  Developed as a protest to the culture, society, and politics of the time (New England Renaissance)  More than a literary movement: religion and philosophy included › Immanuel Kant, German philosopher › German Idealism › Carlyle, Coleridge, and Wordsworth (English Romantic poets) › Swendenborg, Swedish scientist and mystic › Plato, Greek philosopher › Pascal, French mathematician and moralist › William Ellery Channing, apostle of Unitarianism religion › Buddhism, an eastern/central Asian religion › American Democracy Idealism  Transcendental Club founded in 1836 in Cambridge, MA › Ralph Waldo Emerson, later co-editor of The Dial › Henry David Thoreau › Bronson Alcott › Margaret Fuller, first editor of The Dial › Nathaniel Hawthorne

 The goodness of humanity and the glories of nature  Man grasps knowledge of truth or reality through intuition  Over-Soul: consists of God, nature, and man  God is the Ideal and created an ideal world  Nature and man reflect God  5 Reform Movements: feminism, labor unionism, abolitionism, communalism, utopianism  Reincarnation, intuition, and the integrity of man

 1841: Brook Farm was an experiment in co-operative living  The Dial: Transcendentalist magazine  Short stories, novels, and poetry are popular

 May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882  Father of American Transcendentalism  Essayist, philosopher, lecturer (over 1500 public speaking engagements!), and poet  His “Nature” essay is considered to be the first piece of the movement.  Main topics: freedom, individuality, human potential, human soul’s connection with everything  Against social abuses, slavery, materialism, Mexican War  Never joined movements

 Both prose selections  “Nature always wears the color of the spirit”- nature reflects man’s emotional state  “Nature” = Transcendental Club’s unofficial statement of belief  “In the woods we return to reason and faith.”  “Whoso would be a man must be a non- conformist”  “a joint stock company” = society  “…to be great is to be misunderstood.”

 July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862  Author, abolitionist, philosopher, and criminal (not really but he did spend time in jail)  Mentored by Emerson (bff)  Valued personal experience  His essay Civil Disobedience inspired Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr.  Joined movements

 Thoreau spent over two years in isolation (well, somewhat isolated…he went into town occasionally to socialize) at Walden Pond  Walden recounts his memories and lessons  Wanted to simplify his life as much as possible  Emerson’s response to Thoreau living at Walden: “A frog was made to live in a swamp, but a man was not made to live in a swamp.”

 Wooden gun=government  “I heartily accept the motto the government is best which governs least”  Government should be an expedient or a resource  Government should base decisions on the dictates of conscience  During the Mexican War ( ), he refused to pay a poll tax.

 December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886  Introverted and reclusive › Rarely left her room (later years)  Mostly wore white  Most poems published after death  Personal insights/themes  Often used a rhyme scheme  Format based on quatrains as used in New England hymns  Unconventional punctuation use

 May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892  Essayist, poet, humanist  Transitions from Transcendentalism to realism  America’s First “Poet of Democracy”: captures the American character/spirit  Celebrated the common man  No set stanza forms, used free verse