Although transcendentalism started at, and stayed in, a very small area of Germany, when it later spread to America, it quickly took off in the North East. It was a powerful idea that would prove to change the way Americans thought and even inspired some to stand up and take action. People like Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Teresa were very much transcendentalists, weather they knew it or not. They shared central beliefs like pacifism and non discrimination, preached these beliefs, and took action to help promote these.
Transcendentalism has a very odd start; it was almost like a test run. Back in Germany, a group of Unitarians started preaching about our souls connection to God, and likewise, to nature. There were followers who related with this connection, but it was fairly limited. It barely spread outside a few towns, and took time to gather people with similar beliefs. However, with the translation of German works like F. D. E. Schleiermacher's Critical Essay Upon the Gospel of St. Luke (1825) and Johann Gottfried van Herder's Spirit of Hebrew Poetry (1782) into English, Transcendentalism spread to readers in the north east region of America. A few readers started to stand out when they made works of their own, closely relating to the beliefs started in these. One of which was Emerson.
Ralph Waldo Emerson was a Boston, Massachusetts native. Although he was faced with death left and right, in everyone from his father right before his eighth birthday to three of his siblings in their childhood, he managed to focus on school work, and made it into Harvard College at 14 as the freshmen messenger to the president. While there, he was distracted by teaching with his uncle, starting to journal, and reading a very large list of books, which is perhaps why he graduated in the middle of his class of 59. Later, he met his wife, Ellen, who along with two of his brothers, died from tuberculosis, just 2 years after they married. After her death, he was left with much doubt regarding his faith. He took a trip to Europe to try and rediscover himself. When he came back, he started lecturing about various subjects, contemplating whether or not this could become a career. He soon met his second wife, Lydia, who Emerson renamed Lidian, with whom he had four children. In 1836, the day before Nature was published, Emerson sparked the idea for a club of likeminded thinkers, which would later be known as the Transcendental Club. This club was the first of its kind, a place for transcendentalists to gather, share their ideas, and debate. He then met and befriended a man named Henry David Thoreau, a likeminded thinker who will prove to expand transcendentalism even farther than Emerson had. The Transcendental club published their first journal, The Dial, in 1840. This project was headed by Emerson, and encouraged many young, yet very intellectual, writers, such as Thoreau. However, 4 years later, The Dial, published its last issue. But, the message had already been spread. Emerson continued lecturing through New England, and even took a second tour of Europe. He published much more poetry throughout the years and wrote in his journal religiously until he died of pneumonia in 1882.
David Henry Thoreau was born in Concord Massachusetts in 1817. After college, he started referring to himself, along with others referring to him, as Henry David Thoreau, even though it was never legally changed. He, like Emerson, went to Harvard College. When his classmates received their diploma, he declined, knowing this was just ink on paper, or sheep’s skin at that time, and he had already gotten then knowledge he paid for. While at Harvard, he left for a small time to teach in Concord, and after graduating, he returned, but it was short lived due to the fact that he refused to punish children with violence. While back in his home town, he met Emerson for the first time, who upon making himself a father figure for Thoreau, introduced him to other writers with similar philosophies. He was urged by Emerson to start a journal, which he did, and later, selections were published in The Dial. From 1840-1844, he lived with Emerson, strengthening their family like bonds, and tutoring his children. He later returned a second time to his home time, where he was inspired to move into solitude to focus on his writing. With that notion, he moved onto a small portion of Emerson’s property near Walden Pond, which inspired his famous, and first, book Walden. While on this 2 year retreat, he ran into a tax collector who informed him that he was 6 years behind on his taxes, and when Thoreau refused to pay, he was sent to jail for a night. The next day, his aunt, to his dismay, paid his taxes and set him free. This interaction with taxes enraged him, leading him to lecture on the misuse of taxes by our government. This lecture was used in his now famous essay Civil Disobedience. While Emerson was on his second Euro trip, he asked Thoreau to return to their house and help his wife while he was away. He left his cabin by the Walden Pond after two years, two months, and two days to comply with Emerson’s request. While at the Emerson house, he published Walden, which was unpopular when first released, but is now revered as an American classic. After Emerson returned, Thoreau moved nearby his dear friend, where he lived until his death. After a long battle with tuberculosis, he contracted bronchitis, which left him bedridden. After a few years in bed, he died in 1862.
A more modern representation of transcendentalism is Dr. Martin Luther King Junior. Although he wasn’t in the Transcendental Club, or published in The Dial, King was very influenced by Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience; specifically, King liked Thoreau’s idea of peaceful protest, which is one of the reasons King is such a great figure today (Carter, 318). If he had lead a bunch of riots instead of silent protests, he would have spend more time in jail, and may not have gotten anything accomplished except deepening segregations roots, making it more difficult for his cause. Another good representation of modern day transcendentalism is Mother Teresa. Again, she was never involved with Transcendentalists directly, but she preached the same ideas of transcendentalism, such as pacifism, simple living, and the importance of God. Mother Teresa was quoted as saying “live simply that others may simply live.”
In conclusion, transcendentalism heavily influenced modern day revolutionaries. From people like Emerson and Thoreau, to Dr. King and Mother Teresa, the world wouldn’t be the same as it is today if any one of these people didn’t share this core idea of peace and simplicity. It’s this idea alone that forced people to stand up and protest, and it’s this idea that will continue to influence young revolutionaries to share their philosophies, and when the time comes, stand up and change the government for the betterment of their society.
PS no, there not deep fried haha. its a very very small amount of mashed potatos. haha but there awsome and served cold
