Transcendentalism
In order to form a perfect
human
Transcendentalism
Transcendentalism is socio-cultural movement that is an
offshoot from Romanticism.
It is as much an economic or political movement as it is
literary. Most of the persons of note, were social and
cultural activists.
This philosophy saw its start in the rural areas of New
England but its influence spread throughout the
world.
It saw the perfectibility of man but realized the
dehumanizing aspects of a modern, industrialized
society
Simplify, Simplify, Simplify was its main theme
Tenets of Transcendentalism
The simplicity of nature is a pathway to the Divine Soul and thus Truth
Commercialism, materialism and industrialism are dehumanizing and corrupting
Man is perfectible—life is a spiritual journey
Truths are attained through intuition and experience
Idealistic and optimistic, its leaders sought improvement through social change:
abolition of slavery, improvements in public education, equal rights for all,
including the poor, indigent, mentally ill.
Lyceum Movement
Sought the equality of man through
education and self reliance.
Other leaders include Horace Mann,
Dorothea Dix, William Lloyd Garrison,
and others who championed the rights
of the downtrodden, and forgotten.
They were also staunch abolitionists
and pacifists. They often assisted with
the underground railroad and anti-war
protests.
Emerson and Thoreau
Ralph Waldo Emerson was the leading speaker
and thinker in the transcendentalist movement.
He was the leader of the Lyceum Movement.
Henry David Thoreau was a follower of Emerson
but chose to live the life of a transcendentalist.
Removed himself from society and showed that
living the simple life was possible.
He was a strict believer in Human Rights and that
man had the right to seek his own path in the
world without the constrains of government. His
time at Walden Pond was an experiment in
simple living.
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Nature
Nature was a ground breaking and highly
influential treatise on Man’s relationship with
the natural world.
Emerson saw Nature as a representation of God’s
intentions on Earth. Nature is benign, spiritual,
inspirational, and rejuvenating.
Man has the ability to see the original purpose
through interaction with the raw, natural world.
Although Emerson was primarily a speaker and
leader of the Lyceum movement, his commune
with nature inspired his great works of poetry.
Self Reliance
Much like Thoreau’s view of poverty (as in only by
comparison), Emerson believed the self-made, selfreliant American is a gift of God.
“Modern” or Contemporary society gave (gives) man
too many ways in which to become reliant on and
indebted to other people or things, namely money.
The Self-Reliant man follows God’s virtues innately
and proudly. Truth, Honestly, Reliability,
Independence, Frugality (similar virtues to Ben
Franklin) all help man and thus society move forward.
Education is also an important part of being free.
Man exists regardless of others and therefore should
not rely on others for his existence.
Simplicity of mind, body and spirit.
Walden
Walden Pond was a small lake on the outskirts of Concord,
Mass. Henry David Thoreau sought to prove to his
technological contemporary world that one could live
simply and happily without most of the “modern”
advancements.
He spent over two years in his hand made home, growing
his own food, and making general observations about
life.
His journals eventually became the stuff of one of the most
inspirational works of the 19th Century and was the
spring board for more modern environmentalism and
conservation efforts.
He commented on the evils of technology, commercialism,
and industrialism as dehumanizing and demanded a
simpler, more personal world.
Civil Disobedience
He spent one night in jail during his
stay at Walden for not paying a
poll tax. His essay Civil
Disobedience inspired generations
of civil rights activism and
spawned the non-violent protests
of the Indian independence
movement and Mohandas Gandhi
and the American Civil Rights
movement in the 1950s.
From his cell he saw how the people
and communities had become
slaves to government and not a
“government by the people, for the
people”. His protest actually was
against was he saw as
government funding of the unjust
Mexican-American War and
industry-backed Southern slavery.
Henry David Thoreau
Much of Thoreau’s literary career
was based on travelogues and
nature journals.
He held many occupations but was
never satisfied with one career.
He was a teacher and ran a school
with his brother. He spent
sporadic times working as a
surveyor and in his family’s
pencil factory, and was a handy
man for his mentor Ralph
Waldo Emerson.
He died in 1862 at the age of 44
With the impending Civil War,
Thoreau’s death and an aging
and ailing Emerson the
optimistic leaders of
Transcendental age came to a
slow end.
Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman was a young man
inspired by the Transcendentalists.
His writings and poetry reflected the
ideals of the
Romantic/Transcendental
movement but also acknowledged
man’s ever changing social and
economic environment.
His longevity (1819-1892) allowed him a
unique literary bridge between the
earliest Romantics, the
Transcendentalism of the middle
century and the post-war Realists.
Leaves of Grass, his magnum opus,
was first personally published in
1850 and underwent several
additions and editions throughout
the remainder of his life. This work
celebrated his life and the life of the
many, varied lives of a diverse
America.