In America, the American Renaissance was the period between 1835 and 1880 in which American literature came of age as an expression of a national spirit. Literature became one of the most historically significant effects to occur during the American Renaissance period. The American Renaissance is also characterized by renewed national self-confidence in new ideas and technologies. Politically and economically, this era coincides with the Golden Age and the New Imperialism. By the end of the 18th century, Enlightenment secularism made profound advances in American thought. “…the United States in the nineteenth century was a nascent republic, wrapped in the rational ideas of the Enlightenment.” (Tindall 492) The American Renaissance changed America with the outbreak of religion, romance, and reform. Outbreak of Religion “After the Revolution, many Americans assumed that the United States had a mission to provide the world with a shining example of republican virtue, much as Puritan New England had once presented itself to erring humanity as an example of community ideal Christian". (Tindall 492) The combination of widespread religious energy and passionate social idealism brought about major reforms and advances in human rights during the first half of the nineteenth century. Enlightenment rationalism emphasized the essential goodness of humankind rather than its evilness and stimulated faith in social progress and the guarantee of individual perfectibility. After the American Revolution, interest in deism increased. In every large city, “deistic societies” formed, especially within the social group of university students. “With the use of reason, deists believe, people could understand the natural laws that govern the… middle of paper… man. America's Gilded Age: An Eyewitness Story. New York: Facts on File, 1992. Print.4. Davis, Sue. American Political Thought: Four Hundred Years of Ideas and Ideologies. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996. Print.5. Tindall, George Brown. and David E. Shi. America a narrative history. 8th ed. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2010. Print.6. "American Renaissance". Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Network. 25 November 2011. .7. Johnson Lewis, Jones. “What is Transcendentalism?” The Transcendentalists - including Ralph Waldo Emerson - Henry David Thoreau - Others - Dial Magazine. 03 September 2009. Web. 26 November 2011. .8. "The American Renaissance." Digital history. Digital history. Network. November 26. 2011. .