American Transcendentalism

American TranscendentalismAn introduction to 19th century writers and thinkers in New England

By Jacqueline KochETE100-01Feb. 15, 2010

1What is transcendentalism?

that form philosophy which sinks God and Nature with man (Emerson, 1845).A form of philosophy that seeks to transcend space and time by using intuition when asking questions about life and society.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Whig ReviewGoing beyond scientific and factual reasoning.2

How did the movement begin?First developed in Germany.Meant what goes beyond (Wall, 1886).Grew in New England; opposed strict Puritan standards; thought man possessed the divine within himself.Emerson wrote Nature in 1836; asserts the world is a divine dream from which we may presently awake to the glories and uncertainties of the day (Wall, 1886).German philosopher Immanuel Kant developed a metaphysical philosophy that served as the basis for transcendentalism. He asserted that each intangible idea such as love or freedom, while incomplete on earth, had a more perfect, divine form elsewhere. (Wall, 1886).

The idea of transcendentalism in New England came from the English thought that Christianity should help govern what traditional authority previously had governed, but combined that notion with independence and freedom. The previous thought that ideas must conform to life was thrown aside as New Englanders, not yet under the rule of a government in their country, found a new sense of individual freedom and strong intellectual vitality (Wall, 1886).3Who were the major transcendentalists?Ralph Waldo EmersonWalt WhitmanHenry David ThoreauMargaret FullerAmos Bronson Alcott

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Formerly a Unitarian minister.Belonged to the Transcendental Club (Emerson, 1844).Initial writings characterized as quaint and peculiar (1844).By 1855, was considered the most respected essayist, philosopher and lecturer of his generation (Birney, 1998).

Weve already discussed how Emerson was the father of American transcendentalism. A variety of influences played a role in Emersons life, including his division from his church after an argument over how communion should be distributed. He also attended Harvard College and traveled abroad to Europe. (citation)5Walt Whitman (1819-1892)An unknown poet until Emerson praised his poetry in 1855 (Birney, 1998).Best known for O Captain! My Captain! about the death of President Lincoln (Birney, 1998).Every word that falls from his mouth shows silent disdain and defiance of the old theories and forms (Langley, 1855).

O Captain! My Captain! was written by Whitman after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. The poem presented a rarity his rhymed, rhythmically regular verse (Birney 1998).

Whitman embodied the transcendentalist movement by his unorthodox writing subjects. He did not concern himself with old European ways nor religion nor math nor science. He was more concerned with injecting nature into civilization and finding the answers to philosophys questions in nature (Langley 1855). An article in the United States Democratic Review says that the movement of his verses is the sweeping movement of great currents of living people (Langley 1855). How does that statement ring true for O Captain!?

6Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Best known for Walden.Enjoyed solitude, thinking and all manner of growing things (Torrey, 1896).A prophet, a writer, a student of nature (Torrey, 1896).Interest in solitude not in going into the woods to be alone but to understand the world and learn his place in it (Torrey, 1896).Thoreaus most famous work is perhaps Walden, which describes his life alone in a cabin in nature, giving himself time to write and think. He explains that he 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.7WaldenClick on the button below and listen to the lecturer describe Walden. Give your reactions to her thoughts.

Margaret Fuller (1810-1850)Feminist and intellectual; published essays calling for womens equality.Literary editor of New York Daily Tribune.Close friends with Emerson.Byline was an asterisk (*).Filled with unrest and disappointment (Margaret Fuller).Participated in civil and domestic troubles.

Why was womens equality a revolutionary thought in the 1800s? What would the other transcendentalists have thought of Fuller?9Amos Bronson Alcott (1799-1888)Enthusiastic about self-education and optimistic.Introduced art, physical education and nature classes into curriculums (Brown, 1999).Influenced Emersons Nature.Founded the Concord (Mass.) School of Philosophy (Brown, 1999).

Does Mr. Alcotts name seem familiar? He had four daughters, one of whom became famous for her writing. Louisa May Alcott published Little Women, and was obviously influenced by her fathers forward-thinking views on women and education (Brown 1999).10

What were the major themes in transcendentalism?NatureIndependenceDeficient societyProgress spurred by independenceIgnoring religious and social conventions Meditation and thinking

What allowed the movement to flourish?In colonial America, some people wanted to separate spirituality from traditional authority (Wall, 1886).After shirking traditional conventions like authority and religion, thinkers of the day began to base philosophy on the human mind in connection with nature.With an ocean to separate them from the Church of England, colonists began thinking for themselves and developed individualism and freedom of thought (Wall, 1886).12ReferencesAmos Bronson Alcott. Online image. Concord Ma. Magazine. 6 Feb. 2010. .Alexander, J. Walt Whitman. Online Image. Library of Congress. 3 Feb. 2010. doi: det 4a28535.Birney, A. (1998). Letter and corrected reprint of Walt Whitman's "O Captain, My Captain" with comments by author. Retrieved from .Birney, A. (1998). Letter, Ralph Waldo Emerson to Walt Whitman extolling Whitman's poetry. Retrieved from .Brown, A. (1999). Amos Bronson Alcott. Retrieved from .Emerson. Online image. 3 Jan. 2002. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 28 Jan. 2010. .Emerson, R. (1845). Essays: second series. American Whig Review, 1, 233-236. [Electronic version]. Retrieved from the Cornell University Library via the Library of Congress. Langley, H. (Pub.) (1855). Walt Whitman and his poems. The United States Democratic Review, 36, 205-213.[Electronic version]. Retrieved from the Cornell University Library via the Library of Congress.Margaret Fuller. Online image. Library of Congress. 5 Feb. 2010. doi: cph3a47196.References (cont.)Margaret Fuller. (1855). Putnams Monthly, 6, 107-112. [Electronic version]. Retrieved from the Cornell University Library via the Library of Congress. Old Manse from the highway, Concord, Massachusetts. Online image. 1901. Library of Congress. Detroit Publishing Company. 28 Jan. 2010. doi: det4a07458Parlow, G. Henry David Thoreau, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing slightly right. Online image. Library of Congress. 28 Jan. 2010. Doi: cph3a02153.com.Ralph Waldo Emerson. (1844). The Living Age, 1, 41. [Electronic version]. Retrieved from the Cornell University Library via the Library of Congress.Thoreau's cove, Lake Walden, Concord, Mass. Online image. Library of Congress. Detroit Publishing Company. 5 Feb. 2010. Doi: det4a18296.Thoreau, H. (1845). Walden an annotated edition. Retrieved from .Topics of the times: Ralph Waldo Emerson. (1882). The Century, 24, 457-458. [Electronic version]. Retrieved from the Cornell University Library via the Library of Congress.Torrey, B. (1896). Thoreau. The Atlantic Monthly, 78, 822-833. [Electronic version]. Retrieved from the Cornell University Library via the Library of Congress.Wall, A. (1886). Early transcendentalism in New England. The New England Magazine, 5, 162-171. [Electronic version]. Retrieved from the Cornell University Library via the Library of Congress.