American Literature Timeline

By mqconley
  • Period: to

    1600 - Present

  • Period: to

    Enlightment

    An intellectual movement.
  • The Sugar Act of 1764

    The Sugar Act of 1764

    Tax imposed on sugar by British gov't.
  • Period: to

    Gothic Fiction

    Set the plot for modern day horror stories.
  • Townshend Act of 1767

    Townshend Act of 1767

    Laws punishing the American colonies.
  • Independence Day

    Independence Day

    America gains its independence.

  • "A Dream Within A Dream" by Edgar Allan Poe

  • Period: to

    Transcendentalism

    A 19th-century American movement
  • Period: to

    Realism

    Work that is honest and not exaggerated.
  • The Compromise of 1850

    The Compromise of 1850

    Bills fixing issues between free North states and South slave states.
  • Lincoln Elected President

    Lincoln Elected President

    Lincoln becomes 16th president of the United States.
  • Attack on Fort Sumter

    Attack on Fort Sumter

    Attack on Fort Sumter marked the beginning of the Civil War.

  • "O Captain! My Captain!" by Walt Whitman

  • "The adventures of Huckleberry" Finn by Mark Twain

    "The adventures of Huckleberry" Finn by Mark Twain

  • Period: to

    Modernism

  • "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost

  • Period: to

    Dadaism

  • Period: to

    The Harlem Renaissance

    A cultural movement based in Harlem. Also known as the "New Negro Movement".
  • Period: to

    Surrealism

    Broke down the wall between rational and irrational.
  • "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

    "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

  • "Gone with the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell

    "Gone with the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell

  • "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston

    "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston

  • "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck

    "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck

  • Period: to

    Post-Modernism

    Extends to present day.

  • Beginning of the Beat Generation

    Began in 1950s before merging into the Hippie movement in the 1960s.
  • "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger

    "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger

  • "I Carry Your Heart With Me" by E.E. Cummings

  • "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee

    "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee

  • "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

    "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

  • "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein

  • "Moby-Dick" by Herman Melville

    "Moby-Dick" by Herman Melville

  • Barack Obama Elected President

    Barack Obama Elected President

    The first African American president.