After analyzing the humanities through the history of America from pre-history to Reconstruction, it becomes evident that Americans identified themselves as purely unique individuals with unlimited potential; however, this idea slowly become more constricted to a certain group of people as new philosophies emerged and as more people immigrated to the United States. The revolutionary Exploration era delved into the unfamiliar and the strange, as European explorers crossed the Atlantic in search for new resources and land. During this time period, few European art portrayed the fruits of these explorations, and any recorded sketches were used for informational purposes. One such example was Cannibal Scene with the Tupi Indians by Hans Staden. …show more content…
The Transcendentalist movement specifically focused on the potential of the individual. A reaction to poor working conditions due to the Industrial Revolution, the Transcendentalist movement called for a return to nature and a forging of one’s own destiny. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “A Psalm of Life” mirrors these ideals. Longfellow celebrates the beauty of life and reminds his readers of what the lives of great individuals before them have showed to the world. He encourages boldly “Let us, then, be up and doing. . . Still achieving, still pursuing” (Longfellow). This is a rather American belief, as many at the time took advantage of the country’s resources and were determined to live life to the fullest. Despite the fact that all individuals were encouraged to discover themselves, this mentality did not apply to other races because they were not considered American citizens. The rise of minstrel shows supports this as it soon became a part of everyday entertainment after its premier in 1828. White comedians would dress-up in black face and portray African Americans as unintelligent and clumsy, add a racial aspect to comedy. Thus, while Americans were seen as unrestricted individuals, it is important to note that this …show more content…
The entrance of Edmonia Lewis was game-changing for several reasons. Not only was she a woman but she was also half native-American and half-African American. Despite the fact that these factors would’ve otherwise limited her ability to make it as an artist, her sculptures became a wide success. Her Forever Free is particularly interesting for its social commentary and the style with which it was sculpted. A partially-clothed man stands up with pride and seems to have broken off a shackle. Beneath him, a woman seems to be praising God with her clasped hands and grateful facial expression. The ideal anatomy of the man evokes the Classical Greek ideals of attaining perfection otherwise known as arête. Like the man reminisces Classical Greek sculpture, the abolition of slavery calls to mind the ideas of liberty and democracy of Greek civilization, where slaves could have eventually earned their freedom. Through this one seemingly insignificant work, Lewis gives American freedom a new meaning, which will have a permanent meaning for decades to come. With the success of these artists, the unique aspect of American culture took on a new meaning as it started gathering influence from minorities, painting a more accurate portrait of the true identity of an American, which no longer had a specific race attached to its
Although some might think it is easy to just go drop everything and live in the wild, it is not possible to live a transcendental life in modern day America. Most of the pillars of transcendentalism are not possible because of the media and the illusion of “perfect.” However, a few of the pillars are easy to live out like self-reliance and understanding the importance of nature. In sum, it is nearly impossible to live a transcendental life in modern day America with no strings attached.
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.
Discover Transcendentalism When one lives in self-reliance and protest against the general state of spirituality they would be called a Transcendentalist. A movement in the 1820s to 1830s really brought attention to this. Authors like Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, and even a popular film called Dead Poets Society. When one is in this state of self-reliance and Transcendentalism they will usually find happiness in themselves before anyone else.
"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.
African Americans were able to work for their own money now and gain confidence while living in America. They began to publish newspapers which increased the awareness of racial violence and express their freedom from restraint through art (O’Neill). This “negro fad” in the United States influenced art and drama that focused on the depiction of an African American in the 1920’s. African Americans were revolutionizing the way they were perceived in the U.S.. They gained confidence and made efforts to achieve their ultimate goal,
Within the early revolutionary epoch of American history brought various interpretations of the country. Thomas Paine characterized this country in an excerpt from his work the Rights of Man. Unfortunately, Thomas Paine’s characterization of America does not entirely hold truth today, and can be evident in our country’s political and identity ideologies. The key points within the excerpt implies that America is a country where a multitude of cultures, religions, and languages coexist. Paine suggests that our government, which was created “on the principles of society and the rights of man”, is able to overcome the differences of political and racial beliefs.
The Simplistic Living of Chris McCandless Around the 1830s-1840s, transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson founded an intellectual movement called transcendentalism. Like Emerson, Jon Krakauer writes with detailing transcendentalist keys in his book Into the Wild. In Into the Wild Krakauer shows his similar experiences through the character Chris McCandless. Krakauer uses transcendentalism by detailing the many keys McCandless portraits in the book. These keys are, goodness of humans and respect for other beauty, respect and beauty of nature, the importance of self-expression and self-reliance, non-conformity, and reducing dependence on property.
McCandless perfectly embodies the ideal transcendentalist in his spiritually-free state of mind and his ability to survive solely by his own rules of life. This philosophy came about because of the belief of new era starting - one where everyone has their own original relationship with the universe and its natural inhabitants. In today’s society, transcendentalism is important because it helps people to have a sense of originality as well as connect more spiritually to their earthly
What exactly does it means to be an American you may ask ? A historian by the name of Philip Gleason had once stated that ¨To be or to become an American, a individual didn 't have to be any particular nationality, learning language, religious, or ethnic background. All he had to do was to commit himself to the political ideology centered on the abstract ideals of liberty, equality, and republicanism. Nevertheless, the Universalist ideological persona of an American nationality meant that it was willingly open to become an American¨. Furthermore, what Gleason is explaining is that all one has to do is act like an American and embrace the American way of life, but is this really what it implies to be an American? In this essay I will identify whether or not it is enough to embrace culture, or if there is more to identifying what it is to be an American.
Up until the Great Depression, which signaled the end of the roaring 20’s and also stopped the Harlem Renaissance in its tracks; African American culture was given a boost due to an influx of racial pride and charismatic actions, changing perception of them in
The keys to artistic revolution and authentic expression, some intellectuals felt, would be found in the cultures of “primitive races,” and preeminent among these, in the stereotypical thinking of the day, were the cultures of sub-Saharan Africans and their descendants. Early in the 20th century, European avant-garde artists had drawn inspiration from African masks as they broke from realistic representational styles toward abstraction in painting and sculpture. The act of such experiments caused black people to look on their African heritage in a different way and in many cases with a desire to reconnect with a heritage long despised or misunderstood by both whites and blacks. That is how the harlem renaissance has helped shape African American
Was Chris McCandless a true transcendentalist? Transcendentalism is a system developed by Immanuel Kant, based on the idea that, in order to understand the nature of reality, one must first examine and analyze the reasoning process that governs the nature of experience. Influenced by romanticism, Platonism, and Kantian philosophy, it taught that divinity pervades all nature and humanity, and its members held progressive views on feminism and communal living. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were central figures. In Jon Krakauer’s novel, Into the Wild, McCandless is viewed as a transcendentalist.
Racism is a prominent issue or a serious problem in the American society since the beginning and the Americans are still struggling to eradicate this problem from their land. American soil has witnessed civil rights movements concerning this issue in the past. However in 1920, a movement got initiated to promote black identity known as Harlem Renaissance. It was also a fine arts movement that led to an increase in black confidence, literacy rate, and black culture. Writers wrote about their roots and the current society.
Between 1910 and 1940 there was a bloom of black artistic expression this period of time was known as the Harlem Renaissance. This period of time had black culture everywhere from music, literature to stage performing and arts, this was only one of the great migrations pros. With all
Transcendentalist writers were focused on the belief of the divinity of the individual soul, the inner voice, (Crawford, Kern & Needleman, 1961) to overcome social stereotypes and to avoid conformity. It is highlighted the importance to return to nature to enhance the quality of humans beings by living simply since being apart of common social rules is the only way to be in communion with nature’s wisdom. Those transcendental characteristics could be seen in Emerson’s ¨self-reliance¨ or Thoreau’s ¨Walden ¨ bearing in mind that although, Emerson’s ¨Self-reliance¨ adheres more descriptive examples to illustrate metaphors and Thoreau’s ¨Where I lived and what I lived for¨ introduces metaphors creating much more imagery, both make a critique of the modern individual using