What are Transcendentalists? Who were they? What did they stand for? Those are all the questions that you are probably asking, and I will answer them. Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that developed in the 820s-830s, in the United States. They stood for respect for nature and self-efficiency with elements of Unitarianism, and German Romanticism. They also embraced idealism, and opposing materialism. There are a few people who were transcendentalists, and they wrote about it. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Margarent Fuller. There are five different beliefs for transcendentalism, and those are: Contemplating nature can allow you to transcend to the real world, everything is a reflection of God, Individualism and self-reliance are better than following others, A persons true feelings and intuition are more valuable than book knowledge, and a persons instincts can lead them to understand Gods spirit. For this essay, I will be talking about H
enry David Thoreau, and his essay called Walden. The main theme of this essay is life can be easy and pleasant if your wants are simple. We create many of our own problems by wanting things that we do not actually need. The background of the essay Walden that Thoreau: Thoreau felt the need to confirm his unity with nature. On July 4th, 845, he started an experiment of essential living. Living simply, studying the natural world, and seeking truth within himself. Thoreau built a small cabin by Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. He lived there for more than two yearss, writing and studying nature. Walden is a mixture of philosophy, autobiography, and meditation upon nature. Now, you may be asking, why was this written in the first place? Well, Ill tell you. I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived,