Sources:"American Transcendentalism: A Brief Introduction." by Paul P. Reuben Perspectives in American Literature“Transcendentalism” pbs.org“Transcendentalism” by David L. Simpson, DePaul University

Transcendentalism: American literary and philosophical

movement that began in New England in the 1830s.

The movement declined by the Civil War (1861-1865)

Famous Transcendentalists Ralph Waldo Emerson

Henry David Thoreau

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Walt Whitman

Emily Dickinson

Louisa May Alcott

The transcendentalist "transcends" or rises above the lower animal impulses of life.

God is a “Life Force” found in humans and nature, so going to holy places is unnecessary.

Institutions such as organized religion and political parties corrupt the purity of the individual.

People and nature are inherently good.

Studying nature helps you know yourself.

Intuition is better than rationality.

People are at their best when "self-reliant" and independent

Nature

Intuition

Independence

Individuality

Self-reliance

Storm in the Mountainsby Albert Bierstadt

Transcendentalist Painter

1817 –1862 American author, poet, tax resister, philosopher,

abolitionist, and leading transcendentalist.

Thoreau’s most famous works:

Walden: a reflection on living a simple life in natural surroundings

Civil Disobedience: an essay that encourages disobedience to an unjust government/society

Nathaniel Hawthorne said:

"[Thoreau] is as ugly as sin, long-nosed, queer-mouthed, and with uncouth and rustic, though courteous manners, corresponding very well with such an exterior. But his ugliness is of an honest and agreeable fashion, and becomes him much better than beauty.”

Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women, said about Thoreau’s facial hair:

“[It] will most assuredly deflect amorous advances and preserve the man's virtue in perpetuity."

In 1845, Thoreau began a 2 year experiment in simple living at Walden Pond in Concord, MA. During that time, he wrote Walden.

Part memoir and part spiritual quest, Walden explores simplicity, harmony with nature, and personal independence.

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not,

when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” —from Walden by Thoreau

Oct. 24th 1837

The Mould our Deeds Leave.Every part of nature teaches that the passing away of one life is the making room for another. The oak dies down to the ground, leaving within its rind a rich virgin mould, which will impart a vigorous life to an infant forest - - The pine leaves a sandy and sterile soil—the harder woods a strong and fruitful mould. - -

So this constant abrasion and decay makes the soil of my future growth. As I live now so shall I reap. If I grow pines and birches, my virgin mould will not sustain the oak, but pines and birches, or, perchance, weeds and brambles, will constitute my second growth. - -