Romanticism vs. Transcendentalism American transcendentalism was a philosophical, spiritual and literary movement that began as a religious protest within the Unitarian church. This period began around 1836 and lasted to roughly 1860. The beginnings of romanticist philosophy originated much earlier, around the end of the 18th century, but reached its peak of influence around 1840.

Similarities Transcendentalism and romanticism emphasized the individual as well as gaining inspiration from nature. Romanticism was partially a reaction against realism and objective reasoning. Similarly, transcendentalism was a reaction against overpowering religious traditions and beliefs. Both encouraged the individual to discover their own truth and be ruled by that rather than obey the constructs of the time.

Transcendentalism Transcendentalism was primarily a religious movement. Transcendentalists believed that God was present in every aspect of life, and could be experienced through intuition and imagination. Every person had a divine inner light that could connect them to God. Their goal was to “transcend" ordinary life to experience the symbolic and spiritual world around them. They rejected some religious dogma of the time in favor of a high spiritualized and personal understanding of God.

Romanticism Romanticism, on the other hand, was not as concerned with ideas of God. Their understanding was that religion was something that had to be worked out on a personal level, and one should not subscribe to preconceived religious structures. They believed that every person was capable of evil as well as good.

Differences Romanticism: feelings, emotions and observations gleaned from the natural senses. The romanticist believed that man could be perfected by grasping hold of his own ideals and promoting himself. Transcendentalists: dependence on intuition and the guidance of the inner light.  The goal of the transcendentalist was to reveal his inner light and to connect with God.