Transcendentalism

Thoreau, Emerson, and the Concord

School

Transcendentalism, defined

Transcendentalism is a movement in philosophy, literature,

politics, and religion during the mid-19th century. It
emphasizes a few key points:

the interconnectedness of all things (oversoul)

the primacy (importance) of nature

the role of the individual in society

man vs. machine

It occurs largely in reaction to the first industrial revolution

that sweeps the U.S.

The roots of
Transcendentalism

Transcendentalism has its roots in a larger

movement known as Romanticism.
Romanticism affected the literature of
Europe as well as America.
Transcendentalism is seen as a uniquely
American concept, placing a greater
emphasis on religious expression than
Romanticism in Europe.

Industrial
Revolution

Scientific developments of the previous decades lead

to the mechanization of society: factory system,
assembly line, mass production

This leads to two large developments:

consumer culture

widening of the income gap into a working class

and an aristocracy

Communism and
Transcendentalism

At the same time as Thoreau and Emerson

are writing in reaction to the Industrial
Revolution in the U.S., Marx and Engels are
writing about the same experience in
Europe. Their conclusions, however, are
very different.

Communism vs.
Transcendentalism

Communism

emphasizes groups of people (class structure)

preoccupation with work and money

essentially political

Transcendentalism

emphasizes the individual

preoccupation with nature and reflection

essentially philosophical

The American
Renaissance

Sometimes transcendentalism (or the time

period it occupies) is referred to as the
American Renaissance. This is largely
because of the great influence of Emerson
and Thoreau on future generations.

Transcendentalism and the

Abolitionist Movement

Thoreau, Emerson, and others of the

Concord School provided the philosophical
backbone of some abolitionists.
Walden and other great works influenced
decision makers of the next generation who
were the political forces of the Civil War.

Ralph Waldo
Emerson
The Father of
Trancendentalism

Life

Emerson is born in Boston in 1803. His

father was a Unitarian minister who died
when Emerson was 7. He attended Harvard
on scholarship and became a teacher (later a
minister).
He left the ministry over several
disagreements with church practices.

Influences

Emerson, more than anybody before him,

pioneered the American spirit of
individuality. He drew his ideas from a
variety of sources: English philosophy and
literature (J.S. Mill, Thomas Carlyle, etc),
Indian religious writings, and his
contemporaries in America (Alcott, Thoreau,
Hawthorne)