Major events in history have always influenced writers, but it very rare for a writer to influence history. Ralph Waldo Emerson was one of these rare writers. He put into words a new air, a new way of thinking, which began to drift into American minds since the colonial days. His words condensed this air into something tangible, "the literature of the poor, the feelings of the child, the philosophy of the street, the meaning of household life" which has defined the attitude of America. This new attitude was how one must define his own mind based on unique thought, not popular thought, to set himself free from oppression and from his present circumstance. Many Americans such as Whitman, Dickinson, Thoreau, and Douglass have been inspired by this new philosophy and have made it their own through their literature.
             The seeds of this new philosophy were sown years before Emerson had voiced it. Like Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson thought American life should be built on thought and reason for the welfare of all people. He expressed this by "[declaring] the causes which impels [America] to the separation" from England in the Declaration of Independence. He wanted to show Europe that Americans under democracy knew what was best for themselves and could think for themselves without an outside power ruling them. Benjamin Franklin, in his "Autobiography", used puritan values to get ahead in the commercialized life of the time. He introduced the ability to take charge of ones own life by scheduling time. He also believed that one could "conquer all that either Natural Inclination, Custom, or Company might lead [him] into" with the power of his mind.
             Once the seeds were planted, Emerson grew and developed this new revolution of thought that inspired many to write. One of his followers, Walt Whitman, explored his own thoughts and realized the ultimate unity of all people in nature. As he said in "Song of Myself", every one is re...