The Nineteenth Century was a time for revolution. The nonstop wars and thirst for expansion drove the nations to fight for dominance. A burgeoning global network of influence, money, invention, and thought developed prompting America’s placement upon the world stage. These new changes brought forth a new self-awareness, a better understanding, of one’s place in the rapidly changing world. Perceptions altered as notions of self changed. Embracing these changes, novel writers encouraged a more thorough study of individualism including concepts such as gender, class, and race. Charles Brockden Brown and Edgar Allan Poe were two such writers. In 1799 Charles Brockden Brown wrote a novel titled Edgar Huntly; or, Memoirs of a Sleep-Walker. In Edgar
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Brown and Poe provide numerous situations dealing with the concept of the “great chain of being” a philosophical theory that everything in the universe, from God at the top to the rocks at our feet, has its own specific hierarchal place in the world. With this theory the races of man could be divided based upon color and behavioral characteristics and thus any unjust behavior can be warranted against those who are considered less through religious ideology (Borch 244-245.) Brown and Pie both brought forth another concept used to subjugate others, the legal principle of Manifest Destiny, also known as Doctrine of Discovery. Created in the 1400s by Spain, Portugal, and the Catholic Church, it offered an easy way for nations to divide up and claim the world (Miller 15-19.) Picked up by the newly forming colonies it gave the colonists a morally justifiable policy when dealing with the local Indians. Through this measure they concluded that since their intent was more “Godly,” then they were better than the Indians and deserved the land more. Thus providing them a righteous reason to kill and plunder the tribal nations. The final group touched mainly upon by Brown’s book is that of women. During colonial times there was a Law of Coveture, a doctrine that stated that a woman had no separate legal identity in the eyes of law. That she was lawfully represented by the nearest male relative in her family, thus stripping her of any rights or power of her own. For example, she could not represent herself in a court of law, could not inherit property, or claim guardianship over her own minor-aged children (Women and the Law.) This in turn forced women into second class citizenry having no freedom or right to make decisions for themselves. There is an example of this in Brown’s book when Edgar stumbles upon the Selby homestead and finds a woman huddling in the
Brown and Poe provide numerous situations dealing with the concept of the “great chain of being” a philosophical theory that everything in the universe, from God at the top to the rocks at our feet, has its own specific hierarchal place in the world. With this theory the races of man could be divided based upon color and behavioral characteristics and thus any unjust behavior can be warranted against those who are considered less through religious ideology (Borch 244-245.) Brown and Pie both brought forth another concept used to subjugate others, the legal principle of Manifest Destiny, also known as Doctrine of Discovery. Created in the 1400s by Spain, Portugal, and the Catholic Church, it offered an easy way for nations to divide up and claim the world (Miller 15-19.) Picked up by the newly forming colonies it gave the colonists a morally justifiable policy when dealing with the local Indians. Through this measure they concluded that since their intent was more “Godly,” then they were better than the Indians and deserved the land more. Thus providing them a righteous reason to kill and plunder the tribal nations. The final group touched mainly upon by Brown’s book is that of women. During colonial times there was a Law of Coveture, a doctrine that stated that a woman had no separate legal identity in the eyes of law. That she was lawfully represented by the nearest male relative in her family, thus stripping her of any rights or power of her own. For example, she could not represent herself in a court of law, could not inherit property, or claim guardianship over her own minor-aged children (Women and the Law.) This in turn forced women into second class citizenry having no freedom or right to make decisions for themselves. There is an example of this in Brown’s book when Edgar stumbles upon the Selby homestead and finds a woman huddling in the