Ralph Waldo Emerson & Henry David Thoreau

In the mid-19th century, Romantic literature was still in full bloom across the West, but some American authors began producing literature that, while still Romantic, was unique enough to be considered a different genre.  This new genre, Transcendentalism, focused on the spirituality of the self and nature, not rejecting religion outright but concentrating on pragmatism and the importance of individuals as the spiritual center of the cosmos.  In addition to drawing upon the Age of Enlightenment, Transcendentalist authors also utilized the philosophy of Plato, who taught that self-fulfillment through attaining knowledge should be an individual’s ultimate goal.

The leader of Transcendentalism, and the man who ushered the movement’s practices and literature, was Ralph Waldo Emerson (1802-1883), one of America’s most famous writers and speakers. Whereas Romantic literature typically took the form of poetry, novels and short stories, Emerson often disregarded those traditional structures and wrote essays. Emerson initiated Transcendentalism with the publishing of his essay Nature in 1836, which espoused the virtues of nature and the interconnectedness of all life in nature. With his focus on the environment and natural history, Emerson became the first major American writer whose work was not influenced in any way by European literature. 

But Emerson didn’t just write Transcendentalist literature; he practiced what he preached. Now at the forefront of a movement, Emerson established group meetings, gave a series of lectures, and helped produce a Transcendentalist publication in the 1840s, which included his famous essay Self-Reliance. As Emerson’s movement and stature grew, he befriended other authors, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott, and Henry David Thoreau, who became his greatest protégé. 

One of the most famous Transcendentalists, and possibly its most ardent practitioner, was Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862). As a protégé of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Thoreau took the values of the movement to heart and was particularly interested in the interconnection between man and nature, writing in Walden, “Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind." That famous work was Thoreau’s account of his experience living for two years in a small cabin in a forest along the shore of Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts.

In 1846, Thoreau was arrested for failing to pay taxes, which was based on his opposition to slavery and other ways the government spent taxpayers’ money. After being freed, he gave a lecture about the roles of governments and individuals in society, which eventually became the famous essay “Civil Disobedience.” In addition to rejecting any government “which is the slave''s government also," Thoreau famously advocated “the majority of one”, calling upon people to break unjust laws. As fate would have it, Thoreau’s message of civil disobedience has resonated more than any of his other Transcendentalist values, and it had a profound influence on the philosophy and nonviolent protests of activists like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Ralph Waldo Emerson & Henry David Thoreau looks at the life and work of Thoreau, and it examines his ideology and the Transcendentalist movement. Along with pictures of important people and places, you will learn about Thoreau like you never have before, in no time at all.