The Romantic period, also called Romanticism, was a movement in art, music and literature that lasted from the beginning of the 1800s until the Civil War. It was a reaction to the Industrial Revolution and the scientific rationalization of nature.
Romanticism began with "Sturm und Drang," a German music and literature movement that focused on causing an emotional reaction in the audience. It started in 1776 with a play that had the same name. William Blake, Edgar Allan Poe, Walt Whitman and William Wordsworth were famous Romantic poets. Beethoven and Wagner are some of the most famous composers from the Romantic period.
