Emerson, Thoreau And The Transcendentalist Movement

During the 1800's, transcendentalism grew with the help of Emerson, Thoreau and Whitman. They expressed their beliefs through many different types of writing including poems, essays and books. Very few people understood transcendentalism due to it complexity. Transcendentalism was an American literary, political and philosophical movement. Emerson, Thoreau and Whitman were important transcendentalists. The belief of nonconformity was an essential role in the transcendentalist movement; it was also something Emerson wrote about in Self Reliance. In his work, he presses the idea that individual experience is greater than the knowledge gained from books: "To believe that what is true in your private heart is true for all men - that is genius." This quote means the person who relies on the opinion of others lacks the creativity needed for individualism. This is important because without individualism, everyone would be the same. Emerson wasn't the only transcendentalist who believed in nonconformity, many of them did including Thoreau. Thoreau was appalled with the idea of conforming to society for the purpose of "fitting in". In his work, Civil Disobedience, he says "A minority is powerless while it conforms to the majority." This tells that as long as a group is following as the whole, nothing stands out to make a change. It's important …show more content…
They wrote about nature, nonconformity and doing what pleases oneself even if it goes against society's norm. In Emerson's work he talks about the creativity needed for individualism. Thoreau's work talks about standing out and being different. Whitman's work talked about enjoying ones job and pleasing oneself while doing it. Transcendentalism was an important part of American literature during the 1800's and Emerson, Thoreau and Whitman help spread it's