Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson 
Jonno Garner
Mason Robertson 
Early Life:
Emerson was born in Boston, Massachusetts on May 25, 1803. He was born to William and Ruth Emerson, his fathers occupation was that of a clergyman following in the footsteps of his ancestors. In 1826 he became a minister and then became ordained into the Unitarian Clergy in the year of 1829. After only two years of being a minister he had resigned and began writing due to his wife's death. Emerson traveled to Europe after his wife's death , while there he met with several scholarly figures such as: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth, and Thomas Carlyle. When he returned home he had then began teaching and lecturing on spiritual experience and ethics of living.



American Transcendentalism:
Starting in the 1830's Emerson began to start writing essays and giving lectures using the Transcendentalist style. This style of writers shared a belief that every individual could move beyond or, transcend the physical world of their senses to move into a deeper spiritual experience through their free will and intuition. This idea of transcendentalism led ti the writing of "Nature" published in 1836, and the "American Scholar" that was written from a lecture he gave in 1837. Emerson encouraged Americans to find their own style instead of emulating foreign forebear. 

The most productive years of Emerson's life were the 1840's where he co-edited and founded The Dial. He also published several essays including "Friendship", "Experience", and "Self-Reliance".

Later in his life Emerson wrote the Conduct of Life in 1860 which had a modest balance between self nonconformity and broad societal matters. 

2 comments:

  1. Transcendentalism

    Emerson was the key to our movement. He led the movement to grow stronger in our beliefs and greater in numbers. This information represents him and our movement well.

    Drew and Daniel

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  2. Thoreau

    Emerson and Henry both greatly influenced Transcendentalism. They both shared the same styles of writings. They both wrote books explaining their Transcendentalist ideas.

    Christina and Elizabeth

    ReplyDelete