American Transcendentalism
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to from only 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." (Thoreau) American Transcendentalism was a literary and philosophical movement that emerged in New England around 1836 and flourished for ten years until 1846. This school of thought had a profound influence on American religion, philosophy, politics, literature, and art. The American Transcendentalist rejected this empiricism, asserting that wisdom is inherent in the soul of each human being. The root of the Transcendentalists' humanistic philosophy is that which exalts the individual as a reflection and integral part of God's divine universe. According to critics, American Transcendentalism was driven by the circumstances of nineteenth-century American life. American Transcendentalism is rooted in the American past. It owes its pervasive morality and the "doctrine of divine light" to such aspects of Puritanism and its concept of nature as a living mystery and not a clockwork universe which is fixed and permanent to the Romanticism age (Reuben 2). The American landscape inspired the Transcendentalists' rever
Richardson, Robert D. Jr. Emerson: The Mind on Fire. Los Angles. University of Rusk, Ralph. The Life of Ralph Waldo Emerson. New York and London. Columbia The Transcendentalist were a number of young Americans, most of them born into the Unitarianism of New England in the early nineteenth century, who in the 1830's became excited about the new literature of England, and who thereupon revolted against the rationalism of their fathers (Miller 1). Although they were active for a relatively brief period, they were centered in a narrow geographical area encompassing the New England area, and were reviled in their time as extremists and radicals. Their influence was extraordinarily wide. In American religion, the movement ushered in a period of unprecedented debate and reform. Philosophically, it crystallized the key ideas of American democracy and religion. The movement is also noted for its significant contribution to social reform. The American Transcendentalist are considered visionaries in their attitudes toward such issues as social protest, equality of the sexes, creative and participatory education for children, and labor reform. Miller, Perry. "The American Transcendentalists." On-line, Internet. 22 April 1999. 22 April 1999
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Approximate Word count = 1487
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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