American Literature since 1865
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Updated 8 Aug 2018
Significant literary and historical events since 1865
Compiled by Brady Duke
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Created byBrady Duke
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Emily Dickinson DiesWalt Whitman DiesCivil War EndsArthur Miller BornArthur Miller DiesArthur Miller's The Crucible
first performedCold War StartsCold War EndsWorld War 1 StartsWorld War 1 EndsF. Scott Fitzgerald BornF. Scott Fitzgerald DiesRobert Frost DiesHarper Lee BornHarper Lee's To Kill a
Mockingbird is published
Despite the gaining momentum of the Civil
Rights movement, Black people faced constant
prejudice in the U.S. south. Harper Lee, with To
Kill a Mockingbird, showed the de facto racism
which permeated all aspects of life for southern
Blacks. Furthermore, it portrayed the lack of
protections under the law that Blacks faced.
Because it resonated across cultural lines, it was
an instant classic which is still taught in
classrooms today.John Steinbeck bornJohn Steinbeck DiesJohn Steinbeck's The Grapes
of Wrath is publishedErnest Hemigway BornErnest Hemingway DiesJ. D. Salinger's Catcher in
the Rye is publishedBlack Tuesday marks the
start of the Great DepressionKorean War StartsKorean War EndsPlessy v. Ferguson13th Amendment Ratified14th Amendment Ratified15th Amendment RatifiedSuzanne Collins' The Hunger
Games is published
With the growing popularity of reality television,
Collins noticed U.S. citizens becoming
increasingly voyeuristic. Nevertheless, this
attitude permeated all aspects of life, causing
desensitization to real tragedy, such as war.
With The Hunger Games, Collins challenged the
ethics of reality television as well as society's
morals. The Hunger Games forced society to
confront their normalization of suffering as a
sort of call to action for change.Suzanne Collins' Catching
Fire is publishedSuzanne Collins' Mockingjay
is publishedMartin Luther King Jr.
is killedMark Twain's The Adventures
of Tom Sawyer is publishedFredrick Douglass' The Life and
Times of Fredrick Douglass is
published
Raised as a slave, Douglass became a major
participant in the abolitionist movement upon
gaining his freedom. In The Life and Times of
Fredrick Douglass, he recounted years of abuse;
his escape to the North and his eventual
freedom. With this publication, he questioned
the true nature of freedom in a land of
independence. This publication, furthermore,
serves as one of few narratives actually written by a
slave.Mark Twain's The Adventure of
Huckleberry Finn is publishedThe Titanic sinksUpton Sinclair's The Jungle
is published
Trying to advance socialism in the
United States, Sinclair hoped to
uncover the harsh lives of immigrants
in U.S. cities. Sinclair published The
Jungle after working for weeks in meatpacking
plants in Chicago. Despite his efforts to highlight the
realities of the working-class, the public
ultimately called for reforms to the meatpacking
industry. Although Sinclair's ultimate goal to
advance socialism was never achieved, he earned
the title of muckraker.F. Scott Fitzgerald's The
Great Gatsby is published
Inspired by parties be attended, Fitzgerald used
The Great Gatsby to critique the American
Dream. Published during the 20s, a time of vast
extravagance, Fitzgerald reminded society that
money does not ensure happiness. While early
publication proved to be unfruitful, The Great
Gatsby has gone on to be considered a classic
American novel. Due to its timeless themes, The
Great Gatsby is still widely relevant to
contemporary society and life.Martin Luther King Jr.'s
Letter from Birmingham Jail
is writtenThe mass suicide at the People's
Temple Agricultural ProjectWorld War 2 StartsWorld War 2 EndsThe Attack on Pearl Harbor
by the Japanese brings the
U.S. into World War 2Mark Twain's "The Celebrated
Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"
is publishedVoting Rights Act of 1965
is signed into lawTerriosts attack the World
Trade Center in New York CityThe Wright Brothers successfully
test the first steerable aircraftTim O'Brien's The Things
They Carried is published
As the Vietnam War continued without end,
public sentiments against the war grew stronger.
Noticing misconceptions of returning
soldiers by citizens, O'Brien wished to
rationalize the experiences of veterans.
Through The Things They carried,
O'Brien attempted to explain the
alienation war veterans faced upon returning home.
While his portrayals of war did not resonate with everyone,
it allowed the public to understand the soldiers' sentiments.Vietnam War StartsVietnam War EndsPresident Kennedy is AssassinatedNASA is formedAlice Walker's The Color
Purple is published
Tackling difficult realities of life, Alice Walker
wished to highlight social problems no one
wished to address. Alice Walker, with The Color
Purple, focused on issues prevalent in society
during the 80s, such as homosexuality.
Furthermore, breaking a cultural silence on
these issues, she challenged the respectability
politics of the 80s. In 1983, The Color Purple
received the Pulitzer Prize despite the
controversy surrounding the content.Amy Tan's The Joy Luck
Club is publishedClara Barton founds the
American Red CrossProhibiton goes into effect
with the passing of the
Volstead ActBarack Obama becomes the
first African American president
of the U.S.The Internet becomes available
to the general publicThe National Association for
the Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP) is foundedLouisa May Alcott's Little
Women in publishedMark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee
in King Arthur's Court is publishedTheodore Dreiser's Sister
Carrie is published
Challenging the Victorian morals of the 19th
century, Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie
showed the extremes to which people are
willing to go to achieve the American dream.
going against social norms of the time,
Carrie partook in sexual relations without
consequence. Furthermore, Sister Carrie
painted American cities in a negative light,
showing a lack of innocence. Despite the
controversy, Sister Carrie is considered the
greatest of all American urban novels.Jack London's The Iron
Heel is publishedGertrude Stein's Three
Lives is publishedF. Scott Fitzgerald's This
Side of Paradise is publishedJohn Steinbeck's East of
Eden is publishedKurt Vonnegut's
Slaughterhouse-Five
is publishedJoseph Heller's Catch-22
is publishedErnest Hemingway's The
Sun Also Rises is publishedJack Kerouac's On the
Road is publishedRalph Ellison's Invisible
Man is publishedTruman Capote's In Cold
Blood is publishedJeffrey Eugenides'
Middlesex is published
With the growing acceptance of homosexuality
throughout the 21st century, Eugenides'
Middlesex sought to explain gender identity, a
topic that remained commonly misunderstood.
Middlesex told the struggles hermaphrodites
experience as they grow up coming to terms
their gender identity. While it did not specifically focus on
transgenderism, its message resonated with the
LGBT community. Due to impact on the LGBT
community, Eugenides won the Pulitzer Prize.Cormac McCarthy's The
Road is publishedRichard Wright's Native
Son is publishedZora Neale Hurston's
Their Eyes Were Watching God
is publishedSylvia Plath's The
Bell Jar is publishedF. Scott Fitzgerald's The
Beautiful and Damned
is publishedDon DeLillo's Underworld
is publishedNorman Mailer's The Naked
and the Dead is publishedHenry James' The Portrait
of a Lady is publishedEdith Wharton's Ethan
Frome is publishedToni Morrison's The
Bluest Eye is publishedThomas Pynchon's The
Crying of Lot 49 is publishedSherwood Anderson's
Winesburg, Ohio is publishedMark Twain's Life
on the Mississippi is
publishedFrank Norris' McTeague
is publishedElizabeth Stuart Phelps'
The Silent Partner is publishedHarold Frederic's The
Damnation of Theron Ware
is publishedRobert Frost BornRobert Frost's A Boy's
Will is publishedRobert Frost's North
of Boston is publishedLangston Hughes bornLangston Hughes diesAllen Ginsberg bornAllen Ginsberg diesAllen Ginsberg's Howl and
Other Poems is publishedGwendolyn Brooks bornGwendolyn Brooks diesGwendolyn Brooks' A Street
in Bronzeville is publishedRobert Lowell BornRobert Lowell diesRichard Bach's Johnathan
Livingston Seagull is publishedCarl Bernstein and Bob Woodward's
All the President's Men is publishedPeter Benchley's Jaws
is publishedAlex Haley's Roots: The Saga of an
American Family is publishedDavid Halberstam's The
Best and the Brightest is
publishedOrson Scott Card's Ender's
Game is publishedStephen King's It is
publishedThomas Harris' The Silence
of the Lambs is publishedVeronica Roth's Divergent
is publishedTom Clancy's The Hunt
for Red October is publoishedToni Morrison's Beloved
is publishedLois Lowry's Number the
Stars is publishedRobert Ludlum's The Bourne
Identity is publishedLouis Sachar's Holes
is publishedMichael Crichton's Jurassic
Park is publishedJohn Krakauer's Into
the Wild is publishedBret Easton Ellis' American
Psycho is publishedRay Bradbury's Farenheit
451 is published
Ray Bradbury published Fahrenheit 451 as a
forewarning for society's growing affinity for
radio and television. While Bradbury never
intended to reflect on censorship, undoubtedly
Fahrenheit 451 addressed growing concerns
regarding conformity and the death of free
thought. Fahrenheit 451 forced readers to
think upon the value of free speech. Today,
Bradbury's concerns are more relevant,
as the speed of daily life and resignation to the
status quo has increased.John Steinbeck's Of
Mice and Men is published
Noticing a lack of social and economic
support for the lower-class, Steinbeck
questioned the authenticity of the American
Dream. Of Mice and Men showed the
impossibility of attaining wealth for the working
class. He argued that America provides little
opportunity to better oneself; one is stuck
where they are born. The brokenness of the
American dream continued to influence his
work, with the publication of Steinbeck's
renowned novel The Grapes of Wrath.Emily Dickinson's Poem
1577 is publishedLloyd C Douglas'
The Robe is publishedHenry James' The American
Scene is publishedJack London's White
Fang is publishedEdith Wharton's The House
of Mirth is publishedRobert Herrick's The
Common Lot is publishedMargaret Mitchell's Gone
With the Wind is publishedWilliam Faulkner's As I Lay
Dying is publishedSinclair Lewis' Ann
Vickers is publishedBret Harte's The Tale of the
Argonauts is publishedHenry James' The
American is publishedCharles Nordhoff and James Norman
Hall's The Mutiny on the Bounty
is publishedJeam Toomer's Cane
is publsihedHenry James' The
Aspern Papers is publishedMary E. Wilkins Freeman's
A Humble Romance is publishedGrace Elizabeth King's
Tales of a Time and PlaceJohn Grisham Jr.'s The
Pelican Brief is publishedAnne Rice's Lasher
is publishedSinclair Lewis' Babbitt
is published
Criticizing U.S. citizens' lifestyles during the
Great Depression, Lewis wrote
Babbitt to satirize American culture's emphasis
on conformity. Babbitt idealized societal rebels
who go against cultural expectations while
mocking average, middle-class citizens.
Nevertheless, Babbitt was met with
controversy, as many people saw business
as a means for stability and for fighting
communism. However, the contention
surrounding Babbitt won Lewis the
Nobel Prize for literature.Stephen King's Carrie
is published
Marking a new era of horror literature, Stephen
King's Carrie is his first published novel.
Presenting an extreme, Carrie talked
of the emotional trauma adolescents inflict and
exhibit on a day to day basis, a widely
overlooked topic. Carrie forced society to
examine the state of American classrooms as
well as the lack of inaction from faculty
regarding bullying. Furthermore, the
development of social media only exacerbated
King's message, making it more relevant today.Lucretia P. Hale's The
Peterkin Papers is publishedEdgar Rice Burrough's
Tarzan of the Apes is publishedL. Frank Baum's The Wonderful
Wizard of Oz is publishedJacob Rii's How the Other
Half Lives is published
Noticing ignorance among the middle and upper
class society, Riis wished to highlight the
dangerous living conditions in tenements. Riis
published How the Other Half Lives after
lecturing and taking photos of the dwellings of
the lower class. After publication, How the Other
Half Lives sparked reform to improve the
conditions of working-class housing.
Furthermore, Riis' work served as a basis for
future muckrakers wishing to incite change.Gillian Flynn's Gone
Girl is publishedMaurice Sendak's Where the
Wild Things Are is publishedDr. Seuss' The Cat in
the Hat is publishedRalph Waldo Emerson's
Society and Solitude is published
During the mid 19th century, Emerson
led the transcendentalist movement
stressing the needs of the individual.
With his renown, he lectured across the
country sharing his contemporary philosophies.
Publishing his most famous lectures in Society and
Solitude, Emerson argued for a balance between
individuals and society. Making Christianity look
outdated, Emerson presented a
modern philosophy more in line with
the democratic values of the nation.Periods
American Literature since 1865
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