Development of Transcendentalism

He says if the government have to right to ask things of him, then he has to right to ask things of them. If the state chooses to ignore his petition, then there is no other way to legally try and change the law. He uses this to explain why one must change the law through civil disobedience. Thoreau follows that idea with an example of how the people can actively practice civil disobedience through not paying taxes. He states, tax collection “is the only mode in which a man situated as I am necessarily meets [the state government] ... the indispensable mode of treating with it is on this head, of expressing your little satisfaction with and love for it, is to deny it” (2). He describes the way in which the state collects taxes as “the only mode in which a man situated as I am necessarily meets it” to demonstrate the lack of connection between the people and the government. He further explains that one must simply ignore these taxes to show his discontentment with the government. Thoreau calls his contemporaries to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the government through civil disobedience, by providing his grievances with the government and an example of how one can try to express their

The Transcendentalism movement raised self-confidence; it made you believe in what you thought was right, and to not conform with the things around you. It is the spiritual unit of all forms of being, with God, Man, and Nature all sharing a universal soul. The movement developed in New England around 1836, Henry David Thoreau was a leading figure. He wrote “Civil Disobedience” in 1848, it embraces the need to emphasize one's conscience over the command of laws. From the government, the men, a man’s duty, the wrongs of majority, to the unjust system. He strictly states that a nonviolent rebellion is the best way to revolt. The Transcendentalists ideal in Civil Disobedience in nonviolence, three ways Thoreau clearly demonstrates these ideals are through Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.

In Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” and in Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, both address the responsibility of the individual to stand up for their beliefs and to defy any idea that goes against their consciences or their moral standards. From this defiance, Thoreau states the need for civil disobedience. King later uses this term to respond to the white moderates and to express the need for direct action, as does Thoreau. The idea of civil disobedience expressed by Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr are evident in today’s nation through their methods , however, these beliefs can be spread further as the nation progresses.

Along with McCandless’s view, we see another interpretation of transcendentalism in HDT’s “Civil Disobedience.” Thoreau believed that society has become too dependent on government and it should be less involved. Thoreau states his motto as “that government is best which governs the least”(1). This shows his strong belief that government

Topic/prompt: Based on what you’ve read, argue whether the ideas generated from the Transcendentalist movement are still relevant to today’s world (and if so, how, and if not, why not). You may choose to focus on one of the three thematic categories we’ve discussed (Importance of Self-Reliance, Value of Simplicity, or Illusion of Progress) or you may create your own thematic category but I recommend you narrow your focus.

Both, Thoreau and King, in their works “Civil Disobedience” and “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” successfully and effectively delineates arguments for the importance and necessity of civil disobedience. Although both essays present very similar ideas, it is important to note the similarities and differences which are evident through the use of language and the presentation of the arguments and ideas because if it were not for the proper use of language, tone, and presentation of the idea of civil disobedience in Dr. King’s letter, he might not have been successful in his campaign; Thoreau initially presented the idea of civil disobedience in 1848, but his contemporaries dismissed his political essays.

The history of American, non violent, civil disobedience depicts how peaceful resistance can shape public opinion, voice dissent, and change unjust laws. In both Contemporary and past history do we see the role that protest has on our Democracy,and how dissenters, such as Susan B Anthony and Martin Luther King Jr, can become American heroes. The United States was founded on an act of civil disobedience, and even in Modern America, principled dissent has become the highest form of

I would like to first congratulate the legacy of your involvement in the Transcendentalist movement. You were one of the vanguards that pioneer the pursuit of uncomplexed nature. I have questions that will be addressed later, but your commentary on materialistic society was inspiring. Your experiment in the wilderness was ambitious, and your work on civil disobedience paralleled the philosophy of later prominent figure, such as Gandhi. With the flattering comments aside, I wonder about the intricacies on your ideology.

Transcendentalism are well educated people.They lived during the Civil War, these people were mostly New Englanders, some from Boston.Some people were struggling to find religion, that’s how others could tell they were transcendentalism.

The highly religious philosophy of Transcendentalism developed as the response of a group of people who felt that it was unnecessary to practice a religion (and live a life) that was based on fear. The first Transcendentalists set out to create a more liberal way of life that allowed for personal growth, justice and freedom. To truly understand the implications of Transcendentalism and why Transcendentalists believed what they did, one must first look at the root of Transcendentalism, Unitarianism.

Henry David Thoreau and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. both argue for the right to disobey authority if the authority is supporting a socially unjust system. Thoreau was the first American to define and address civil disobedience. He did so in a letter titled “Civil Disobedience” which was written in 1846. In his letter Thoreau discusses the individual’s duty to protest laws that are unjust. Dr. King addresses his audience in his writing “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” with the same ideas. He states that the segregation laws in America are unjust and intolerable and that civil disobedience must be used along the path to freedom for his people. Although Thoreau and Dr. King both had two completely different audiences they still strongly conveyed their thoughts regarding civil disobedience and would ultimately agree on the topic.

The time period of transcendentalism changed the views of many people through setting different principles otherwise known as tenets. These tenets I am going to focus on is: confidence, self-reliance, free thought, nonconformity, and the importance of nature. Transcendentalism was a philosophical movement in the 1800’s where people responded to the strict rules back then. They declared that they didn’t have to follow all of the rules and decided to go off of independent tenets. Many pieces of literature contain some or all of these tenets, the ones I’m going to discuss and analyze today are Still I Rise by Maya Angelou that focuses on self-reliance and stanza 1 and 52 from Song of Myself by Walt Whitman which focuses on all tenets of transcendentalism. All of the 5 tenets are very important, but the one that overcomes all the others in my life is confidence. Many pieces of literature contain at least all tenets, but reference them in different ways.

Transcendentalism is the idea that our spirits have deep connection with nature. Our ideas go beyond the natural world as we see it. Transcendentalism is a philosophy about self reliance, and individuality. We are more into nature and our mood is more pictured by Nature. When I think about failures and achievements I can always base it off transcendentalism.

Tranquil Defiance Civil disobedience is an integral and universal component of society. Civil disobedience is defined as the refusal to comply with certain laws one considers unjust as a peaceful form of protest. Over time, peaceful resistance has positively impacted free societies; this is most prominently seen when evaluating the impact of Gandhi's Salt March on Indian society, Lennon’s bed-sit in and its statement against the Vietnam War, and Henry Thoreau’s stand against unjust laws by boycotting taxes. Mahatma Gandhi is well known for his fight for India’s independence and for being a strong activist for nonviolent civil disobedience. In the early 1900s, Britain controlled India and prohibited the possession and selling of salt among

The political concepts of justice and how a society should be governed have dominated literature through out human history. The concept of peacefully resisting laws set by a governing force can be first be depicted in the world of the Ancient Greeks in the works of Sophocles and actions of Socrates. This popular idea has developed over the centuries and is commonly known today as civil disobedience. Due to the works of Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. civil disobedience is a well-known political action to Americans; first in the application against slavery and second in the application against segregation. Thoreau’s essay “Civil Disobedience” and King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” are the leading arguments in defining