Wednesday, October 10, 2007

1816 to 1818

Literature
The Itching Parrot. Jose Fernandez de Lizardi. Mexican. 1816. Novel. Engaging rogue. Realistic picture of Mexican society on the eve of independence.


The Antiquary. Sir Walter Scott. British. 1816. Novel. Scott's favorite. Love of William Lovel for daughter of Sir Arthur Wardour in the time of George III.


Society
1817. Chile wins her liberation from Spain.


1817. Ohio Indians sign a treaty ceding their remaining 4 million acres of land to the U.S.


1817. The Seminole War begins as Georgia backwoodsmen attack Indians just north of the Florida border in retaliation for depredations by tribesmen.


1817. Gov. DeWitt Clinton of New York orders construction of a 363-mile Erie Canal that will connect Buffalo on Lake Erie with Troy on the Hudson River.


Literature
Lalla Rookh. Thomas Moore. Irish. 1817. Tales. Four oriental tales. Daughter of emperor of Delhi on way to meet her betrothed. Meets poet who relates tales. She falls in love with him. He turns out to be her betrothed.


"Inscription for the entrance to a Wood." William Cullen Bryant. American. 1817. Poetry. Finds solace in the woods for the guilt and misery of the world.


Manfred. Lord Byron. British. 1817. Poetic Drama. Hero sells himself to the Devil and lives without human sympathies in solitude in the Alps.


Thanatopsis. William Cullen Bryant. American. 1817. Poetry. Seeks comfort in nature for death. Time comes to join the "innumerable caravan."

Society
1818. Congress adopts a flag with 13 alternate red and white stripes and with a blue square containing a white star for each state of the Union.

1818. The Seminole War ends in Florida. Spain cedes Florida to the U.S.

1818. The tin can is introduced to America by Peter Durant.

Literature
Northanger Abbey. Jane Austen. British. 1818. Novel. Girl imagines Abbey is Gothic nightmare; not true.

Persausion. Jane Austen. British. 1818. Novel. After 8 years, engagement is broken; however, lovers are reunited.

Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. British. 1818. Romance. Animates soulless monster; he longs for sympathy; shunned and turns to evil.

Beppo. Lord Byron. British. 1818. Poetry. Husband of Laura, a Venetian lady. Captive at Troy. Adventures. Returns to native land. Reunited.

"Ozymandias." Percy Bysshe Shelley. British. 1818. Poetry. Ironic comment on the vanity and futility of a tyrant's power.

The Heart of Midlothian. Sir Walter Scott. British. 1818. Novel. Old jail, center of Edinburgh. Porteous riots, 1736. Effie Deans seduced. Kills child. Sentenced to die.

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