What does Transcendentalism mean? a philosophy which says that thought and spiritual things are more real than ordinary human experience and material things The term Transcendentalism was derived from the philosopher Kant, who called "all knowledge transcendental which is concerned not with objects but with our mode of knowing objects." Transcendental Period represented a new way of understanding truth and knowledge.

Famous Writers Ralph Waldo Emerson - essayist, author, leading exponent of Transcendentalism Henry David Thoreau - poet, essayist, abolitionist; best known for Walden Walt Whitman - American poet (Leaves of Grass, etc.), humanist Nathaniel Hawthorne - immensely influential 19th-century American novelist Herman Melville - influential novelist, author of Moby-Dick Amos Bronson Alcott - noted teacher, author and Utopian; founder of the Fruitlands; father of children's author Louisa May Alcott William Ellery Channing - poet (nephew and namesake of leading Unitarian preacher Dr. William Ellery Channing)

Famous Writers Cont.  Margaret Fuller - ( ) journalist, women's rights activist  Orestes Brownson - ( ) New England intellectual, activist, preacher and labor organizer; best known for his affiliation with the New England Transcendentalists  Frederick Henry Hedge - New England Unitarian minister who became the founder of the Transcendental Club and active in the development of Transcendentalism  Theodore Parker - ( ) reformer in the Unitarian church, and an influential Transcendentalist  George Putnam - Unitarian minister who was co-founder of the famous Transcendental Club

Popular Literature Ralph Waldo Emerson ( ) American Essayist, Lecturer, and poet who led the transcendental movement Book; NATURE (1836)- “Can only be understood by a man when he is in solitude…We take nature and beauty for granted” Speech: The American Scholar (1837)- A speech he gave in Massachusetts when he was invited in recognition of his work “Nature”. “A great scholar should have great knowledge of nature because it helps increase self-awareness.” He Believed books were harming and that education systems were to be changed.

Popular Literature & Themes Margaret Fuller ( ) American Journalist, Critic, Woman's Right Advocate Book: Women in the Nineteenth Century(1845)- Expanded version of an essay he had written for the dial in 1843 called “The Great Lawsuit” Henry David Thoreau ( ) Philosopher, Poet, Author, Abolitionist, Naturalist, Tax Resister, Historian, and Development Critic Passage: Civil Disobedience(1849)- Criticizes American Social Institutions, Policies, Slavery, and the Mexican American War Themes Some popular and common themes include nature and its meaning, self-wisdom, social reform, self-reliance, and free thought.

Influences  Transcendent: Beyond the range of normal or merely physical human experience; to surpass the ordinary. Transcendentalism came from a handful of people who were against the orthodoxy of Calvinism. This movement was one of the first notable American intellectual movements, it influenced a movement who later became known as the “New Thought” movement, it “promotes the ideas that Infinite intelligence or God is everywhere, true human selfhood is divine and right thinking has a healing effect”. During the nineteenth century Ralph Waldo Emerson, a Unitarian minister, along with other transcendentalists also influenced Hinduism and Unitarianism (which is a movement that asserted the unity of God and rejected the doctrine of Trinity). Ram Mohan Roy the founder of Brahmo Samaj, in other words some type of Hindu religion, was against Hindu mythology and Christian Trinity. It came to Ram Mohan that Unitarianism was closest to Christianity therefore he “strongly [sympathized]” Unitarians/Transcendentalists.

The people involved in the Transcendental Movement were called Transcendentalists. Most of them were New Englanders, around Boston, Massachusetts. They believed in living closer to nature, believed in democracy and individualism, considered man’s relationship to God a personal matter established directly by the individual himself, proposed self-trust and self-reliance, and insisted on a complete break with tradition and custom. They criticized the government and laws because during the mid- 1800s, they were dissatisfied and disappointed by the policies and actions of the U.S government like the treatment of Native Americans, War with Mexico, and the continuing and expanding practice of slavery.

On the other hand, one the most famous writers during this movement, Ralph Waldo Emerson, urged “Americans to stop looking for Europe for inspiration and imitation and be themselves” in his speech, The American Scholar. They created literature, essays, novels, philosophy, poetry, and other writings that were different from anything from England, France, Germany, or another European country.

During the Transcendental Movement, a new club was formed. It was called Hedge’s Club, where people went to talk about their frustrations of American culture and society at the time. Among these people were: Frederic Henry Hedge, Ralph Waldo Emerson, George Ripley, George Putnam, and many more. Well known journals like North American Review and the Christian Examiner refused to accept their submissions. Since their submissions were being refused, they decided to establish their own to express their ideas. The named it The Dial, and the first issue was published on July In 1844, they ceased publication because they did not have enough money to cover the production costs.

By : Lizbeth Selvas, Monica Serrrato, Carlos Rivas & Jonathan “the great” Orellana bin/article_display_page.pl?id=thomas.williams bin/article_display_page.pl?id=thomas.williams