By Carson Tucker, Daniel
Roberts, and Robert Dahl
 Ralph Waldo
Emerson
1803-1882
New England
 Henry
David Thoreau
1817-1862
Concord, Massachusetts
 God
can be found in all forms of nature.
Main focus was on God
Lived in woods to find the main purpose of life
through God in nature
 Not
part of a church
 Didn’t focus on Jesus or the prophets
 They
find all truth in God
 They
valued their work
“If we do not get out sleepers, and forge rails
and devote days and nights to the work, but go to
tinkering upon our lives to improve them, who
will build railroads?”
 Believed
in earning entrance into heaven
through one’s works.
“And if railroads are not built, how shall we get
to heaven in season?”
 Truth
can be found in anything that exists
eternally
They don’t have faith in what is changing.
 Optimistic
 They
believe that you should wake up
every morning and renew yourself.
“Renew thyself each day; do it again, and again,
and forever again.”
 They
believe that work is a very
important part of life, and take it very
seriously.
It is imperative that they work hard because they
felt they had to earn their salvation.
 If
the society obstructs their goal of
transcendence, they felt no need to be
part of it.
Transcendence- exceeding the normal limits
 The
ultimate authority is God, since God
exists eternally, and is unchanging
Any man who has achieved transcendence
would also be an authority to look to for
guidance.
 Similar
to their view of society
They accept the education if it teaches the
transcendentalist view and Absolute truth,
otherwise they neglect the teachings.
 They
believe that hard work and
dedication to acquire the essentials
always takes higher priority to your
wants and desires.
 They
have affected the notion of the
American Dream by encouraging people
to work hard, and persuade people to
accept their views.