American Literature since 1865

Emily Dickinson Dies

Walt Whitman Dies

Civil War Ends

Arthur Miller Born

Arthur Miller Dies

Arthur Miller's The Crucible first performed

Cold War Starts

Cold War Ends

World War 1 Starts

World War 1 Ends

F. Scott Fitzgerald Born

F. Scott Fitzgerald Dies

Robert Frost Dies

Harper Lee Born

Harper 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 born

John Steinbeck Dies

John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath is published

Ernest Hemigway Born

Ernest Hemingway Dies

J. D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye is published

Black Tuesday marks the start of the Great Depression

Korean War Starts

Korean War Ends

Plessy v. Ferguson

13th Amendment Ratified

14th Amendment Ratified

15th Amendment Ratified

Suzanne 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 published

Suzanne Collins' Mockingjay is published

Martin Luther King Jr. is killed

Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is published

Fredrick 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 published

The Titanic sinks

Upton 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 written

The mass suicide at the People's Temple Agricultural Project

World War 2 Starts

World War 2 Ends

The Attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese brings the U.S. into World War 2

Mark Twain's "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is published

Voting Rights Act of 1965 is signed into law

Terriosts attack the World Trade Center in New York City

The Wright Brothers successfully test the first steerable aircraft

Tim 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 Starts

Vietnam War Ends

President Kennedy is Assassinated

NASA is formed

Alice 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 published

Clara Barton founds the American Red Cross

Prohibiton goes into effect with the passing of the Volstead Act

Barack Obama becomes the first African American president of the U.S.

The Internet becomes available to the general public

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded

Louisa May Alcott's Little Women in published

Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is published

Theodore 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 published

Gertrude Stein's Three Lives is published

F. Scott Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise is published

John Steinbeck's East of Eden is published

Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five is published

Joseph Heller's Catch-22 is published

Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises is published

Jack Kerouac's On the Road is published

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is published

Truman Capote's In Cold Blood is published

Jeffrey 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 published

Richard Wright's Native Son is published

Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God is published

Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar is published

F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Beautiful and Damned is published

Don DeLillo's Underworld is published

Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead is published

Henry James' The Portrait of a Lady is published

Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome is published

Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye is published

Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 is published

Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio is published

Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi is published

Frank Norris' McTeague is published

Elizabeth Stuart Phelps' The Silent Partner is published

Harold Frederic's The Damnation of Theron Ware is published

Robert Frost Born

Robert Frost's A Boy's Will is published

Robert Frost's North of Boston is published

Langston Hughes born

Langston Hughes dies

Allen Ginsberg born

Allen Ginsberg dies

Allen Ginsberg's Howl and Other Poems is published

Gwendolyn Brooks born

Gwendolyn Brooks dies

Gwendolyn Brooks' A Street in Bronzeville is published

Robert Lowell Born

Robert Lowell dies

Richard Bach's Johnathan Livingston Seagull is published

Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward's All the President's Men is published

Peter Benchley's Jaws is published

Alex Haley's Roots: The Saga of an American Family is published

David Halberstam's The Best and the Brightest is published

Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game is published

Stephen King's It is published

Thomas Harris' The Silence of the Lambs is published

Veronica Roth's Divergent is published

Tom Clancy's The Hunt for Red October is publoished

Toni Morrison's Beloved is published

Lois Lowry's Number the Stars is published

Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Identity is published

Louis Sachar's Holes is published

Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park is published

John Krakauer's Into the Wild is published

Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho is published

Ray 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 published

Lloyd C Douglas' The Robe is published

Henry James' The American Scene is published

Jack London's White Fang is published

Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth is published

Robert Herrick's The Common Lot is published

Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind is published

William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying is published

Sinclair Lewis' Ann Vickers is published

Bret Harte's The Tale of the Argonauts is published

Henry James' The American is published

Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall's The Mutiny on the Bounty is published

Jeam Toomer's Cane is publsihed

Henry James' The Aspern Papers is published

Mary E. Wilkins Freeman's A Humble Romance is published

Grace Elizabeth King's Tales of a Time and Place

John Grisham Jr.'s The Pelican Brief is published

Anne Rice's Lasher is published

Sinclair 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 published

Edgar Rice Burrough's Tarzan of the Apes is published

L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is published

Jacob 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 published

Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are is published

Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat is published

Ralph 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.

American Literature since 1865