Henry David Thoreau: Transcendentalism In Public Schools In The 19th Century

Henry David Thoreau 1817-1862 born and raised in Concord, was a popular student in Harvard. Despite his financial and health deformities he was able to graduate from the university. By 1837 America was facing an economic depression and jobs were not easily available. Thoreau began to write poems and essays of transcendentalism to escape from the development and also to emphasize on nature. Therefore, he spent two years in Walden Pond (Schneider, 2013).

After reading education in the U.S. from 1770-1900, I learned that Horace Mann established a new system for public schools called "common schools", in which all children (poor or rich) were provided a common body of knowledge that would allow them to have a equal chance in life. Also, I learned that due to the increase of immigrants arriving to Europe, religion (Catholic v.s. Protestant) became a controversial issue in the common schools. After reading education in the U.S. from 1900-1950, I learned that due to limited amount of space in the classroom, many students had to attend school part-time. Second, I learned that schools in the early 1900s began to use progressive techniques in the classrooms instead of following the three R 's, where

Henry David Thoreau is one of the primary promoters of the transcendentalist movement and has been inspiring people to take on the transcendentalist lifestyle ever since the mid 1800’s. Mccandless was an admirer of Henry’s philosophy but he wasn’t as fully immersed in his work and ideals as Thoreau was to his own. His intentions were not as closely aligned to the movement as Thoreau’s and the difference between these icons are clearly visible.

Along with changes within society, education experienced great changes as well. When World War I started, there was only about one million kids attending a high school. However, this number soared to over four million by 1926. With industry booming and the economy prospering, there was a need for higher skilled laborers. This is exactly what high schools became in the 1920’s, as they offered a big range of various courses for students who were interested in industrial jobs.

Transcendentalism Essay The ideals and structures of the society we live in today clearly contrast with the core ideals of Henry David Thoreau. We rely on seemingly everything but ourselves for information, and we have trampled upon the nature that was so valued by Thoreau.

Thoreau’s life was full of independent spirit. He tried to live by his own values, rather than society’s, which he considered materialistic. He wanted to be different, like most transcendentalists do. In one of his most famous works called Walden, he comes up with an amazing and inspirational aphorism, “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer” (Thoreau 390). This aphorism is similar to one of Emerson’s most famous, but also gives a whole new perspective to the idea that everyone is different and everyone can accomplish their own goals independently.

During the Transcendentalist movement, Henry David Thoreau was a leading transcendentalist whose work focused mainly on nature and adventure. Walden, or Life in the Woods is an exceptional example of a story based on adventure. In Thoreau’s account of his life at Walden pond, he first states, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” Through this quote Thoreau explains that he was tired of the complexity of normal life and desired to go on an adventure to live simply. Additionally, Thoreau states, “I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life…,” which again reveals his motivation for new life by adventure and simplicity. Finally, as Thoreau concludes his account he states, “I left the woods

Trascendentalism was started way back in the year 1807. Trascendentalism was a movement started as a club of people. They accept ideas of life but not as religious beliefs but as a way of understanding life. One of the people who was a strong believer of transcendentalism was Thoreau. He believed in living simply just like modern days Lenard skynard.

For the most part, women were receiving education up to the elementary level. Advocates for women’s rights to education rose up and soon, teaching became a feminine job and a wide arrange of seminaries and academies for young ladies were built. This boom in education for both genders happened during the years leading up to the Woman Suffrage Movement in 1848, where those in support of women’s suffrage gathered in Seneca Falls, New York to pass a resolution that gave women the right to vote. So the question is asked: did women’s rights to education lead up to their suffrage? Women’s Education in the United States by Margaret A. Nash gives insight into how women’s education came about and what its purpose was.

The public schools’ content, discipline, and amount of religiosity differed due to the early influences, general demographics, and the three sections. All states in America had free public schools by 1870, but attendance was not completely mandatory. Into the twentieth century, as it became a known fact that the more educated a person was, the more productive they could be, laws were established that required all foreigners to be americanized so that American education was able to expand and be unified as one

Transcendentalism is not a word that can be defined. It is a concept brought about by various writers to include Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. The world has dramatically changed since their time period, making it an interesting topic to debate upon what they would think of today’s society. Their opinions on whether they supported current culture would definitely vary, depending on the topic at hand. Customs such as technology, going to school, and going to Mass weekly would spark strong opinions in the minds of people like Emerson and Thoreau, and their thoughts would gather around transcendentalist ideas and principles.

The bold and brash approach on life by transcendentalists was truly an ambitious lifestyle. Such individuals like Henry David Thoreau, Chris McCandless, and Jon Krakauer have renounced all of their mainstream agendas to lead a more fundamental life, but not without the criticism other have faced. The actions portrayed in their novels demonstrate how important it is to incorporate others’ ideas when one’s own choices. As the world was in the midst of transforming, Henry David Thoreau yearned to yield away from the evolving world, as he considered them corrupt opportunists who are deprived of their true nature.

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”- Henry David Thoreau. Transcendentalism is an American philosophy that revolves around self-reliance and independence, commonly in nature, a Transcendentalist wants to find the true meaning in life. I believe that Chris McCandless was a Transcendentalist because he was able to leave his whole life behind and take on a minimalist lifestyle while having a strong relationship with god. However, I believe that I am not a Transcendentalist, but simply an adventurer.

Transcendentalism, a philosophical and social movement, demonstrated how divinity spreads through all nature and humanity. One of the main ideals of transcendentalism, living simply and independently, define as the principle. In matters of financial and interpersonal relations, independence projects as more valuable than neediness. Henry david Thoreau elaborates on these transcendentalist ideals when he travels into the woods and writes an essay.

Consequently, what Thoreau proposed was simplicity rejecting modern civilization to return to nature and let the individual to develop his/her highest possibilities. Thoreau not only made a critique of the modern society as Emerson did, but also he practiced his ideology: he experienced that life is better without crowd, luxuries and complexity. The transcendentalist poet spent two year close to nature. He lived at Walden Pond where he wrote entire journals recounting his experience. Thoreau is well known for his book “Walden” (1854).