The Ideas of Transcendentalism in the Works by Famous Authors

Immanuel Kant began the transcendentalist movement in Germany when he started to Combat the scientific revolutions storing of facts. His driving force was his argument, which stated that each individual has the right to reason for themselves and to fit their reasoning into their view of the world as a whole. The argument started a spark of skepticism in doubt, which fueled the movement.

Ralph Waldo Emerson started American Transcendentalism and by those who studied under him. At this time, “Emerson and his contemporaries saw a nation on the brink of discovering its own voice”, it became the starting point for the American movement. They saw it as a chance to break away from England and forge a new path ahead of literature for themselves.

Most of the literature from this time period were focused on self-discovery, and their own worldview through their beliefs and experiences, and also in the idea that each individual has the right to lead themselves. If anyone were to be named the founding father of American Transcendentalism, it was to be Ralph Waldo Emerson. Through many of his amazing essays, poems, and lectures, he set the precedent for what it meant to be an American Transcendentalist. He first began writing what are now considered among the great classics of American literature after returning to America from Europe. He saw this time as a crossroads where America could stray away from the European style of writing and find their own literary voice. He was the mentor to many other well-known figures of the Transcendentalist era of literature, like Louisa May Alcott, and Henry David Thoreau.

In 1841, Thoreau was having trouble finding a job and accepted Emerson’s offer to live at his house as a handyman. He lived there for 3 years and was inspired to turn his focus to writing. Emerson encouraged and advised Thoreau in his writing and allowed him access to the Emerson family library.

Thoreau’s first essay was titled “Civil Disobedience” and was first delivered as a lecture to the Concord Lyceum in 1848. It was first published with the name “Civil Disobedience” in Thoreau’s A Yankee in Canada, with Anti-Slavery and Reform Papers. This paper was focused on one of the main points of Transcendentalism, in which each individual should allow their conscience to lead them. Thoreau used this lecture to openly disagree with the way the government and the Mexican war, which was being fought at the time. He is trying to compel his audience to rebel against the government so that each person could govern themselves.

Louisa May Alcott is another well known Transcendentalist author. Alcott grew up with both Thoreau and Emerson as friends of her family. This friendship heavily influenced her topics of writing. She began publishing under a couple of pen names. In 1863, she was publishing Hospital Sketches, which were different accounts of the civil war and what was happening. The publication solidified in her mind that she desired to become a serious writer. After this, she began publishing under her real name.

In the fall of 1868, Alcott published her first volume Little Women. The second volume was published she published in the spring, and the first collection of the two volumes were published in 1880. And since then, Little Women has only grown in popularity and has been printed and reprinted many times.

Little Women is the story of four sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March, and their lives as a lower-income family. The story follows them through the ups and downs of trying to live through the Civil War, with no Father, and their mother trying to take care of the household. Alcott used the story to capitalize on the struggle between the desire to help their family or help themselves. The story itself is divided into two parts, with a three-year gap between the two parts.

Little Women, “Civil Disobedience,” and all the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson should be added to the reading lists. Little Women tells the tale of what it was like to live at the end of the Transcendentalist era, as well as through the Civil War. Also, the struggles that it created for families. “Civil Disobedience” is a lecture turned into an essay which is to turn against the government and demonstrates one of the fundamental Transcendentalist beliefs: the belief that each person has the capability and right to govern themselves. Emerson was the founding father of the entire movement and his writings influenced so many others to express their thoughts in writing as well. His writings still serve as an inspiration today and should be allowed to continue to inspire young people's minds for decades to come.