American Transcendentalism

“America is a land of wonders, in which everything is in constant motion and every change seems an improvement. . . No natural boundary seems to be set to the efforts of man; and in his eyes what is not yet done is only what he has not yet attempted to do.” --Alexis de Tocqueville

Transcendental – “To Transcend” a: to rise above or go beyond the limits of b: to triumph over the negative or restrictive aspects of : overcome c: to be prior to, beyond, and above (the universe or material existence) (Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online)

Transcendentalism Dictionary definition: A literary and philosophical movement, associated with Ralph Waldo Emerson,Margaret Fuller, and their contemporaries, asserting the existence of an ideal spiritual reality that transcends the empirical and scientific and is knowable through intuition

Primary Characteristics "The Transcendentalist adopts the whole connection of spiritual doctrine. He believes in miracle, in the perpetual openness of the human mind to new influx of light and power; he believes in inspiration, and in ecstasy. He wishes that the spiritual principle should be suffered to demonstrate itself to the end, in all possible applications to the state of man, without the admission of anything unspiritual; that is, anything positive, dogmatic, personal. Thus, the spiritual measure of inspiration is the depth of the thought, and never, who said it? And so he resists all attempts to palm other rules and measures on the spirit than its own.... (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Characteristics Spiritual, natural, intuitive Personal, Immaterial Philosophical, not logical, learn by experience, intuition and through nature Find your OWN truths – Learn not because you should, but because you WANT TO

Origins Has many facets (parts or principles) Originally came from the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, and was defined as an understanding gained intuitively because it lies beyond direct experience

What is it a reaction to or action against? emphasis on the oneness of individual souls with nature and with God gave dignity and importance to human activity and made possible a belief in the power to effect social change in harmony with God's purposes. reaction against the increasing dehumanization and materialism of the Industrial Revolution in the early 19th century. It was also a response to what Emerson and his educated contemporaries felt to be the spiritual inadequacy of established religion.

Famous Transcendentalists Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David Thoreau Margaret Fuller Walt Whitman Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Oliver Wendell Holmes John Greenleaf Whittier

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. Born: May 25, 1803, Boston Died: April 27, 1882, Concord Books: Emerson, The essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson Education: Harvard College, Harvard University, Harvard Divinity School, Boston Latin School

the fourth of eight children the fourth of eight children. His family—descendants of a number of noteworthy New England ministers—prized education, learning and culture. His father, William Emerson, distinguished minister of First Church, Boston, had drawn his congregation with him into Unitarianism. His father died when he was 8 and left family without financial support Mom worked as a maid, took in boarders, and the family often went hungry Began career as a Unitarian minister

Poor as they were, their family history and social position assured that the Emerson boys would be well educated. Waldo entered Harvard at 14. in 1832, in a radical departure from common practice, Emerson resigned his pulpit and never served another congregation. He is often thought to have left the ministry because he could not in conscience serve communion, knowing the members construed the meaning of the rite differently than he did. Led a “conventional” life, stood up for what he believed in and tried to live in a way in which his actions matched and aligned with his beliefs

Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist Born: July 12, 1817, Concord Died: May 6, 1862, Concord Education: Harvard College, Concord Academy, Harvard University Parents: John Thoreau, Cynthia Dunbar Nationality: French, American

he was sent to Harvard. He did well there and, despite having to drop out for several months for financial and health reasons, was graduated in the top half of his class in 1837. Thoreau's family participated in the "quiet desperation" of commerce and industry through the pencil factory owned and managed by his father. Thoreau family pencils, produced behind the family house on Main Street, were generally recognized as America's best pencils, largely because of Henry's research into German pencil-making techniques. About the same time both brothers became romantically interested in Ellen Sewall, a frequent visitor to Concord from Cape Cod. In the fall of the next year, both brothers -- first John and then Henry -- proposed marriage to her. But because of her father's objections to the Thoreaus' liberal religious views, Ellen rejected both proposals. He opened his own school, but soon his brother John became ill, and after John’s death, Thoreau returned to work in the pencil factory but was soon invited to work as a live-in handyman in the home of his mentor, neighbor, and friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson.

In 1845, he received permission from Emerson to use a piece of land that Emerson owned on the shore of Walden Pond. From this land Thoreau wrote Walden He was at once philosopher and naturalist; abolitionist and teacher; scientist and moralist; poet and surveyor; pencil maker and author. It is perhaps the many "lives" of Thoreau People are particularly drawn to his belief of finding spirituality in nature-a philosophy woven throughout his books and essays. As our lives become ever more complex, we hunger for simplicity and a communion with nature that Thoreau insists will lead to truth and spiritual renewal.