Transcendental Movement In The 1800s
APUSH
November 4, 2013
Transcendental Movement of the 1800s
Transcendentalism was a religious, literary, and social movement that occurred between 1830 and 1855. Transcendentalists “…focused on personal spiritual awakening and individual self-gained insight; they were idealistic and embraced nature as they reacted against the increasingly commercial nature of the emerging American society.” [1] The Transcendental Club, where this movement received its name, met in the Boston area during this movement. At this club ten to twenty people would come to discuss previously chosen topics ranging from religion and morals to the more important beliefs of individualism and, most importantly, nature. Two of the most popular figures that majorly …show more content…
influenced this movement, who frequented the meetings of the transcendental club, include Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Emerson, the most widely known author from the transcendental period, was a leader of this movement after his completion of his essay entitled Nature. This movement led to literary works on the issues of social reforms, some of which are still influencing movement leaders in the modern day. Vocal reforms were among the most popular reforms at this time; people wrote essays and made speeches in order to get congress’s attention. Transcendentalism was intended to be deliverance of the soul and, as time went on, grew into liberation of things like slavery, labor reforms, women’s rights, and so many more which compelled authors to express their opinions of these things in vocal reforms to draw attention to them and open the eyes of the government.
Transcendentalism began in New England around 1830 and lasted until the mid-1850s.
It first arose among New England Congregationalists, who differed from orthodox Calvinism on two issues. The first was that transcendentalists did not believe in and rejected predestination and they also stressed the unanimity rather than the trinity of God. They believed, in order to comprehend the divine, God, and the universe, one must transcend, or go beyond, the physical and emotional portrayals of normal human thought. Their beliefs include that all people are inherently good, humans can rise above to a higher spiritual plane; they transcend through intuition not reason, by learning from and living in harmony with nature, and as an individual; every human being is capable of transcending; after transcending one will want to do the right and moral thing and work toward the betterment of their society. At the heart of transcendentalist belief is the Over-Soul. This is the belief that says that all forms of being, by God, nature, and humanity, are united through a shared universal soul. The Over-Soul can also be seen as the Ideal or Supreme …show more content…
Mind.
Transcendentalists around the Boston area would have meetings known as the Transcendental Club six times every year starting in 1836. At these meetings anyone could attend and the size ranged from ten to twenty people. Those who attended discussed predetermined topics that exhibited the beliefs of this movement. Some examples of these topics include religion, moral values, individualism, and nature. From 1840, the group published articles of their opinions on what they have discussed and other topics that they have strong beliefs for frequently in their journal The Dial, along with other venues. This movement received its name from this club, but in some instances it was also known as Hedge 's Club, the Aesthetic Club, the symposium, or, just simply, the Club. This particular movement was very influential in literature. Many of the authors and philosophers who were affiliated with the transcendentalism movement did not agree on how to define transcendentalism, which reflects their beliefs of individualism, so their writings would, oftentimes, differ in theme. Many of the themes that are seen in literary work of this time include religion, values in a society, and reverence for nature. Emerson had spoken out against and warned that Americans were valuing wealth and commercialism during this time. Many transcendentalists had a captivation with spiritual beliefs and works from Asia, specifically those related to Buddhism and Hinduism. Many involved in the movement believed that a person could gain insight without the assistance of institutions like the church, thus emphasizing the importance of the individual and how each person was able to develop his or her own spiritual awareness.
Nature was perhaps the largest transcendental themes seen in literature. “Because of the importance of individualism and carving one 's own path independent of institutions, nature was idealized as a place to embrace beauty and find both spiritual and individual truths. Nature was a means to express the divine within and without oneself.”[2] Several authors from this time tried their hand, so to speak, at utopian living at places, like Brook Farm and Fruitland, to enhance connections with nature and live preferably for spiritual enlightenment. Authors such as Emerson, who wrote Nature, and Thoreau, who wrote Walden, spent time in solitude with nature for many months or even years to gain new ways of thinking and help them engage their imaginations. Ralph Waldo Emerson said in his book Nature, “The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship.”[3] Henry David Thoreau said in his book Walden, “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.”[4] Both of these major influences of this time went into nature to find answers and truth in life, which was a key belief of this movement. Transcendentalists at the time were considered visionaries on issues such as social protest, dismissal of slavery, women’s rights, creative and participatory education for children, and labor reform. Transcendental writers may have had the liberation of the soul as their immediate goal but as more people got involved in transcendental thought, the goal grew into social liberation. Authors like Fuller, Thoreau, and Whitman started writing about the issues that they felt were not acceptable in their essays and poetry. For example, in Margaret Fuller’s essays she would write about women’s rights and in Thoreau’s essays he would write about the topic of slavery. “In Resistance to Civil Government, Thoreau states, ‘Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?’ Thoreau’s answer was to transgress, and go to jail if necessary, for as he says, ‘Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.”[5] Thoreau’s ideas were not only popular in this period and place. His paper Civil Disobedience inspired Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. to lead peaceful protests for segregation for King and the passive resistance movements in India for Gandhi. Transcendentalism began in the early 1830s, led by Ralph Waldo Emerson, to express the belief that all people were good and everyone could rise above and make something out of their lives. The Transcendental Club helped authors, who were and still remain a major influence on society, express their beliefs in journals, essays, poetry, and books. This movement was brought about by the opposition of orthodox Calvinism in New England and its views on predestination and self-insight helped to distinguish the beliefs of this movement and show that when people work with and learn from nature it can lead to discoveries of imagination, new ways of thinking and processing information, and help them gain insight into themselves.
Transcendentalism had a much larger influence on social reforms than was originally planned. Its goals were originally intended for liberation of the soul, but as this movement grew its goals did also. It was taken as inspiration for liberation of slavery, women’s rights, labor reforms, and other movements. Even modern day reformers like Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi were influenced by these beliefs. As Emerson once said, “America is another name for opportunity.”
[6]
Bibliography
Student Resources in Context. http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/suic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Reference&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=true&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&search_within_results=&action=e&catId=GALE%7CNENKVR066049976&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ2181500300&userGroupName=nhais_hmnh&jsid=257eb0ec1103b0c40ffc336b02fb7d45.
Transcendentalism: Common Themes. http://howlandpowpak.neomin.org/powpak/cgi-bin/article_display_page.pl?id=thomas.williams/american&ar=20.
VLACS 3.02 Romanticism and Transcendentalism. Accessed November 5, 2013. https://courses.vlacs.org/file.php/2143/flvs/educator_eng3_v13_gs/module3/lesmod03/3_02b_b.htm. Robinson, David M. "Transcendentalism." American History Through Literature 1820-1870. Ed. Janet Gabler-Hover and Robert Sattelmeyer. Vol. 3. Detroit: Charles Scribner 's Sons, 2006. 1171-1180. Student Resources In Context.
Thoreau, Henry David. Walden.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Nature." In Nature.
AP Study Notes. http://www.apstudynotes.org/us-history/topics/transcendentalism-religion-and-utopian-movements/.
Brainy Quote. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/r/ralph_waldo_emerson_3.html.
American Transcendentalism. http://transcendentalism.tamu.edu/reform.
Important Facts Sheet
Began in 1830 as an opposition to orthodox Calvinism. Downfall in 1855.
Major beliefs:
All people are inherently good.
Humans can transcend to a higher spiritual plane.
One "transcends" through intuition not reason.
One "transcends" by learning from and living in harmony with nature.
One "transcends" as an individual.
Every human being is capable of "transcending."
After "transcending" one will want to do the right and moral thing and work toward a better society.
Transcendental Club: Major authors would come to discuss topics of religion, nature, morals, and individualism. Met six times a year between 1836 and 1840.
Influenced Social Reforms of the era.
Henry David Thoreau
Wrote Walden, Civil Disobedience, and other influential literary works.
Influenced Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Major writing: Nature
Was the leader of the transcendental movement
November 4, 2013
Transcendental Movement of the 1800s
Transcendentalism was a religious, literary, and social movement that occurred between 1830 and 1855. Transcendentalists “…focused on personal spiritual awakening and individual self-gained insight; they were idealistic and embraced nature as they reacted against the increasingly commercial nature of the emerging American society.” [1] The Transcendental Club, where this movement received its name, met in the Boston area during this movement. At this club ten to twenty people would come to discuss previously chosen topics ranging from religion and morals to the more important beliefs of individualism and, most importantly, nature. Two of the most popular figures that majorly …show more content…
influenced this movement, who frequented the meetings of the transcendental club, include Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Emerson, the most widely known author from the transcendental period, was a leader of this movement after his completion of his essay entitled Nature. This movement led to literary works on the issues of social reforms, some of which are still influencing movement leaders in the modern day. Vocal reforms were among the most popular reforms at this time; people wrote essays and made speeches in order to get congress’s attention. Transcendentalism was intended to be deliverance of the soul and, as time went on, grew into liberation of things like slavery, labor reforms, women’s rights, and so many more which compelled authors to express their opinions of these things in vocal reforms to draw attention to them and open the eyes of the government.
Transcendentalism began in New England around 1830 and lasted until the mid-1850s.
It first arose among New England Congregationalists, who differed from orthodox Calvinism on two issues. The first was that transcendentalists did not believe in and rejected predestination and they also stressed the unanimity rather than the trinity of God. They believed, in order to comprehend the divine, God, and the universe, one must transcend, or go beyond, the physical and emotional portrayals of normal human thought. Their beliefs include that all people are inherently good, humans can rise above to a higher spiritual plane; they transcend through intuition not reason, by learning from and living in harmony with nature, and as an individual; every human being is capable of transcending; after transcending one will want to do the right and moral thing and work toward the betterment of their society. At the heart of transcendentalist belief is the Over-Soul. This is the belief that says that all forms of being, by God, nature, and humanity, are united through a shared universal soul. The Over-Soul can also be seen as the Ideal or Supreme …show more content…
Mind.
Transcendentalists around the Boston area would have meetings known as the Transcendental Club six times every year starting in 1836. At these meetings anyone could attend and the size ranged from ten to twenty people. Those who attended discussed predetermined topics that exhibited the beliefs of this movement. Some examples of these topics include religion, moral values, individualism, and nature. From 1840, the group published articles of their opinions on what they have discussed and other topics that they have strong beliefs for frequently in their journal The Dial, along with other venues. This movement received its name from this club, but in some instances it was also known as Hedge 's Club, the Aesthetic Club, the symposium, or, just simply, the Club. This particular movement was very influential in literature. Many of the authors and philosophers who were affiliated with the transcendentalism movement did not agree on how to define transcendentalism, which reflects their beliefs of individualism, so their writings would, oftentimes, differ in theme. Many of the themes that are seen in literary work of this time include religion, values in a society, and reverence for nature. Emerson had spoken out against and warned that Americans were valuing wealth and commercialism during this time. Many transcendentalists had a captivation with spiritual beliefs and works from Asia, specifically those related to Buddhism and Hinduism. Many involved in the movement believed that a person could gain insight without the assistance of institutions like the church, thus emphasizing the importance of the individual and how each person was able to develop his or her own spiritual awareness.
Nature was perhaps the largest transcendental themes seen in literature. “Because of the importance of individualism and carving one 's own path independent of institutions, nature was idealized as a place to embrace beauty and find both spiritual and individual truths. Nature was a means to express the divine within and without oneself.”[2] Several authors from this time tried their hand, so to speak, at utopian living at places, like Brook Farm and Fruitland, to enhance connections with nature and live preferably for spiritual enlightenment. Authors such as Emerson, who wrote Nature, and Thoreau, who wrote Walden, spent time in solitude with nature for many months or even years to gain new ways of thinking and help them engage their imaginations. Ralph Waldo Emerson said in his book Nature, “The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship.”[3] Henry David Thoreau said in his book Walden, “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.”[4] Both of these major influences of this time went into nature to find answers and truth in life, which was a key belief of this movement. Transcendentalists at the time were considered visionaries on issues such as social protest, dismissal of slavery, women’s rights, creative and participatory education for children, and labor reform. Transcendental writers may have had the liberation of the soul as their immediate goal but as more people got involved in transcendental thought, the goal grew into social liberation. Authors like Fuller, Thoreau, and Whitman started writing about the issues that they felt were not acceptable in their essays and poetry. For example, in Margaret Fuller’s essays she would write about women’s rights and in Thoreau’s essays he would write about the topic of slavery. “In Resistance to Civil Government, Thoreau states, ‘Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?’ Thoreau’s answer was to transgress, and go to jail if necessary, for as he says, ‘Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.”[5] Thoreau’s ideas were not only popular in this period and place. His paper Civil Disobedience inspired Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. to lead peaceful protests for segregation for King and the passive resistance movements in India for Gandhi. Transcendentalism began in the early 1830s, led by Ralph Waldo Emerson, to express the belief that all people were good and everyone could rise above and make something out of their lives. The Transcendental Club helped authors, who were and still remain a major influence on society, express their beliefs in journals, essays, poetry, and books. This movement was brought about by the opposition of orthodox Calvinism in New England and its views on predestination and self-insight helped to distinguish the beliefs of this movement and show that when people work with and learn from nature it can lead to discoveries of imagination, new ways of thinking and processing information, and help them gain insight into themselves.
Transcendentalism had a much larger influence on social reforms than was originally planned. Its goals were originally intended for liberation of the soul, but as this movement grew its goals did also. It was taken as inspiration for liberation of slavery, women’s rights, labor reforms, and other movements. Even modern day reformers like Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi were influenced by these beliefs. As Emerson once said, “America is another name for opportunity.”
[6]
Bibliography
Student Resources in Context. http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/suic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Reference&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=true&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&search_within_results=&action=e&catId=GALE%7CNENKVR066049976&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ2181500300&userGroupName=nhais_hmnh&jsid=257eb0ec1103b0c40ffc336b02fb7d45.
Transcendentalism: Common Themes. http://howlandpowpak.neomin.org/powpak/cgi-bin/article_display_page.pl?id=thomas.williams/american&ar=20.
VLACS 3.02 Romanticism and Transcendentalism. Accessed November 5, 2013. https://courses.vlacs.org/file.php/2143/flvs/educator_eng3_v13_gs/module3/lesmod03/3_02b_b.htm. Robinson, David M. "Transcendentalism." American History Through Literature 1820-1870. Ed. Janet Gabler-Hover and Robert Sattelmeyer. Vol. 3. Detroit: Charles Scribner 's Sons, 2006. 1171-1180. Student Resources In Context.
Thoreau, Henry David. Walden.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Nature." In Nature.
AP Study Notes. http://www.apstudynotes.org/us-history/topics/transcendentalism-religion-and-utopian-movements/.
Brainy Quote. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/r/ralph_waldo_emerson_3.html.
American Transcendentalism. http://transcendentalism.tamu.edu/reform.
Important Facts Sheet
Began in 1830 as an opposition to orthodox Calvinism. Downfall in 1855.
Major beliefs:
All people are inherently good.
Humans can transcend to a higher spiritual plane.
One "transcends" through intuition not reason.
One "transcends" by learning from and living in harmony with nature.
One "transcends" as an individual.
Every human being is capable of "transcending."
After "transcending" one will want to do the right and moral thing and work toward a better society.
Transcendental Club: Major authors would come to discuss topics of religion, nature, morals, and individualism. Met six times a year between 1836 and 1840.
Influenced Social Reforms of the era.
Henry David Thoreau
Wrote Walden, Civil Disobedience, and other influential literary works.
Influenced Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Major writing: Nature
Was the leader of the transcendental movement