American romanticism shares a number of characteristics with British romanticism, but it has its own uniquely American characteristics as well, growing as it does from a particularly American brand of religious thought (particularly Puritanism), shaped as it is by the American landscape, and situated as it is in the wake of American Revolutionary thought. .
The political influences on American romanticism include 18th century notions about human perfectability, the ideals of American democracy, and the tensions caused by growing concerns over the rights of women and the problem of slavery. The economic influences on American romanticism include the rise of materialism within the American context (which contributed to the growth of reform movements in the United States), the increase in disposable time and income (leading to a growth in appreciation of writing and reading with the growth of a leisure class), and the expansion of print culture within the United States (including the development of copyright laws to protect the artistic products of American authors). .
The religious influences on American romanticism include the gradual decline of Calvinism (the stern religious tradition of the early Puritans) and the emergence of Unitarianism and Deism. This marked a growing liberality in religious thought and practice, and this period was significant in terms of religious searching and the development of new forms of religious thought. Other institutional influences on American romanticism include the rise and professionalization of science, against which Romantic writers reacted. They tended to see Truth as more a matter of intuition and imagination than logic and reason. .
Aesthetically, the romantics were also in a state of revolt, primarily against the restraints of classicism and formalism. Form, particularly traditional literary forms, mattered much less than inspiration, enthusiasm, and emotion.
