/lit/ - Literature

>>13194084
the united states before the civil war *were* full of brilliant intellectuals at the dawn of a new era; the national character of the age was inextricably bound to the spirit of freedom. individualism was a core value and present in much of the literature.

the united states after the civil war *was* (and is) a jaded nation full of soulless industrialism and civil strife.

some of this was brought on by the war itself, some of it was due to the second industrial revolution, some was caused by immigration and the emancipation of slaves introducing new ethnicities and thereby causing more conflict in cities that were previously intellectual centers of the country such as new york and boston. the "melting pot" destroyed any distinguishable national culture from before and created a new, far inferior one. the sense of national optimism that coexisted with a spirit of individualism that was ever-present during the first 80 years of the country's existence was diluted to the point of non-existence in this "melting pot."
all of these changes occurred in the fifty years following that terrible war of northern aggression and southern insolence, the changes that slowly dismantled the established national culture and replaced it with something much worse.