What is the importance of the time period in Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart"?

The time period in which "The Tell Tale Heart" is set is
known as the  American Renaissance. This literary movement branched out into two
movements:  American Romanticism and its darker, alter ego known as Southern Gothic
literature.

This latter literary movement is characteristic
for its realism and naturalism. Gothic literature is also the first known movement to
treat the themes of inner human emotion, the reality of human weakness, and humans'
capacity for evil.

Therefore, "The Tell Tale Heart" is a
product of the genre  in American literature that first explored the darker side of
humanity, and exposed the preoccupations of a very shaky society (the early 1800's)
exploring subjects never used before such as human horror, delusion, and human
despair.