How Is Henry David Thoreau A Transcendentalist

“There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil” -Ralph Waldo Emerson in Self Reliance. Ralph Waldo Emerson was a transcendentalist. Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that originated in the 19th century and was primarily influenced by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Transcendentalists’ main beliefs are: self-reliance is essential to one’s life, nature is divine, every person should have an optimistic outlook, and humanity needs to adhere to their personal morals and beliefs. In today’s world we still see a multitude of the beliefs of transcendentalism.

Henry David Thoreau’s words that “disobedience is the true foundation of liberty” and that “the obedient must be slaves” is a political statement that never lost its topicality during the Romantic era. Thoreau served as an important contributor to the philosophical and American literary movement known as New England Transcendentalism. Nature and the conduct of life are two central themes that are often weaved together in his essays and books that were published in the Romantic era of literature. Thoreau brought these two themes together to write on how people ought to live a simplistic life through embracing nature. His naturalistic writing intertwined cataloging and observation with Transcendentalist views of nature. Through his life and

He feels that everything in the universe is only created for him as if no one else is alive. The power of being alone, surrounded by your own thoughts, by your own nature, by your own world is truly an experience that Thoreau will never want to change. Thoreau values the sensation and thrill that solitude can have on one 's mind. Throughout Henry David Thoreau’s life, he preferred to spend his time in solitude. As being in the company of other people are beneficial, the interactions between them soon become dull and uninteresting. With the appeal of human interaction depleting, self-reflection and solitude are to be used for a replacement for conversing with people. This is because as Henry David Thoreau announces, “I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude”(Thoreau 128). Thoreau’s life consists of being alone for the most part of the day. He isn 't in need of friends in order push past the lifeless moments of time. He himself is the only person he needs. Why must everyone require friends when you have yourself to connect with? You are your own best friend. Thoreau knows this and lives his life constantly digging deeper into his own thoughts asking questions and pondering about himself. He is able to truly discover his inner self to the full extent by being succumbed in his own solitude. In allowing himself to be his own companion he has also allowed solitude to become his best

An influential literary movement in the nineteenth century, transcendentalism placed an emphasis on the wonder of nature and its deep connection to the divine. As the two most prominent figures in the transcendentalist movement, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau whole-heartedly embraced these principles. In their essays “Self-Reliance” and “Civil Disobedience”, Emerson and Thoreau, respectively, argue for individuality and personal expression in different manners. In “Self-Reliance”, Emerson calls for individuals to speak their minds and resist societal conformity, while in “Civil Disobedience” Thoreau urged Americans to publicly state their opinions in order to improve their own government.

In Thoreau's Civil Disobedience, he argues that when civil laws conflict with an individual's morality, the individual should follows his conscience. Thoreau like many Transcendentalists felt a less involved government was best. Thoreau wrote, "That government is best which governs not at all." Obviously, Thoreau realized that he could afford to take this open opinion on government because of the American government. But he felt that government's authority should be limited to physical matters of the country, such as infrastructure and orderliness. He felt a government that become involved in moral matters such as sobriety and slavery was a government over-stepping its boundaries. Ultimately, Thoreau and other transcendentalists felt a utopian society would be the best.

After spending a night in jail, after nonpayment of Massachusetts poll tax, Thoreau wrote his essay “Civil Disobedience”. He states that governments are mostly “inexpedient” (1577), or not practical. At best, Thoreau pushed the idea that the government isn’t useful because it is not our own. He writes “What makes this duty the more urgent is the fact that the country so overrun is not our own, but ours is the invading army” (1580). Americans listen to the rules established by the government, but it is not necessary, because the government is just the majority of people with whom are living off a different countries rules. The reason the government is even there, is because it gives the citizens some type of stable structure to live by. Thoreau feels that the government is unjust and the citizens of America should not follow rules. He feels like a reform is in need; “It is not a man’s duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous, wrong” and “not to give it practically his support” (1582). Thoreau and Emerson both push for social reform of the individual. Emerson wants the individual to be reliant on themselves, and not fall into the conformity of the American society. Thoreau, also teaches the individual to think different then the governmental established rules. Both authors want the readers to trust themselves, before they trust the

Thoreau is basically rallying for the absence of government in the lives of the citizens. He believed that everyone should govern himself. He also believed that no one should have to ride on the shoulders of the government, but instead rely on himself. He thought people should treat other people the way they wanted to be treated, and follow the natural laws of society. Martin Luther King Jr. believed there should be laws or it would be total anarchy. Thoreau believed that without the

Throughout history, people's opinion on how the government should govern has shifted back and forth. Some men think that it should be all ruling and powerful, while others think that it should have a very menial role in society. One of the men that thought it should have a menial role in society was Henry David Thoreau and he made that evident in his document called Civil Disobedience. Thoreau believed he was simply asking for a "better government" but in reality he was stirring up the thoughts of many others. Thoreau's opinions are presented in a clear, strong, powerful, convincing and intelligent manner,

Henry David Thoreau opens his essay “Civil Disobedience” by stating that the best government is one that does not govern at all (Thoreau, “Disobedience”). This is a captivating statement that suggests anarchy or revolution as a solution for political corruption. As Jefferson did in the Declaration of Independence and Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, Thoreau is illustrating his displeasure for the government and his demand for change. The two authors are very similar in the concepts they convey in their writings, but it could be argued that Thoreau expands his ideas one step beyond Jefferson. Both Thomas Jefferson and Henry David Thoreau share similar themes revolving around political revolution and equality that ultimately provide influence both nationally and internationally.

During the period of Transcendentalism, the point was to stand up and to think for yourselves. The Transcendentalist valued the importance of awareness, and had an interest in social reform and injustices. They often spoke out against authority and held an extreme disdain for past authorities. One of the most important parts of Transcendentalism is the concept of extreme individualism. To a Transcendentalist, an individual must be aware of the goodness they possess within and they must be able to use that to encourage others. People need to find their way in life and learn to trust their inner-self. They believed that a person does not need society to tell them how they act or what to believe in. Henry David Thoreau believed in the greatness of people. In “Civil Disobedience” Thoreau urges people to practice activism, by this he means that when the government is unfair, people must distance themselves from the corrupt government and fight for what they believe to be right.

Henry David Thoreau a follower of transcendentalism movement ,a philosophical belief in which man and nature should able to rise together as one entity and being able adapted to its environment rather than fully accepting the status quo. Essentially, transcendentalism is based on the principles of morality being to able to distinguish what is harmful and what is beneficial to others and ethics being the guidelines set by use of moral thinking. Criticizes the immoral attitude that the US government partakes in, Thoreau observes the ongoing atrocities such as the Mexican-American war and slavery. This is made clear in Thoreau’s essay, “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience” as Thoreau made a statement on how the government should run in his perspective.“That

Thoreau does not exactly want to get rid of the government as a whole. He “[asks] for, not at once no government, but at once a better government. Let every man make known what kind of government his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it” (Thoreau). He acknowledges that the government is flawed, but getting rid of the government would not necessarily help the people.

“That government is best which governs least” is the first sentence of Thoreau’s essay. A common topic throughout the entire essay stems from the distrust of government and a indignation that both government and the people governing will turn corrupt. One of the key reasons to which government does in fact become corrupt is due to the tendency of a few leaders imposing their will on majority. The only way in which the majority could disobey is to simply stop being taxes. By doing so, you form a resistance of the highest form. Not one which is based on anarchy, but one based on a hard reform in order to improve the government. Thoreau makes a key point in which conformity is the biggest obstacle to those who

Thoreau begins his essay stating “That government is best which governs not at all”. It keeps its strength, but loses its integrity over time. Governments force themselves onto men and sometimes themselves for their own benefit. People have accomplished much on their own and would have done more if it weren't for the government. It is an immoral means to an end that does not keep the county free. Trade and commerce would never be able to avoid what legislators throw at them. Thoreau requests a better government. If the people are the ones with power, the majority are the ones who will rule. There would be no justice in a government where the majority rule.why does a man have a conscience if it is to be resigned to lawmakers? Thoreau's only

This idea added the pot that the world around us goes beyond what we can comprehend. Two great philosophers who helped found transcendentalism were Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Their ideals were the foundation for transcendentalism. They both show their ideals in the essays Self-Reliance and Civil Disobedience. Emerson’s Self-Reliance promotes the idea that individual experience is far more important than anything someone else could teach you.