Historical+Transcendentalist+Analysis-+Tiarra+Andrews-Owens



=Historical Transcendentalist- Ralph Waldo Emerson= Transcendentalism was a philosophical movement in the 1830s and 1840s. The transcendentalist movement was a protest to the general state of society and culture. Transcendentalist believed in a direct relationship with God and nature. Ralph Waldo Emerson was one of the most prominent figures in the transcendentalist movement. Ralph Waldo Emerson is important to modern transcendentalism because he represented transcendentalist beliefs, he had an effect on society, and he introduced transcendentalist ideas.

Ralph Waldo Emerson represented transcendentalist beliefs. He had a strong belief in self-reliance. He also had a very strong belief in the admiration of nature. He wrote many essays about his beliefs but two of his famous are Nature and Self-Reliance. He believed that “imitation is suicide” and that you should only be worried about yourself which was in his essay of “Self-Reliance” (Emerson). In his essay “Nature” says that through experiencing nature and admiring it you can have a relationship with God. Emerson laid the foundation for many transcendentalist philosophies.

Emerson had a profound effect on society. Emerson with some other transcendentalist even started a newspaper called “The Dial”, which also introduced some transcendentalist ideas. In Emerson’s essay Self-Reliance he gave many people ideas of individual freedom and how society might “limit individual freedom” (Emerson). Many of Emerson’s ideas became an essential way of American thinking. His work has greatly influenced thinkers, writers, and poets that came after him. In influencing writers and poets after him Emerson and the transcendentalist movement shaped American literature in a way.

Emerson definitely contributed to introducing the transcendentalist ideas. Emerson is the main driving force behind the transcendentalism movement. In his essay “Nature” he laid the foundation for many transcendentalist philosophies. One of the main ideas that he introduced in the essay was deep appreciation and admiration of nature. In his essay ‘Self-Reliance, Emerson introduced new ideas of individuality. Emerson was definitely one of the most prominent figures in the movement.

Emerson was the most important person to the Transcendentalist movement. He represented the transcendentalist beliefs in his writing through expressing admiration for nature, god, and self-reliance. Emerson had a very big effect on society by being involved in a transcendentalist newspaper, and influencing other writers. Emerson basically helped to shape some of American literature. Emerson’s work laid the foundation and introduced people to transcendentalist philosophies. Emerson was very important and that is why he was described as the “Father of Transcendentalism.”