19th-century American essayists

Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as one of the central figures of Romanticism and Gothic fiction in the United States and of early American literature. Poe was one of the country's first successful practitioners of the short story, and is generally considered to be one of the pioneers of the detective fiction genre. In addition, he is credited with contributing significantly to the emergence of science fiction. He is the first well-known American writer to earn a living exclusively through writing, which resulted in a financially difficult life and career.

American poet, essayist and journalist (1819–1892)

American essayist, poet, and philosopher (1817–1862)

American writer and poet (1819–1891)

Russian-born American anarchist (1869–1940)

Spanish-American philosopher

American novelist and journalist (1871–1945)

American writer and women's activist (1810–1850)

American lawyer, orator, and politician (1833-1899)

American poet, critic, editor, and diplomat (1819-1891)

American anarchist writer and feminist

American author, critic, and playwright (1837–1920)

American political philosopher, essayist, pamphlet writer, Unitarian, abolitionist, individualist anarchist, legal theorist, a member of the socialist First International and entrepreneur of the 19th century (1808–1887)

Zitkala-Ša, also Zitkála-Šá (Lakota: , meaning Red Bird; February 22, 1876 – January 26, 1938), was a Yankton Dakota writer, editor, translator, musician, educator, and political activist. She was also known by her anglicized and married name, Gertrude Simmons Bonnin. She wrote several works chronicling her struggles with cultural identity, and the pull between the majority culture in which she was educated, and the Dakota culture into which she was born and raised. Her later books were among the first works to bring traditional Native American stories to a widespread white English-speaking re

American sociologist (1840–1910)

American magazine writer, editor, and publisher (1806-1867)

American novelist, poet, writer, activist (1830–1885)

American naturalist and essayist (1837-1921)

American writer (1806–1870)

American writer and advocate for women's rights (1751-1820)

American novelist, poet, essayist, short story writer (1860–1940)

American essayist (1855–1950)

American writer (1793–1876)

American journalist (1831–1910)

American author, intellectual and feminist

American writer, botanist, and teacher (1840-1931)

American novelist (1844–1925)

American music critic (1857–1921)

United States poet and novelist (1823–1902)

American educator and academic (1831–1908)

American writer (1824–1892)

American poet and essayist (1813–1880)

Novelist, nonfiction writer (1840-1916)

American writer (1855–1921)

American writer (1813–1871)

Military officer, novelist

American writer

American businessman, poet, humanitarian

American politician and author

American writer and publisher (1817–1881)

American feminist writer, transcendentalist and reformer (1822–1912)

American journalist (1846-1934)

American writer (1819–1886)

American author and professor of American history. (1835–1900)

eldest son of the King of Naples during the First French Empire, and Mayor of Tallahassee, Florida (1801–1847)

American poet, critic, and essayist (1833–1908)

American mathematician (1863–1939)

American music critic (1854–1926)

American writer

American essayist and novelist (1822–1908)

1850–1933 American labor leader (1850–1933)

novelist, short story writer (1857–1929)

American zoologist and philosopher (1862–1916)

American civil rights activist and novelist (1838–1905)

American poet, editor, short story writer and educator (1860–1896)

American writer

American politician (1793–1855)

American historian (1860–1908)

American writer (1850-1934)

American Methodist Episcopal bishop