The American Enlightenment as well as Romanticism plays an important role in Washington Irving's writings. Born in an era of rising nationalism after the American Revolution, Irving used his writings to provide a bridge between the Enlightenment and Romantic periods in America, and became know...

The American Identity Rip Van Winkle, by Washington Irving, is symbolic of the European sentiment towards the new society in America and establishes an identity before and after the American Revolution. Rip Van Winkle's character depicts the society of America as seen by England, whereas the Engl...

German immigration has been a huge influence in our country's development. Germans came to this country in the hundreds of thousands to millions over the history of the United States. They came in search of religious freedom, new farmland, more jobs and to flee from genocide. Many of the German imm...