Romanticism also influenced American writers. In this period, we see novels, short stories, and poems instead of the sermons and essays of the colonial period. Just like the visual art, Romantic literature emphasizes emotion, freedom, personal experience, and morality. Unlike the painters, many American authors and their works are household names: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Scarlet Letter, Moby-Dick, many poems by Walt Whitman, and countless stories by Edgar Allan Poe.

Female writers also finally had a voice in this era of American literature. Emily Dickinson is a well-known American poet of the day who wrote prolifically about the theme of individualism. Other women were especially adept at weaving in the political issues of the day. For example, Harriet Beecher Stowe's book Uncle Tom's Cabin was the best-selling novel of the 19th century and very influential in the abolition movement. Louisa May Alcott became famous after publishing Little Women. On the surface, it's a coming-of-age story written for children about four sisters whose father is away at war. But on a deeper level, the book explores the struggle between women's traditional, subservient social role and the growing desire to pursue their own goals in life and to achieve political equality.