transcendentalists alone with nature. what is transcendentalism? tenets (beliefs) – truth is in...
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What is Transcendentalism?
• Tenets (Beliefs)– Truth is in nature– Everyone can get it– Social knowledge different than individual
knowledge– Society can and will improve– Individual has effect on community– Non-conformity– Self-reliance
• Authors:– Emerson– Thoreau– Fuller
Historical Context
• 1830s-1860s– Mexican American War– Civil War
• Centered at Harvard University• Inspired by German Philosopher
Immanuel Kant• Originally Transcendentalism used as
a put-down. They like it so it stays as their title
Henry David Thoreau
• 1817-1862• Upbringing:–Parents owned a little store–They worked as pencil makers
• Education–Harvard–Labeled as failure
Henry David Thoreau
• Activist and Intellectual–“We need to”–Wants change in individual–Tree hugger
• Significant works:–Resistance to Civil Government–Walden–Slavery in Massachusetts
Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Education– Mary Moody Emerson (aunt) in charge– Wanted to go to Harvard
• Anti-Slavery• Self-Reliance– Man is disunited with self until one with nature– Nature is a symbol of your spirit
• Anti-Institutionalism– Change in individual will result in change of
society
Margaret Fuller• Education
– Educated by father who was a lawyer at Cambridge– Would educate other women through
“conversations” she published• Journalism
– She writes for “The Dial” a Transcendentalist newspaper
– Writes about women’s rights• “The Great Lawsuit: Men vs. Men and Women vs. Women”• “Women in the Nineteenth Century”
• Death– Dies with her family in a shipwreck off of New York– Just returning from revolution in Italy
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