The First Half Of The 19th Century

Transcendentalism was a literary movement in the 19th century that deliberately pushed forth the exploration to define spirituality and nature in a new context. So much as it is to explore, the movement had an undertone of rebellion against current societal circumstances in which writers during this time sought to change not only their environment, but also the reinvention of oneself. Also simultaneously, the Industrial Revolution took place during this time and glorified the economic growth, which sparked an era of new human thinking.

With the fact that remained in history, the primary conception of transcendentalism was led by the unitarianism, the reaction to the strict Calvinism, which supported that people should live the spiritual life in terms of a continuing effort to cultivate one’s own spiritual resources. David Robinson explicated it in his article “Transcendentalism”:

American Transcendentalism was an important philosophical and literary movement which placed an emphasis on staying true to one’s beliefs and expressing oneself no matter the situation or consequence. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau fully embraced these beliefs as their influence has allowed these

Transcendentalism is an American literary, political and philosophical movement of the early nineteenth century, centered around Ralph Waldo Emerson. Ideologically speaking, the movement is not simply to define since its philosophical and religious ideas are marked with a certain mysticism, which defies concise explanation. As well, the transcendentalism had been approached and interpretated by its followers in different ways and these differences embroil generalizations about the movement as a whole. Along Ralph Waldo Emerson, other important transcententalists were Henry David Thoreau, Frederic Henry Hedge, Amos Bronson Alcott and Margaret Fuller. Regarding the world from a radical perspective, the transcendentalists found their inspiration

The transcendentalist movement developed in the late 1820s and '30s in the Eastern region of the United States. Transcendentalism is defined as equal men and women containing knowledge about the world around them. However, this knowledge comes through imagination, instead of logic. A concept from this movement describes how Americans trust themselves to be their own authority through ethics. A transcendentalist accepts these ideas not as religious beliefs but as a way of understanding life. Ralph Waldo Emerson, a transcendentalist and poet, urged Americans to stop looking to Europe for inspiration and to be themselves. He believed that everyone possessed natural goodness and potential. Henry David Thoreau practiced transcendentalism as well when he went to Walden

From the 1830’s to the 1860’s, a group of idealistic philosophers known as the American Transcendentalists spread their new and unique beliefs across the nation. Some well-known influential thinkers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, and many others introduced the philosophical social movement that established due to rationalist thoughts. These thinkers focused on being one with nature and the divine. After these ideas flourished in the mid-1800’s, individuals from the 20th and 21st century such as Christopher Smith and Christopher McCandless have also taken part of the Transcendentalist ideas. However, transcendentalist ideas seem to backfire than succeed in these modern day cases.

Emerson's "transcendentalism" is essentially a romantic individualism, a philosophy of life for a new people who had overthrown their colonial governors and set about conquering a new continent, in hopes of establishing new and unique views. Though Emerson is not a traditional philosopher, the tendency of his thought is toward inward reflection in which soul and intuition, or inspiration, are fundamental. The new American needed less criticism and a rejuvenated sense of personal inspiration. Taking a practical and democratic, yet philosophic interest in all of nature and in individuals of every walk of life. Emerson stresses the potential for genius and creativity in all

This chapter of American history covers the entire Transcendentalist movement. It goes over the so-called “Transcendental Club” of American thinkers such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Longfellow, Walt Whitman and Henry David Thoreau. Ralph Waldo Emerson, who encouraged the Transcendentalist movement, led the club and urged Americans to stop looking to Europe for philosophical inspiration. Hosted in Boston, the club published “The Dial,” a philosophical magazine that featured essays by many of the club’s members. The source is clearly reliable, as it is from a website owned by the Independence Hall Foundation. The Independence Hall Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to publishing American history. The portion of the website the

Transcendentalism was a huge cultural movement in the nineteenth century; however, the ideas of the movement still continue to influence our society in the twenty-first century. These ideas of Transcendentalism have continued to exist throughout many years because the ideas remain relevant to society. In fact, the problems that many Transcendentalist writers encountered still happen today in new forms. These similar problems include conformity, the role of government in society, and the importance of nature. In general, people still feel that society needs to better itself for the benefit of all individuals, which is at the heart of Transcendentalism. Some of the ideas that Transcendentalists constantly defended included individualism,

Transcendentalism was an early philosophical, intellectual, and literary movement that thrived in New England in the nineteenth century. Transcendentalism was a collection of new ideas about literature, religion, and philosophy. It began as a squabble in the Unitarian church when intellectuals began questioning and reacting against many of the church’s orthodoxy ways regarding all of the aforementioned subjects: religion, culture, literature, social reform, and philosophy. They in turn developed their own faith focusing on the divinity of humanity and the innate world. Many of the Transcendentalists ideas were expressed heavily by Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his essays such as “Nature”, “Self Reliance”, and also in his poems such as “The

In the early mid-nineteenth century, a philosophical movement known as transcendentalism took root and flourished in America. It evolved into a predominantly literary expression which placed an emphasis on the corruptions of organized religion, political parties, and societal involvement; above all, the movement promoted the wonders of “nature” and its deep connection to the divine. The adherents through transcendentalism believed that knowledge could be arrived through intuition and contemplation of the internal spirit rather than by the means of the senses. As the two most prominent figures in the transcendentalist movement, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau whole-heartedly embrace the principles of nature

There have been numerous religious rebellions throughout history, but none quite like that of Transcendentalism. This movement embodies the idea that spiritual growth can be achieved through personal journey instead of conflicting with organized religion. By the time of the movement’s onset, newly gained religious freedom in the United States allowed for new ideas and beliefs to prosper freely. At the heart of this movement was Transcendentalism philosophy famous ambassadors, Ralph Waldo Emerson and apprentice Henry David Thoreau. These men believed nature is what forces us not to depend on other ideas but to develop our own.

Transcendentalism was an American literature movement urging people to look past everyday material life, and reach into their souls to find inner peace with themselves. Transcendentalism originally came from Kantian idealism. This idealism was credited by Immanuel Kant.

Transcendentalism was largely influenced by the earlier Romantic Movement which was filled with innovative and imaginative ideas. Similar to the Romantic's Transcendentalist wanted to break away from the old European models of organized institutions such as religion and politics. There was also the strict confines of the Age of Reason's rationalist way of thinking that stirred up a rebellious reaction within the literary traditional period of Transcendentalism. Transcendentalist believed religion and politics negatively tainted an individual’s innocence.

The first half of the 19th century was a time of sweeping changes. With transportation, and factories increasing, North America was in for a major upgrade. While all of those things are going on, the two regions that made up the growing nation was the North and South. These two sides were very different in their approach of lifestyle which would soon lead to conflicts. Two issues stood out more than others as the North and South headed towards civil war. One reason increase of tariffs and taxes the Congress placed on the south to ship goods to other countries. The other was the idea of keeping slavery in the country. The tariffs placed economic inequality between the northern states and the southern states.