Transcendentalism
Transcendentalism was a movement in philosophy, literature, and religion that emerged and was popular in the nineteenth century New England because of a need to redefine man and his place in the world in response to a new and changing society. The industrial revolution, universities, westward expansion, urbanization and immigration all made the life in a city like Boston full of novelty and turbulence. Transcendentalism was a reaction to an impoverishment of religion and mechanization of consciousness of eighteenth century rational doctrines that ceased to be satisfying. After the success of the American Revolution and the Industrial Revolution, an American man emerged confident and energetic. However, with the release of nervous energy, an American was forced to look at a different angle at his place in the world and society. The world of the nineteenth century Boston was that of emergence of new currents of thought in response to the conservative atmosphere. The wealthy upper classes (the aristocracy) were conservative and suspicious of any innovations. They dominated the society and demanded conformity to their social ideals, being suspicious of any new structure of society. The irony was that by their reliance on tradition
The United States proved to be a fertile ground for reform at that time. He aimed to treat the students' minds as capable of growth and not just receiving information. "We see God around us because he dwells within us. They came from all over New England's farms and small towns, worked for a few years and then returned. Ripley said, "The purpose of Christianity . For transcendentalists, God was everywhere, and since nature had spiritual manifestations, they stressed their emphasis on here and now, their concern for life, and not for afterlife. Increase in population also brought about urbanization. Even though they carried on many of the ideas of Unitarianism, transcendentalists rejected its coldness. The innate principles with which mind gives form to its perceptions and makes experience intelligible are transcendental. An individual is the spiritual center of the world. Emerson clung to his proto-Darwinist views of self-reliance. On the other hand, transcendentalism and Unitarianism shared the belief that there is only one God. "When a man rests he stinks, if anything could stand still, it would be instantly crushed and dissipated by the torrent it resisted, and if it were a mind, it would be crazed. Thoreau, for example, had both idealistic and misogynist comments about women. The trek from the Atlantic to the Pacific was completed in 1850 when California was admitted as the 31st state.
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Acceptance Essays
