ABSTRACT
Significant were the political tendencies traceable in the literary output of the time. In the earlier days a great part in the social development of the time was played by Emerson and the highly developed individualism of his writings. At first the literary world was dominated by the powerful group of New England 'Brahmins' as they were called, including Emerson, Longfellow, Lowell, Whittier, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Of this group Lowell was the most politically minded and in his 'Essays' discussed and defended democracy. The work of Lowell was characterized by a grace and charm which give it an exceptional value in the literature of American democracy. Whitman's writings breathed a spirit of democratic comradeship and sympathy that was without precedent in American literature. Aside from the significant works of Bellamy and Howells, Utopias of all types appeared, running the whole gamut of the radical, reactionary, middle class, anarchistic and individualistic.
