19th Century Literature

"The only thing necessary for triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" (Edmund Burke). When good and honorable men allow evil to endure because they don't stand up for the just thing, then that is when evil truly does take over. Writers of the 19th century witnessed this scenario over and over again. Men knew that slavery and women not being able to vote were the wrong thing, yet many did little or nothing about it. Stanton, Douglass, and Melville were just three of the many writers who saw bad things happening and decided to take a stand for those who were too scared to stand fo…