1818 to 1820

Literature

Nightmare Abbey. Thomas Love Peacock. British. 1818. Novel. Satirizes leading figures and concepts of romanticism in England.

Society

1819. Spain cedes eastern Florida and all its possessions east of the Mississippi to the U.S.

1819. Unitarianism is founded by Boston Congregationalist pastor William Ellery Channing who becomes the leader of a group that denies the holiness of the Trinity and believes in only one Divine Being.

1819. The University of Virginia is chartered at Charlottesville, 3 miles west of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello estate. The ex-president has been instrumental in obtaining the charter and is planning the grounds, buildings and curriculum of the new university.

Literature

The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. Washington Irving. American. 1819. Sketches. Sketches of English landscape and culture. Contains "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle."

"Rip Van Winkle." Washington Irving. American. 1819. Story. Falls asleep before the Revolution and 20 years later wakes up. Contrast between the new and old societies.

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Washington Irving. American. 1819. Story. Brom Bones masquerades as the headless horseman and scares the schoolmaster out of town.

"Ode to a Nightingale." John Keats. British. 1819. Poetry. Feeling of melancholy because of mortality, but the bird's song is immortal.

Bride of Lammermoor. Sir Walter Scott. British. 1819. Novel. Lucy Ashton. Her father ruins Ravenswood whose son Edgar falls in love with Lucy. Forced to marry someone else, she murders her husband and dies of convulsions. Distraught, Edgar dies in quicksand on his way to a duel. Historic incident.

"The Eve of St. Agnes." John Keats. British. 1819. Poetry. Legend that on the Eve of St. Agnes, maidens are allowed a glimpse of their future husbands. Sensuous imagery.

"Ode to a Grecian Urn." John Keats. British. 1819. Poetry. Perfection and timelessness of art contrasted to living world of change.

Ivanhoe. Sir Walter Scott. British. 1819. Novel. Post-Norman conquest. Saxons vs. Normans. Real heroine is a Jewess, Rebecca. Richard I. Robin Hood. Chivalry. Tournament.

"La Belle Dame sans Merci." John Keats. British. 1819. Poetry. Taken from an early French poem by Alain Chartier. Medieval imagery.

Don Juan. Lord Byron. British. 1819/24. Satiric Poetry. World-wide adventures. Digressions on wealth, power, society, chastity, poets, diplomats, England. Incomplete.

Society

1820. Britain's George III dies, succeeded by George IV.

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.

1815 to 1816

Society

1815. The Battle of Waterloo ends the career of Napoleon.

1815. The Battle of New Orleans, January 8, gives Americans their chief land victory in the War of 1812. It follows by two weeks the Treaty of Ghent that ended the war last December, but neither side is aware of the treaty. British troops try to seize New Orleans, French pirate-smuggler Jean Laffite reveals British plans to Gen. Andrew Jackson, many of Laffite's men join in the battle on the American side, and the British retire after 700 of their troops have been killed, 1,400 wounded. U.S. losses are 8 dead and 13 wounded.

1815. The Emperor Napoleon hears of discontent under France's restored Bourbon monarchy, leaves Elba, and lands at Cannes with 1,500 men, attracting thousands to his cause as he marches on Paris.

1815. A new alliance mobilizes to oppose the Little Corporal's renewed threat to peace. Austria, Prussia, Russia and Britain raise a million men.

1815. Napoleon abdicates once more Taken as a prisoner of war to the island of st. Helena in the South Atlantic, he will live there until his death in 1821.

1815. Switzerland is established as an independent confederation of 22 cantons.

1815. The New York State legislature approves a plan to finance an Erie Canal.

Literature

"To a Waterfowl." Wm. Cullen Bryant. American. 1815. Poetry. Describes flight of bird, which renews belief in divine guidance.

Adolphe. Benjamin Constant de Rebecque. French. 1815. Novel. Precursor of modern psychological novel. Protagonist deeply influenced by a woman of strong intellectual convictions.

Guy Mannering. Sir Walter Scott. British. 1815. Novel. Soap opera plot. Noted for characters Meg Merrilies and Dandie Dinmont.

"The Destruction of Sennacherib." Lord Byron. British. 1815. Poetry. Vividly portrays the plague that struck down the invading army of the Assyrian king in Palestine, 7th century, BC.

Society

1816. Brazil proclaims herself an empire.

1816. Argentina declares herself independent of Spain.

1816. President Madison's Secretary of State James Monroe wins election to the presidency.

1816. The Luddite movement that was suppressed in 1813 revives as a dismal harvest produces economic depression throughout Britain. Well-organized efforts are made to smash machinery in riots at many industrial centers. The movement will continue until rising prosperity ends it.

Literature

Headlong Hall. Thomas Love Peacock. British. 1816. Novel. Brilliantly witty. Satire of the idealistic aspirations of romanticism.

"The Prisoner of Chillon." Lord Byron. British. 1816. Poetry. Effects of long imprisonment--he becomes used to it.

Emma. Jane Austen. British. 1816. Novel. Emma plays matchmaker and causes trouble. Themes of self-delusion, class, decorum. Includes the garrulous Miss Bates.

1813 to 1814

Literature

The Swiss Family Robinson. JR Wyss. Swiss. 1813. Novel. Adventures of a Swiss clergyman, his wife and four sons, shipwrecked on a desert island.

Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen. British. 1813. Novel. Wife wants good match for each of five daughters. Elizabeth vs. Darcy.

Society

1814. The Battle of Laon begins a series of reverses for Napoleon.

1814. Allied troops storm Montmarte and the triumphant allies enter Paris.

1814. Napoleon abdicates unconditionally April 11 and is awarded sovereignty of the the 95-square-mile Mediterranean island of Elba.

1814. The Battle of Bladensburg 4 miles from Washington, D.C., August 24, ends in a rout of 7,000 U.S. militiamen by 3,000 British regulars who march into Washington, burn most of the city's public buildings, along with several private houses in retaliation for the burning of York (Toronto, teaching the U.S. government that green state militia cannot be relied upon for the nation's defense.

1814. A U.S. naval force under Lieut. Thomas Macdonough defeats and captures a British squadron on Lake Champlain September 11 in the Battle of Plattsburgh. 16,000 British troops that have launched an invasion from Canada are forced to retire, and the victory assures final success for the Americans.

1814. British ships bombard Baltimore's Fort McHenry, September 14; the bombardment is witnessed by Georgetown, Md., lawyer Francis Scott Key, who writes the Star Spangled Banner.

1814. Fire destroys most of the Library of Congress established in 1800 as British troops burn the Capitol.

1814. The White House at Washington gets its name as architect James Hoban works to rebuild the 15-year-old executive mansion and paints it white to conceal the marks of fire set by the British troops who have gutted the structure.

Literature

"Star Spangled Banner." Francis Scott Key. American. 1814. Song. "Written during the War of 1812. Sept. 13 and 14. Part scribbled on back of envelope. Sung to the tune of "To Anacreon in Heaven" by English composer John Stafford Smith. Became National Anthem in 1931 by act of Congress.

"Peter Schlemihl's Wundersame Geshichte." Adelbart von Chamisso. German. 1814. Story. Gives up shadow to gray stranger for purse. Balance between fantastic subject and matter-of-fact style in which it is treated.

"The Corsair." Lord Byron. British. 1814. Poetry. Adventures of Conrad the Pirate and Queen Guinare. Prototype of the Byronic hero.

Waverly. Sir Walter Scott. British. 1814. Novel. Background is the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745.

The Excursion. William Wordsworth. British. 1814. Poetry. Discusses virtue, religious faith, the industrial revolution and its social effects and the education of children.

Mansfield Park. Jane Austen. British. 1814. Novel. Girl adopted by rich uncle's family emerges triumphant after a soap opera plot.

1811 to 1813

Literature

Sense and Sensibility. Jane Austen. British. 1811. Novel. Two sisters represent sense and sensibility respectively in how they deal with lost suitors. Dignity and restraint vs. violently expressed grief.

"Bethgelert or the Grave of the Greyhound. William Rober Spencer. British. 1811. Poetry/ballad. Dog appears to have killed the baby and is stabbed. Actually he had saved the baby from a wolf.

"Undine." Friedrich von Fouque. German. 1811. Tale. Tragic love between water spirit Undine and a knight.

Poetry and Truth. Goethe. German. 1811/33. Autobiography. Attempt to explain the major strains of his inner development; the esential principles of his poetry.

Society
1812. Napoleon invades Russia in June as Britain and the U.S. go to war over the impressment of U.S. seamen.

1812. The Grande Armee of 600,000 invades Russia.

1812. British troops under the duke of Wellington defeat the French at Salamanca.

1812. The Battle of Borodino is a bloody encounter on the Moskovia River. Russia's wily field marshal Mikhail Kutusov, now 66, retreats to save his army.

1812. Napoleon enters Moscow, but most of the 300,000 inhabitants have fled, and fires set by the Russians burn much of Moscow in the next 5 days.

1812. Napoloon begins a retreat from Moscow, October 19, and the retreat turns into a rout. Crippled by ;hunger, cold and the lack of salt, harassed by Cossack troops and Russian irregulars, the invading force has dwindled to no more than 100,000 by mid-December when the survivors finally struggle across the Nieman river.

1812. The War of 1812 between Britain and the U.S. begins June 18.

1812. The British frigate Guerriere that has seized so many U.S. seamen is destroyed August 19 by the 15-year-old U.S. frigate Constitution under the command of Isaac Hull. The Constitution has won the name "Old Ironsides"because enemy cannonballs appear to bounce off her.

1812. The Luddite riots that began last year in England spread. Public opinion supports the rioters expecially after soldiers shoot down a band of Luddites at the reqquest of a threatened employer who is subsequently murdered.

Literature

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. Lord Byron. British. 1912. Narrative Poetry. Spenserian stanzas. Solitary pilgrimage. Evokes events, people associated with each place.

Society

1813. Wars of liberation against the French begin in the wake of Napoleon's disastrouos Russian expedition.

1813. The Battle of Leipzig October 16 to 19 will be called the "Battle of the Nations"; it ends in defeat for the emperor Napoleon, who has lost 219,000 men to typhus and 105,000 in battle.

1813. The War of 1812 continues between British and u>S. forces.

1813. Leaders of England's Luddite movement are hanged or transported after a mass trial at York.

1808 to 1811

Literature

Michael Kohlhaas. Henrich von Kleist. German. 1808. Novella. Horse trader takes law into his own hands to obtain justice from a young dissolute nobleman.

"Marmion, A Tale of Flodden Field." Sir Walter Scott. British. 1808. Narrative poetry. Time of Henry VIII. Lord Marmion rejects his betrothed for a wealthy woman. He is slain at the battle of Flodden Field in 1513.

Faust, Parts I and II. Goethe. German. 1808/32. Play. Yearns to comprehend all experience. Seduces Gretchen. She bears his child, panics and drowns it. "He who exerts himself in constant striving/ Him we can save."

Society

1809. The first U.S. parochial school is founded near Baltimore by English-American widow Elizabeth Ann Seton, a recent convert to Roman Catholicism, who with others starts the Sisters of Charity.

Literature

The Elective Affinities. Goethe. German. 1809. Novel. Marriage collapses as each partner is drawn to another lover. Ottilie, for whom Edouard falls, is in tune with mysterious natural forces.

English Bards and Scotch Reviewers. Lord Byron. British. 1809. Satiric Poetry. Byron attacks critics and older generation of English romantic poets, including Wordsworth, etc.

"Lord Ullin's Daughter." Thomas Campbell. British. 1809. Poetry/Ballads. Father chases eloping daughter. Arrives in time to see her boat capsize and his daughter drowned.

Knickerbocker History of New York. Washington Irving. American. 1809. Satire. Mocks pretensions of early historians and Dutch manners and morals.

Society

1810. France annexes Holland. The emperor annexes other lands along the Channel and North Sea coasts.

1810. President Madison takes advantage of an insurrection in West Florida to seize Spanish territory whose ownership has not been clearly defined in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.

Literature

"The Lady of the Lake." Sir Walter Scott. British. 1810. Poetry. Ellen Douglas and her suitors in the troubled times of border warfare.

Das Katchen von Heilbronn. Heinrich von Kleist. German. 1810. Play. Perfect love of Katchen for Count von Strahl. Devotion. Knightly and supernatural adventures.

Society

1811. The Battle of Tippecanoe on the Wabash River ends in complete defeat for the Shawnee who have been drawn into battle by Gen. Harrison in the absence of the chief Tecumseh.

1811. "Luddites" riot against English textile manufacturers who have replaced craftsmen with machines at Nottingham. Organized bands, taking their name from a real or imaginary "General Ludd" or "King Ludd," burn one of Richard Arkwright's factories and break into the house of James Hargreaves to smash his spinning jenny.

1806 to 1808

Society

1806. Napoleon occupies Berlin and proclaims a paper blockade of Britain designed to deny the British food and supplies from the Continent.

1806. The Lewis and Clark expedition returns to St. Louis after nearly 28 months of exploration. The expedition had been given up for lost, and its return is celebrated throughout the country.

1806. The Compendious Dictionary of the English Language by Noah Webster is the first Webster's dictionary.

18007. The first commercially successful steamboat travels up the Hudson River and arrives in 32 hours at Albany to begin regular service between New York and Albany. Designed by Robert Fulton.

1807. Phrenology arrives at Paris with German physician Franz Joseph Gall who introduced the pseudoscience in 1800. Gall claims that most emotional and intellectual functions are determined by specific areas of the brain that can be recognized by bumps in the skull.

Literature

"Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood." William Wordsworth. British. 1807. Poetry. Learning is the recollection of knowledge gained in the pre-existent spiritual realm and lost to the individual at birth. The child retains some "trailing clouds of glory."

"The Daffodils." William Wordsworth. British. 1807. Poetry. Appreciation of an object of nature for its own sake.

The Columbiad. Joel Barlow. American. 1807. Epic Poetry. Columbus foresees the future of the North American continent.

"Nuns Fret Not at Their Convent's Narrow Room." William Wordsworth. British. 1807. Poetry. Poet's pleasure at the discipline of the sonnet form.

Corinne, or Italy. Mme. de Stael. Swiss French. 1807. Novel. Psychological study of two tormented souls. Celebration of Italian civilization and mores.

Salmagundi; or, the Whim-Whams and Opinions of Launcelot Langstaff, Esq. and Others. Washington Irving. American. 1807/08. Essays. American link between The Spectator and The Pickwick Papers. Wit.

Society

1808. Thomas Jefferson declines a third term and supports his Secretary of State, James Madison, who wins the fall election.

1808. Importation of slaves into the United States is banned as of January 1 by an act of Congress passed last year, but illegal imports continue.

1808. John Jacob Astor incorporates the American Fur Co. with himself as sole stockholder.

Literature

Penthesilea. Heinrich von Kleist. German. 1808. Play. Violently passionate. Tragic potentiality of human nature.Penthesilea (a queen of the Amazon) and Achilles die. Goethe: "Kleist a hypochondriac northerner."