//
 * 169. Transcendentalism:**

Born in Boston, Massachusetts on May 25th, 1803, Ralph Waldo Emerson grew up to be a famous American lecturer, essayist, and poet. Emerson is best remembered for leading the Transcendentalist movement during the mid-19th century when expressing the philosophy of Transcendentalism in his essay, //Nature,// written in 1836//.// He also wrote about many other topics such as individuality, freedom, and the relationship between the soul and the world. Emerson passed away in Concord, Massachusetts on April 27th, 1882. [] RM's baby
 * 170. Ralph Waldo Emerson:**

Henry David Thoreau was a well known American author, poet, abolitionist, naturalist, historian, philosopher, and a leading transcendentalist. Thoreau was born on July 12, 1817. He studied at Harvard University between 1833 and 1837 taking courses such as rhetoric, classics, philosophy, mathematics, and science. Thoreau is best know for his book //Walden//, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay, //Civil Disobedience//, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state. His literary style combines natural observation, personal experience, pointed rhetoric, symbolic meanings, and historical lore. Thoreau passed away on May 6th, 1862. [] RM's baby
 * 171. Henry David Thoreau:**


 * 172. Civil Disobedience:** Written by Henry David Thoreau, was originally titled Resistance to Civil Government. In this essay, Thoreau says that governments are more harmful then helpful and are, therefore, unjustifiable. The government is instead a primary agent of corruption and injustice. In the essay, he says that the government should not be capable of overruling their consciences. People should not allow the government to make them do anything that would be considered unjust. The topics dealt with in the essay include slavery and American Imperialism, especially the Mexican American War. [KV]


 * 173. Margaret Fuller:** Sarah Margaret Fuller Ossoli was an American journalist, critic, and women's right advocate associated with the American transcendentalism movement. She was the first full-time American female book reviewer in journalism. Her book Woman in the 19th Centrury is considered the first major feminist work in the United States. Fuller received a devent education by her father, but later received a more formal education. She became a teacher and in 1839, she began overseeing discussions among women meant to compensate for their lack of access to higher education. Fuller was the first editor of the transcendentalist journal The Dial in 1840, before joining the staff of the New York Tribune under Horace Greeley in 1844. By the time she was in her 30s, Fuller earned a reputation as the best read person in New England, male or female. She also became the first woman allowed to use the library at Harvard. Fuller was an advocate of women's rights and, in particular, women's education and the right to employment. She also encouraged many other reforms in society, including emancipation of slaves and prison reform in the United States. HANNAH WOLF

James Fenimore Cooper was on born on September 15, 1789. At the age of 13 he was accepted to Yale but later was expelled due to pranks he pulled on the administration. By the age of 18, Cooper received a job as a sailor and later joined the U.S. Navy. Cooper published his first novel, //Precaution,// in 1823. He began to publish more books and became a very well known American author. He wrote many sea stories and historical novels such as the //Leatherstocking Tales.// Often said to be his masterpiece, the romantic novel, //The Last of the Mohicans//, became one his most famous works. Cooper passed away at the age of 61 on September 14th, 1851. [] RM's baby
 * 174. James Fenimore Cooper:**


 * 175. Herman Melville:** Melville was an American novelist, writer, essay writer, and poet. His work is often classified as Dark Romanticism. He is best known for his novel Moby Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd. Although his first book was a best seller, he experinced a decline in popularity, almost being forgotten when he died. It was not until the "Melville Revival" in the early 20th century that his work won recognition, especially Moby Dick, which was hailed as one of the literary masterpieces of both American and world literature. He was the first writer to have his works collected and published by the Library of America. HANNAH WOLF

Much of Hawthorne's writing takes place in New England. His works featuring moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration. His fiction works are considered dark romanticism. His themes often center on the inherent evil and sin of humanity, and often have moral messages and deep psychological complexity. His published works include novels, short stories, and a biography of his friend Franklin Pierce. HANNAH WOLF
 * 176. Nathaniel Hawthorne:** Hawthorne anonymously published his first work, a novel titled Fanshawe, in 1828. He published several short stories in various periodicals which he collected in 1837 as Twice Told Tales. He worked at a Custom House and joined Brook Farm, a transcendentalist community, before marrying Sophia Peabody in 1842. The couple moved to Concord, Massacusettes, and then to Salem, and then back to Concord. Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850, followed by a succession of other novels.


 * 177. Edgar Allan Poe:** Poe was a was an American writer, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career. Poe was orphaned young when his mother died shortly after his father abandoned the family, and was then taken in by John and Frances Allan, but they never formally adopted him. He attended the UVA for one semester but left due to lack of money to enlist in the Army and later fail as an officer's cadet. His publishing career began humbly, with an anonymous collection of poems, credited only to a "Bostonian." Poe switched his focus to prose and spent the next several years working for literary journals and periodicals, becoming known for his own style of literary criticism. Poe and his works influenced literature in the United States and around the world, as well as in specialized fields, such as cosmology and cryptography. HANNAH WOLF

One of the first noted American authors to be highly acclaimed in Europe during his life time, Irving was a fiction and non-fiction writer for the Romantic era. He made his debut in a local newspaper called the Morning Chronicle. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works include biographies of George Washington, Oliver Goldsmith and Muhammad, and several histories of 15th-century Spain dealing with subjects such as Christopher Columbus, the Moors, and the Alhambra. KW __[]__ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator. His main works he created were //Paul Revere's Ride, The Song of Hiawatha,// and //Evangeline.// Longfellow was born on February 27th, 1807 and grew up in Portland, Maine. At the age of three he was enrolled into a dame school and by the age of six he enrolled into the Portland Academy. When Longfellow was only fifteen, he enrolled at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. It was here where he met Nathanial Hawthorne and they continued to be lifelong friends. He was encouraged by his professor, Thomas Cogswell Upham, to accomplish his literary goals. Between 1824 and 1825, Longfellow had published nearly forty poems. Though his works are categorized as lyric poetry he also wrote poems with hexameter and free verse. Longfellow passed away on March 24th, 1882 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. [] RM's baby
 * 178. Washington Irving:**
 * 179. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:**


 * 180. Walt Whitman:** Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. Also a humanist, he took part in the transition between to realism from transcendentalism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman worked as a journalist, a teacher, a government clerk, poet, and a volunteer nurse during the Civil War. Early in his career, he produced a novel, Franklin Evans. Whitman's major work, Leaves of Grass, was first published in 1855 with his own money. Whitman is among the most influential poets in America, often called the "father of the free verse." His work was very controversial at the time, particularly his collection //Leaves of Grass//, which was criticized as obscene for its overt sexuality. Whitman's sexuality is also extremely controversial, many believing that he was either homosexual or bisexual. Whitman was extremely concerned with politics, and opposed the extension of slavery generally. His poetry presented an egalitarian view of the races, and at one point he called for the abolition of slavery, but later he saw the abolitionist movement as a threat to democracy. HANNAH WOLF

**PG 13**