Transcendentalism

1. Transcendentalism Walden Pond, Concord MA

2. What does “transcendentalism” mean? • There is an ideal spiritual state which “transcends” the physical and empirical. • A loose collection of eclectic ideas about literature, philosophy, religion, social reform, and the general state of American culture. • Transcendentalism had different meanings for each person involved in the movement.

3. Where did it come from? • Ralph Waldo Emerson gave German philosopher Immanuel Kant credit for popularizing the term “transcendentalism.” • It began as a reform movement in the Unitarian church. • It is not a religion—more accurately, it is a philosophy or form of spirituality. • It centered around Boston and Concord, MA. in the mid-1800’s. • Emerson first expressed his philosophy of transcendentalism in his essay Nature.

4. What did Transcendentalists believe? Transcendentalism: A movement that sought to explore the relationship between humans and nature through emotions rather than through reason. This was not a religion, but rather a movement to show humans how connected they are to the nature around them.

5. Who were the Transcendentalists? • Ralph Waldo Emerson • Henry David Thoreau

6. Ralph Waldo Emerson • 1803-1882 • Unitarian minister • Poet and essayist • Founded the Transcendental Club • Popular lecturer • Banned from Harvard for 40 years following his Divinity School address • Supporter of abolitionism

7. Henry David Thoreau • 1817-1862 • Schoolteacher, essayist, poet • Most famous for Walden and Civil Disobedience • Influenced environmental movement • Supporter of abolitionism

8. Literature • 1800’s literature illustrated daily life in early America. • Famous Authors of the 1800’s • Washington Irving wrote • Rip Van Winkle, the Legend of Sleepy Hollow and The Sketchbook • Theme - change occurs but traditions remain • James Fenimore Cooper wrote • The Deerslayer, The Last of the Mohicans • Theme – life on the frontier • Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote • The Scarlet Letter • Theme – morality, stigma’s, good v evil • Herman Melville wrote • Moby Dick • Theme – good v evil

9. Literature • Famous Authors of the 1800’s continued • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote • Paul Revere’s Ride • Theme – American historical events • Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote • Concord Hymn • Theme – American historical event, spirituality and transcendentalism • Henry David Thoreau wrote • Resistance to Civil Government • Theme – civil disobedience, nature, abolitionism

10. Literature • Famous Authors of the 1800’s continued • Louisa May Alcott wrote • Little Women • Theme – Feminine humanity • William Cullen wrote • Thanatopsis • Theme – natural beauty, study of nature, understand life and death

11. art • Famous Artists of the 1800’s • Hudson River School • Theme – natural wonders, landscapes of the Catskills Mountains and the Hudson River. • Established by Thomas Doughty • Artists: Thomas Cole, Asher Durand and George Caleb Bingham • Artists: George Catlin and Alfred Jacob Miller • Theme – Native American life, fur traders, riverboat workers.

12. music • Famous Musicians of the 1800’s • Stephen C. Foster • Performed musicals with American songs in large cities and log cabins using banjos and pianos. • Combined African and European music to create a uniquely American sound. • Songs: My Old Kentucky Home and Swanee River

13. architecture • Architectural Themes of the 1800’s • Public buildings were modeled on classical styles of Rome and Greece. • Private homes and plantations were modeled on the style of Greek Revival .