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Thoreau And The Transcendentalist Movement

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At the turn of the early 19th century, a wave of new ideas evoked social justice, new literary techniques, and a sense of individuality. This revolutionary concept of life was later called transcendentalism. Transcendentalist focused their studies on reforming society and to better understand life's relationships. These educated Americans encouraged society to move forward and to cease looking towards Europe for inspiration, and to simply be themselves. Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson both were highly accredited transcendentalist. Their combined philosophies had a positive influence and an extensive impact on Martin Luther King Jr. and today’s society.

Ultimately it was Emerson's and Thoreau's works that fed the transcendentalist movement. Emerson’s first book, Nature (1836), is the most known of his works. His book coincides with the most basic idea of transcendentalism, that everything in the world is a microcosm of the universe. His belief that people should make decisions off of their own experiences, and not a higher power, allowed men and women to think for themselves. “Every spirit …show more content…

People in society now have learned to make their own conclusions and follow their own beliefs. In America we have laws that protect all people of color and of all sexual orientations. A prime example of modern transcendentalism, is the fight for equal marriage laws in America. Transcendentalist beliefs are present in modern music, paintings, newspapers, Television, and literature. The basic foundation of America is accredited to the transcendentalist of its past, who have also influenced today’s transcendentalist. “Once you attain the state of Absolute Oneness or Non-Duality, you become one of those spiritual legends that humanity so gloriously venerates as the founding fathers of religion.” ( Abhijit Naskar, Love, God & Neurons: Memoir of a scientist who found himself by getting

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