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Frederick Douglass The Three Musketeers Take Transcendentalism

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The Three Musketeers Take Transcendentalism
The transcendental movement that occurred between 1830 and 1850 is best understood by exploring the context in which it began. America had declared its independence from England half a century earlier, however, continued to hold onto many of Europe’s religious and political tenets. Highly acclaimed American philosophers, poets, and authors of the day, like Henry James Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, felt it was time for the people in the fledgling country to further distance itself from Europe’s influence and develop their own unique set of beliefs based on personal experiences, intuitions and inspirations. Transcendentalists maintained that all people had access to divine inspiration, knowledge and truth; and these instincts transcended what can be seen, heard, felt, touched or tasted. As such, each individual could trust their own authority of what was right and what was wrong. Not surprisingly, the movement went hand-in-hand with social reform, many advocating for the freedom of all slaves. In 1845, an eye opening narrative on the reality of slavery was published. The author, Frederick Douglass, used his own experiences to create a timeless piece of literature, that has reached multiple generations, and inspired countless people to take action. A transcendentalist himself, Douglass was the living embodiment of transcendentalist principles through his agitation of societal norms, and belief in self-reliance, education,

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