1. “New England Renaissance”
Transcendentalism
“New England Renaissance”

2. I. When?
*mid 19th century
*birth of ideas/intellectual “flowering” of New England
*great fortunes being made while others were poor
*social injustice and lots of immoral business
manipulations going on
*by 1836, Concord, Mass. was center for
Transcendentalism
*1833 Emerson settled in Concord

3. II. Where?
*Romantics centered around N.Y. & Knickerbockers (Irving, Bryant, Cooper)
*Later Romantics centered in Concord & Boston
*Puritan country :
“Romanticism on Puritan soil” Transcendentalism

4. III. Two Giants: Emerson & Thoreau
*settled in Concord
*spent much of life writing & lecturing; enjoyed great public recognition
*edited THE DIAL - a quarterly mag. 4 yrs. It contained transcendental philosophy & writings
*exalted man almost to realm of divinity
*did not actively take part in reform because thought his function was to incite self-reliance
*believed in nonconformity --individualism is personal relig.

6. Thoreau: *Wrote WALDEN *friend of Emerson’s
*”hears the beat of a different drummer”
*civil disobedience
* abolitionist

7. IV. Philosophy A. limitless possibilities of SELF
B. nature as way of proving God’s PRESENCE (Paine…says universe is evidence of creator; not his presence)
C. emphasis on worth of individual -- man has spark of divinity
D. nature renews the soul-spiritual
E. optimism -- limitless capacity of man, no matter how common
F. Oversoul (Emerson) -- power from which all things emanate & from which man derives his divine spark
G. unity in diversity -- every evil deed is offset by every good one (“Compensation” by Emerson)

8. H. nonconformity -- be wholly one’s self
I. Be part of nature; pantheism
J. Reform movements (abolitionists , women’s rights)
K. upset by the injustices caused by Industrial Revolution

9. V. Oversoul (level II)
A. A power from which all things emanate and from which man derives his divine spark; spiritual unity in all things
B. O.S. was good, by definition; thus the universe is moral
C. Nature is evidence of the rightness of the world -- it renews man’s spirits if he listens to the inner voice & feelings; nature is the bible
D. O.S. seen as a single essence & since all men derive their being from the same source, all mankind is really striving in the same direction -- convergent paths (another side of unity of man; affirmed universal brotherhood of man & ultimate resolution of social problems)

10. Emerson: “I want to be a transparent eyeball --
E. Man’s highest duty is to demonstrate by his life, the goodness & beauty of the O.S. -- but not all people were as pure-minded as Emerson!
Weakness of this philosophy:
*very inconsistent -- took refuge in mysticism whenever it could not explain things (E: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds”)
*Resulted in rampant & irresponsible individualism, esp. on expanding frontier
Emerson: “I want to be a transparent eyeball --
I am nothing; I see all….”

11. VI. Beliefs R & T shared: the T’s extended their idealism
R’s believed in the divinity of humans
uniqueness
nature as a spiritual source
intuition and imagination
T’s took one more step and believed in the Oversoul (“transparent eyeball”)
unity in diversity
man as creator
“spirit”
All T’s were R’s, but not all R’s were T’s!