Transcendentalism 3 Essay, Research Paper
“We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds…A nation of men will for the first time exist, because each believes himself inspired by the Divine Soul which also inspires all men” As Ralph Waldo Emerson concluded his lecture at Harvard in 1837, he issued this challenge to all men, arguing for a new American culture, freed from European bondage and for the rebirth of an intellectual and artistic life that the society had previously lost. This renaissance was what would become known as modern transcendentalism: a complex, multi-faceted philosophy. Decades before, America had won its political independence, and unlike any European style, transcendentalism was a way to achieve literary independence. Writers, poets, and musicians alike wanted to develop a style that all could call American. Spawned from the writings of the era, the other aspect of this theory is that it existed as a form of religion and spirituality. Social reform later grew from these beliefs, such as anti-slavery and women s rights movements. So, what set off these changes in our society? Many trace the roots of these events back to the chief writers of the period. Transcendentalists like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau preached beliefs in self-reliance, non-conformity, and in the Over-Soul.
Ralph Waldo Emerson greatly accepted the concept of self-reliance, which is the dependence on one’s own judgments, powers, or resources, rather than those of others. Emerson focused on this topic in one of his essays. There is a time in every man s education when he [learns that] no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till (Self-Reliance 24). This quote sums up the fact that that nothing in life comes without some effort each person must work hard to achieve his/her goals. The following excerpt shows how a truly self-reliant person should only consider his what he earns through hard work:
[A] cultivated man becomes ashamed of his property, ashamed of what he has, if he see that it is accidental,– came to him by inheritance, or, gift, or crime; then he feels it is not worth having; it does not belong to him, has no roots in him, and merely lies there, because no revolution or no robber takes it away. (Self-Reliance 45) According to Emerson, a truly self-sufficient person can accomplish anything in life without the help of others.
Emerson was also a believer in non-conformity. Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist (Self-Reliance 26). Emerson did not encourage his readers to break the law; he simply encouraged them to Trust [their] emotion (Self-Reliance 29). Society as a whole does not always do what is right; therefore, each person should stray from the normal and do what is moral. What I must do, is all that concerns me; not what the people think (Self-Reliance 27). This saying by Mr. Emerson is one of the hardest to fulfill in today s world a world in which all seem to try constantly to please their peers. Emerson also encourages change. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds (Self-Reliance 29). One without a flexible attitude can never be great. If all people thought exactly alike if no one begged to differ, the world would never see any inventive changes to society.
Henry David Thoreau was a strict non-conformist. After spending one night in prison for failure to pay the poll tax for six years, he wrote Civil Disobedience, an essay in which he encouraged the reader to question the government. According to Thoreau, the government focuses more on its own good than on the good of the population, although the democracy has achieved nothing: Governments show thus how successfully men can be imposed on, even impose themselves, for their own advantage. Yet this government never of itself furthered any enterprise . It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate. The character of the American people has done all that has been accomplished. (Civil 636) So, why follow blindly a system that just observes from a distance? Thoreau once wrote, I heartily accept the motto, — That government is best which governs least. After thinking it through, he realized that this was more the case: That government is best which governs not at all (Civil 635). He felt that the legislation should not step in the way of the affairs of the public. Another example of Thoreau s non-conformity is when he wrote, It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right (Civil 637). Thoreau felt that when making a decision, one must do what is morally right, not simply what is lawful. In the words of Thoreau, there is no benefit for resting the law, since the law abiding citizens are daily made the agents of injustice (Civil 637). Therefore, one should not be afraid to bend the law, if that means that somebody maintains his/her personal rights.
Emerson conveyed the concept of the Over-Soul through his writings. The Over-Soul is the ideal spirit that lives in every person. This one mind common to all individual men (History 3) is the driving force of life. Although this spirit is a concept rather than a tangible object, Emerson had a descriptive definition of it: [The Over-Soul is] that great nature in which we rest, within which every man s particular being is contained and made one with all other; that common heart; that overpowering reality which evermore tends and aims to pass into our thought and hand, and become wisdom, and virtue, and power, and beauty. We live in succession, in division, in parts, in particles. Meantime, within man is the soul of the whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related; the eternal ONE. (Over-Soul 131) Therefore, we all share one soul with all our fellow humans, and we share the same soul with God: There is no screen or ceiling between our heads and the infinite heavens, so there is no bar or wall in the soul where man, the effect, ceases, and God, the cause, begins. We lie open to all the attributes of God. (Over-Soul 132) Consequently, all men have the essence of God flowing through their veins. We can see all that any man has seen and feel all that any man has felt. These announcements of the soul, or revelations, are the influx of the Divine mind into our mind (Over-Soul 137). This divinity in our being leads us to closeness with God, which no man can ignore.
Transcendentalism was a major factor in the development of America. The writings of Emerson and Thoreau on self-reliance, non-conformity, and the Over-Soul led to breakthroughs in civil rights and humanity. For example, the writings of Thoreau led to improved rights for black citizens and women. Emerson s Self-Reliance gave citizens a new sense of self-worth, showing how far one can go on his/her own. After reading the works of the varied transcendentalists, the American people knew they had a style they could call their own.