Emerson And Henry David Thoreau: The Foundation Of Romanticism And Transcendentalism

Transcendentalism was a literary and philosophical movement in the early 1900s in the U.S. It is based on the philosophy that an individual must be self-reliant and independent to be at their best. Transcendentalist believed that organized religious and political institution ruined the pureness of an individual. Furthermore, they assumed that every person has the knowledge about themselves and surroundings around them that go beyond what they sense (hear, taste, feel and see) through imagination and institution rather than logic. Transcendentalism emerged from Unitarianism and is cited as the base of Romanticism in American literature. There were various individuals and organization that shaped the movement. In the early days, Transcendental Club, a group gathered to talk …show more content…
Later, Saturday Club was organized, which was another important institution for the development of Transcendentalism. The periodical called Dial was the main publication of Transcendentalism in their initial period.
Many individuals had contributed to promote the Transcendentalism but Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau are considered to be the main characters. Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American poet and essayist renowned for his rational probes of individual. He is considered to be one of the prominent writer and thinker of the U.S. in 19th century. Emerson was born on 25 May 1803 in Boston Massachusetts. He was educated in Harvard University like many other transcendentalists. During Harvard, Emerson studied various scholarly religious and poetic texts as well as sampled the treatises and travelogues. After graduating from Harvard, Emerson became a Unitarian minister, but his life changed personally and professionally after the death of his wife, Ellen Tucker Emerson in 1831. The following year