A Nation Divided.

The Civil War sharply interrupted American literary activity. Although several major authors of the American Renaissance continued to write after the war ended, most had done their best work by 1860. The Civil War was traumatic, and the debate over slavery that preceded it challenged the notion that America was founded on the democratic ideal set forth in the Declaration of Independence: that "all men are created equal." The widely held idea of America as a nation free of European immorality and excess was further undermined by widespread political corruption in Washington, D.C.; by the growing industrialism that moved people from farms to cities and led to bitter quarrels between workers and employers; by increased immigration, which spawned ethnic animosities; and by westward expansion, which triggered conflicts with Native Americans. No longer could Americans look to the...