The South was
chiefly instrumental in bringing about this extension of our boundaries,
hoping that this additional territory would be open for the employment of
slaves and would tend to make more nearly even the influence of each
section in the national government.
SUMMARY
With the publication of Irving's _Knickerbocker's History of New York_ in
1809, the literary center of the United States shifted to New York, then
the second city in the country. Drake and Halleck, two minor poets, calling
themselves "The Croakers," issued a series of poems with the principal
object of entertaining readers. Drake wrote a fine romantic poem called
_The Culprit Fay_. Halleck's best works are the poems on the death of Drake
and _Marco Bozzaris_.
Washington Irving's chief fame is based on his original creation of the
"Knickerbocker Legend" in his _History of New York_, _Rip Van Winkle_, and
_The Legend of Sleepy Hollow_. He is an unusually successful writer of
short stories, of essays like those in Addison's _Spectator_, and of
popular history and biography. He is the first American writer whose works
are still read for pure pleasure. Humor and restrained sentiment are two of
his pronounced qualities.
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