1. New England Renaissance 1840 – 1855

2. A Cultural Rebirth Americans were no longer struggling for subsistence. People had time to think, to create. Writers gained power and a voice in the new culture.

3. Waning European Influence American writers tried new forms and new ideas for literature. They rejected the idea they had to follow European “rules.”

4. Interest in Public Affairs Writers continued with the belief that they should try to improve society. Growing problems in American culture Slavery Working conditions Political corruption Mexican war

5. Transcendentalism System of thought which developed from Romanticism. Like Romanticism, it included: A focus on the individual Passionate idealism A love of nature

6. Transcendentalism Also a return to Puritan ideals because its adherents shared A utopian vision Great faith and moral enthusiasm An eagerness to reform society

7. Influences Transcendentalists were influenced by European philosophers such as Immanuel Kant. Transcendentalists were reacting to emphasis on the ideas of John Locke.

8. Transcendental Interpretation The mind can learn spiritual truth Without using the senses Without reasoning through past authority Without ratiocination (exact thinking) This belief in the mind’s capacity is the embodiment of democracy and the Protestant Reformation.

9. Main Principles All creation essentially united – no competition between man and man, or man and nature Humanity is essentially good Insight (or intuition) is better than logic or experience for understanding spiritual truths

10. More Principles To transcend is to rise above or go beyond the limits of something. We can transcend to a higher spiritual plane – go beyond the limits of ordinary life. We transcend through intuition, not reason.

11. More Principles We transcend by learning from and living in harmony with nature. We transcend as individuals. Everyone is capable of transcending. After transcending, we will want to do the right and moral thing.

12. Notable Transcendentalists Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David Thoreau

13. Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803-1882 Educated at Harvard. A Unitarian minister like his father, until he resigned at 29. After that, became a writer.

14. Emerson’s Ideas Learned the principles of transcendentalism from Carlyle, Wordsworth and Coleridge. Otherwise, widely read… Plato Montaigne Berkeley, Hume and Locke Swedenborg

15. Important Works Nature (1836) expresses basic ideas of his philosophy, and love of nature. The American Scholar (1837) applies Transcendentalism to American culture and politics. Essays (1841), including “Self- Reliance” and “The Over-Soul”

16. From “Self-Reliance” Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Nothing is at last sacred A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds… With consistency, a great soul has simply nothing to do. A foolish consistency What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. What I must do

17. From “Self-Reliance” How does (and should) a person define his/her place in society? What are the two major barriers to self-reliance? What are the implications of self- reliance for daily life?

18. Henry David Thoreau 1817-1862 Born in Concord, Mass. Educated at Harvard. “…a mystic, a transcendentalist, and a natural philosopher to boot.”

19. A Different Drummer Lived an unconventional life according to unconventional principles. Widely read, but hardly left Concord. Reluctant to work for a living at a prosaic job – instead was Emerson’s handyman.

20. Civil Disobedience Went to jail because he refused to pay a poll tax, as a protest against the Mexican War. Spent two years in a hut on Walden Pond; formed the basis for Walden. Died of tuberculosis, having published very little.

21. An American Scholar Some said Thoreau was the American Scholar Emerson had called for in his famous lecture: “The office of the scholar is to cheer, to raise, and to guide men by showing them facts amidst appearances.”

22. From Walden Uses many aphorisms – terse formulation of a truth or sentiment – to express ideas. Ex: If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

23. American Style Aphorism makes Thoreau’s ideas – though they are revolutionary – seem sensible and even “folksy”. An element of American style, to explain complex ideas using simple, down-to-earth language.

24. SPECIAL THANKS TO: class.maclay.org/class/rparks/ Presentations/New_England_Re naissance.ppt

25. Bibliography Bickman, Martin. “Transcendental Ideas: Definitions.” U. of Colorado. 2003. December 1, 2004. http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/ transcendentalism/ideas/definitionbickman.htmlhttp://www.vcu.edu/engweb/ transcendentalism/ideas/definitionbickman.html “Emerson, Ralph Waldo.” Hart and Leininger. 197-98. “Fuller, Margaret.” Hart and Leininger. 234. Hart, James D. and Phillip W. Leininger, eds. Oxford Companion to American Literature. 6E. New York: OUP, 1995. “Thoreau, Henry David.” Hart and Leininger. 662-63. “Transcendentalism.” Encyclopædia Britannica. 2004. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition. 1 Dec. 2004. Woodlief, Ann. “Points and questions to consider as you read ‘Self-Reliance’.” Virginia Commonwealth U. 2003. 4 December 2004. http://www.vcu.edu/ engweb/eng372/selfques.htmhttp://www.vcu.edu/ engweb/eng372/selfques.htm