Margaret Fuller

Ralph Waldo Emerson was a 19th-century American Transcendentalist poet, philosopher, and essayist that has shaped America’s society as it is known today. To most he has been the primary figure in American thought since the Colonial time period. Emerson’s philosophies were based on the human reliance on intuition to understand reality. He had an optimistic view on life and has inspired millions of people to think deeper and reflect on themselves through his literature. Emerson was born on May 25…

This week's readings by John Stuart Mills, Sarah Stickney Ellis, Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot), and Queen Victoria all involved women's rights, and how this issue was seen by men and women alike. In Mills’ “Statement Repudiating the Rights of Husbands” he talks about how he doesn't agree with the British law concerning a women losing her rights to her husband upon marriage and doesn't wish this for his new wife. Ellis’ essay “The Women of England: Their Social Duties and Domestic Habits” she…

You’ve probably seen some of these paintings before. They’re detailed, realistic and idealized portrayals of the American wilderness that are not only an excellent look into 1850s America but a useful tool for interpreting contemporary culture. The Hudson River school is an art movement that emerged in the mid 19th century. It is named for its origin in the Hudson River Valley area of New York but it quickly built a presence across all of New England. The location of the movement is central to…

If we close our eyes and listen to the wind blowing and the birds chirping, we hear the delightful sound of Mother Nature. The beauty of oceans, rivers, forest, trees or flowers is an awed beauty most of us take for granted. No one ever stops to admire the beauty of a simple flower or a tree as we once did before. In “Nature “Emerson affirms the unity of nature’s meaning and clarifies the true meaning of nature to mankind. We ignore all the beauty nature has to offer, and never take the time to…

As Nathaniel Hawthorne began to pen The Scarlet Letter, the gender roles of America had began to change in ways that had never been seen in its history. Just two years before the publication of his novel, women from all walks of life had gathered in Seneca Falls, New York to discuss their rights. This conference was the origin of the feminist movement and the culmination of years of small steps for women in their quest for further rights. This fight for additional rights started with Anne…

The 1800’s is often referred to as the century of revolution. All over the world countless number of rebellions took place in the 100-year spend. Countries like France, America, and China all went through the revolutionary era. In this powerful century, there was another great revolution starting, one that would greatly influence the literary writings of the time, the feminist movement. The moment started in the middle of the 1800’’s, around 1850-1860, and it influence on the author of the…

The United States of America gained a reputation throughout their world for equality. Tolerance of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press were revolutionary rights that the United States uniquely founded as a base for their nation. Compared to European countries, America was like no other. However, the women of the country were not equal and they did not have the same opportunity as males. After the American Revolution, “republican motherhood,” had rooted itself in the society of…

Antebellum experienced rapid societal change stemming from the industrialization and rapid urbanization of north, marking the economic transition to capitalism. With the shift to capitalism, individualism developed from the change in the value of individual labor and nostalgia for the frontier. As the increasingly moral middle-class became more solidified, the wage gap increased, and the northerners became increasingly economically different from the south, the reform impulse grew. Reform…

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson was born on May 25, 1803 in Boston, Massachusetts. “When he was 8 years old, his father, who was a minister, died and left his family to face hard times.” according to my research. After the devastating loss, the family went through poverty, but that did not stop him from going to school. At 14 years of age, he got accepted into Harvard College, where he received one of the best educations. “When he was 17, he started keeping a journal and continued…

Transcendentalism Transcendentalism, “began as a movement of ideals that altered society’s traditional beliefs on religion and spirituality” (Characteristics of the Literary Time Period). The characteristics of transcendentalism was that society believed that every single thing in the entire world, was, “a reflection on the Divine Soul” (American Literature Timeline). Other characteristic of transcendentalism is that transcendentalist believed in non-conformity, simplicity, self-reliance,…