Introduction 步 1. The reasons for the coming of American realism: 1)The Civil War which broke out in 1861 taught men that life was not so good, man was not and God was not The war marked a change, in the quality of American life, a deterioration. in fact of american moral values It led people to question the assumptions: natural goodness the optimistic view of nature and man, benevolent God )In post-bellum America increasing industrialization and mechanization of the country in full swing produced soon extremes of wealth and poverty. Wealth and power were more and more concentrated in the hands of the few captains of industry or robber barons", but life for the millions was fast becoming a veritable struggle for survIva 退出 美国文学美国文学 I. Introduction 1. The reasons for the coming of American realism: 1) The Civil War which broke out in 1861 taught men that life was not so good, man was not and God was not. The war marked a change, in the quality of American life, a deterioration, in fact, of American moral values. It led people to question the assumptions: natural goodness, the optimistic view of nature and man, benevolent God. 1) In post-bellum America increasing industrialization and mechanization of the country in full swing produced soon extremes of wealth and poverty. Wealth and power were more and more concentrated in the hands of the few “captains of industry” or “robber barons”, but life for the millions was fast becoming a veritable struggle for survival. 退出