In perhaps the most dynamic and turbulent century of the United States short history emerged three literary figures who would come to symbolise in very different ways the development of an American culture. Edgar Allan Poe developed a genre of the macabre and mystery which had its roots in the European Gothic tradition but took on a particular American character. Walt Whitman and his larger than life character seemed to embody the rugged individualism with social conscience. Paul Laurence Dunbar became the first African American poet to achieve national and international fame by articulating the hopes and fears of African Americans who had to endure Slavery and Civil War . All these three poets developed themes that stood apart from any external influences to illustrate the American experience of the 19th Century. Although achieving relative success in their lifetime,it is in later generations that their fame has grown and they have achieved their status of great American poets.
