Individualism Movement In The Mid-Nineteenth Century

Transcendentalism proved to be one of the most known movements in the mid-nineteenth century. Authors such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller and more joined the movement to live their lives in solitude and to express their individualism. Transcendentalism proved individualism to be key in shaping individuals’ personalities and lives. Individualism has its good days and its bad days like all human beings. Emerson once stated, “Conformity is the death of individualism.” Emerson was blatantly obvious when analyzing the effects of Transcendentalism. For example, the literal definition of conformity is conforming to what is around you i.e boring lives because everyone acts the same. I agree with Emerson’s statement. Individualism was key when the Transcendentalism movement began and it is still key now. In the twenty-first century you see people with large amounts of influence often repeating the same message over and over again. This isn’t individualism. Instead, this is people being forced to say certain things because they are being paid. But, you also see many celebrities expressing their individualism in contrast to …show more content…
The good aspects outweigh the faults in the sense that there are many other good aspects. People may use their individualism to help other gain their own individualism. The survey questions provided in the activities helped me realize that I, like others, was different. This is key when promoting Transcendentalism – things will be different and do not have to be the same. Same is bad – as Emerson said in his quote. Conforming will lead to the death of individualism and we must do all we can to avoid that. The era of Transcendentalism may be gone, but it’s still evident in the twenty-first century through all of its aspects. Individualism is key to the youth of today. Preservation of Individualism is important and we must keep doing