During this time writers thought that the truth should be relied on Bible, churchmen, authorities, or practice and experience.

 (2) Early National Literature

During the period of American Revolution War, American national literature came into being. Since before the war, American people have already had the awareness of national independence, so they wrote many political writings revolutionary poems.

The war helped the first important American prose writers and poets grow up both culturally and artistically. Furthermore, the independence of nation led to the independence of national literature. From this moment on, American people began to understand of meaning of being a real ”American“.

3. The flourishing of American literature in 19th century

From the 1820’s to the Civil War broke out, American literature entered a period of full blooming. Writings all characterized by a distinct national style and flavor. At the same time, the world as a whole was experiencing a change in ways of thinking: there was a move from classical ideas to romantic ones. This change was taking place in all areas of culture around the world. This was an exciting period in the history of American literature. Like the flowers of spring, there were suddenly many different kinds of writing at the same time. All the works have an optimistic spirit. They represented the various and quick development of American national literature.

(1)  Early Romantics

In early 19th century, Washington Irving (1783-1859), the person born with the new nation, his The Sketch Book created a new style of American literature—short novel. James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) His "Leather-Stocking" novels told us a story about how the brave immigrants fight with savage using what they have learnt from nature.

Another famous writer of this time was William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878), he was regarded one of the earliest naturalist poets in American history. His greatest poem Thanatopsis was published in the North American Review in 1817. He appreciates normal birds and flowers, through which appreciated harmonious relationship between human and nature. The Romantics emphasized individualism and they thought feelings and emotions were more important than reason and common sense.

(2) The Transcendentalism

 “The New England Transcendentalism was romantic idealism on puritan soil” (Wu Dingbo: 28). It stressed the power of intuition placed spirit first, and it took nature as symbolic of spirit or God. There were three main features of Transcendentalism were Unitarianism, idealistic philosophy, and oriental mysticism. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), the leader of American Transcendentalism. “He captained a group of enthusiast and formed a transcendental club with them. He also helped to set up and edited the transcendentalist journal The Dial. ” He had written many famous essays. Among the best are Nature and The American Scholar, which has been called “America’s Declaration of Intellectual Independence”. Emerson wrote in The American Scholar (1837), a man must "learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within." The main key to this inner world is the imagination. Man's imagination leads to expression. Our expression makes each of us a unique human. Romanticism became the way of thinking for this generation of writers.