Civil War & Mark Twain project

1. Civil War

1.1. The Civil War occured from April 12, 1861 - May 9, 1865

1.2. The Civil War started because of uncompromising differences between the free and the slave states over the power of the national government to prohibit slavery in the territories that had not yet become states.

1.3. Issues of the American Civil War include questions about the name of the war, the tariff, states' rights and the nature of Abraham Lincoln's war goals

1.4. The central figures of the Civil War were; Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, and Ulysses S. Grant

1.5. The Homestead Act provided that any adult citizen, or intended citizen, who had never borne arms against the U.S. government could claim 160 acres of surveyed government land.

1.6. The effects of the war was that the nation was reunited and the southern states were not allowed to sucede.

1.7. The Civil War was the bloodiest war ever fought on American soil. During the Civil War, 2% of the population died, that is equivalent to 6 million men today.

1.8. link to more info

2. Mark Twain

2.1. Mark Twain was born on November 30‚ 1835 in Florida‚ Missouri

2.2. The real person was Samuel Langhorne Clemens. When he began writing, he chose the nom de plume, or pen name, of “Mark Twain.” “Mark Twain” is a riverboat term measuring two fathoms (12 feet) in depth: mark (measure) twain (two).

2.3. During his long life, he was a printer's apprentice and a riverboat pilot, a prospector who never struck gold, and a confederate soldier who never fought a battle.

2.4. In a 1853 letter, Mark Twain wrote: "I reckon I had better black my face, for in these Eastern states, n***s are considerably better than white people."

2.5. He wrote constantly, newspaper stories, poetry, plays, political diatribes, travel pieces, irreverent musings about religion, and a series of autobiographical sketches

2.6. Mark Twain was to become most famous for writing 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer' and its sequel, 'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'.

2.7. In the long controversy that has been Huckleberry Finn's history, the novel has been criticized, censored, and banned for an array of perceived failings, including obscenity, atheism, bad grammar, coarse manners, low moral tone, and antisouthernism.

2.8. Link to more info

3. Types of Writing

3.1. Romanticism was a movement in art and literature in the 18th and 19th centuries in revolt against the Neoclassicism of the previous centuries. Romanticism was popular from 1800-1850. Romanticism became unpopular because of social and political changes and the spread of nationalism.

3.2. Realism was an artistic or literary portrayal of life in a faithful, accurate manner, unclouded by false ideals, literary conventions, or misplaced aesthetic glorification and beautification of the world.

3.3. Naturalism aims at accuracy and objectivity and cultivates realistic and even sordid portrayals of people and their enviorment.

3.4. Local Color writing was fiction and poetry that focuses on the characters, dialect, customs, topography, and other features particular to a specific region.

3.5. Link to more info

4. Literature

4.1. During the Civil War era, lots of poetry was written.

4.2. Different social cultures and political beliefs developed. All of this led to disagreements on issues such as taxes, tariffs and internal improvements as well as states rights versus federal rights.

4.3. Some major themes in writing during this era were; slavery, the role of women, and the experience of war.

4.4. Spirituals are generally Christian songs that were created by African slaves in the United States.

4.5. Some of the key writers during this era were; Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Stephen Crane, and Ambrose Bierce

4.6. Link to more info