“A man said to the universe, 'Lord, I exist!' “Nevertheless,” replied the universe. 'The fact has not created in me a sense of obligation." (Quotes by Stephen Crane). This quote is from Stephen Crane, one of the most important American realistic writers. Stephen Crane (1871-1900), is one of the most influential and important period of American Realism. The period of Realism lasted from 1865 until about 1910. For those engaged in serious literary circles, the period was full of upheavals. A literary civil war took place among the Romantics, the Realists and, later, naturalists. American realists believed that man's freedom of choice was limited by the power of other forces. Crane drew inspiration for writing from his family: his father, a Methodist minister, and his mother, a woman devoted to social issues, were two of his journalist brothers. His desire to write about war was born from a close encounter with a war correspondent. Crane became a foreign war correspondent, first in Greece, then, during the Spanish-American war , in Cuba. This is important in Crane's life because people thought Crane had never witnessed anything having to do with the army or battle. This helped Crane with many of his war stories and novels. Most of all they helped Crane with his Civil War story, Red Badge of Courage. Crane challenged and changed the literary world in several ways, not just one specific one. Crane challenged the literary world because it was a time when there was a literary civil war between romantics, realists, and then naturalists. Crane challenged Romantics and naturalist beliefs with his own. Crane changed the literary world using his experience and imagination, but at the same time... middle of paper.... New York: HarperCollins, 1991. 225. Literature Resource Center. Network. May 7, 2014. "Stephen Crane - The World of 1898: The Spanish-American..." May 7. 2014 "A review of 'The Red Badge of Courage.' The Spectator 76.3548 (June 27, 1896): 924.Rpt. in twentieth-century literary criticism. Ed. Paola Kepos. vol. 32. Detroit: GaleResearch, 1989. Literature Resource Center. Network. May 8, 2014. Carter, Everett. Howells and the age of realism. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1954. Chase, Richard. The American novel and its tradition. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1957 "The Literature of an Expanding Nation." American Literature Harper. Donald McQuade, editor. New York: Harper & Row, 1987. “Stephen Crane Quotes.” Goodreads. Goodreads Inc, 2014. Web. May 15 2014..