... The Constitution is the founding document for American democracy, and it features many ideas from the time it was written. One set of ideas that are not prominently feature in the constitution are those of Transcendentalism. Transcendentalism is a philosophy that is based around a focus on ideas and feelings, and the belief that individuals can find truth within themselves. The best know Transcendentalist writers include the likes of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, who became well known for their strong political opinions (Brodrick). Issues that are extremely important to the Transcendentalists such as slavery and the forcible removal of Native Americans from their land are not addressed, and barely mentioned in the body of the Constitution (Goodman). However, many of the amendments do address Transcendentalist ideas. Although the body of the Constitution does not feature specifically Transcendentalist ideas, several of the amendments do reflect some Transcendentalist values. When reading through the body of the Constitution, it does not specifically reject Transcendentalist views, yet it seems to feature ideas that may be contrary to Transcendentalism. The first example of this is that while Transcendentalists focus on individualism, the Constitution focus on the majority and not giving too much power to one person. This idea of limiting the power given to one individual can be seen in the different checks and balances that were created to prevent someone from...
Words: 776 - Pages: 4
...Emerson outlined in this quote, those who wish to be present in society, therefore classified as “a man”, must live by a transcendental way of life. Transcendentalism, a political and social movement, takes root in nonconformity. It alo relies heavily on the reflection of the Divine Soul that can be found in all objects, and on the importance of nature. The journey into nature, taken by Chris McCandless, is a direct representation of the views of Emerson, as reflected in “Nature”, and “Self-Reliance”, put into action. Emerson wrote both of these essays in order to show the positive impact transcendentalism can have on one’s live, and why more people should live by it, like McCandless. In his essay entitled “Nature”, Emerson wrote, “The rays that come from those heavenly worlds, will separate between him and vulgar things.” By separating oneself from the material world, all the detrimental aspects of life will be eliminated. In this essay, he also references childhood and the importance of childhood curiosity even as an adult. People should think of their childhood, and about...
Words: 835 - Pages: 4
...Writing Your Own Rules: Living deliberately in Thoreau Walden Henry David Thoreau once stated, “Why should we knock under and go with the stream? Let us not be upset and overwhelmed in that terrible rapid and whirlpool called a dinner, situated in the meridian shallows” (Thoreau 909). Thoreau has a very strong perspective on transcendentalism. Becoming a transcendentalist offers the right to trust one own intellect. Therefore, this quote demonstrates that Thoreau express to his audience the importance of being one’s self and not following society’s standards. Transcendentalism is referred to as society versus oneself. Henry David Thoreau believes learning to trust one’s individual intuitions and becoming a non-conformist allows individuals to live a more deliberately life. Henry David Thoreau used his selection, “Where I Lived, and What I lived For” to demonstrate how the changes of society serve as a distraction to an individual. Although, Thoreau was a non-conformist, he never stated it he allowed his actions to speak for him through his work. Thoreau notes, “Let us spend one day as deliberately as Nature, and not be thrown off the track by every nutshell and mosquito’s wing that falls on the rails” (909). Due to the many changes of society, people always try to fit in with its new adjustments. Thoreau strongly suggests that we use nature as a symbol to withstand even though it can be laborious sometimes. Most people would consider this to be a challenge. Thoreau believes that...
Words: 1306 - Pages: 6
...Emerson and Thoreau share many of the same beliefs and are key components of the transcendentalism movement. These beliefs are easier to compare than to contrast. The way Emerson thinks of society relates to Thoreau's views on government, and both men have similar views on nature. The fundamentals of transcendentalism are rooted in the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson. In "Nature", Emerson says "Standing on the bare ground - my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space - all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball" (Nature 367). Here, He is saying nature's simplicity allows him to think clearly and have deeper thoughts. As for society, Emerson states "Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members," Society plans to take what makes us individuals by making us into conformists "Self-reliance is its aversion"(Self-Reliance 369). With this quote, individuals are shown how Emerson believes that to combat this conformity people need self-reliance. The ideas of transcendentalism are expressed in Thoreau's In Walden. Thoreau explains his thoughts on nature similarly:"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 to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived" (Walden 383).Thoreau went seeking life without material goods. Moreover, in "Civil Disobedience", Thoreau wrote to stop people from supporting...
Words: 407 - Pages: 2
...What is one’s duty to? Is it to himself or to the society he lives in? In 1841, Henry David Thoreau accepted an offer to stay with neighboring Ralph Waldo Emerson's family and earn his keep as a handyman while he concentrated on his writing. Thoreau began to adapt to and follow Emerson’s belief in transcendentalism, writing many essays about his belief in transcendentalism. In “Civil Disobedience”, he strongly addresses its readers that they should follow their conscious and not be influenced by a government. In his work “Walden”, Thoreau discusses the insignificance of material goods. He also debates the importance of living close to nature, similar to Emerson’s “Nature”. Some may argue that Thoreau's beliefs and ideas are extreme, but in many ways, they are both idealistic and realistic. While not all of his truths can be classified as realistic, they are ideal. (Witherell and Dubrulle)...
Words: 806 - Pages: 4
...Criminal Law Essay One -Concord Law School Issue What is Hal’s potential criminal homicide liability for the death of Norm? What is his homicide liability for the death of Wanda? Rule Common Law intentional homicide may be reduced from murder to voluntary manslaughter if all the elements are met: 1. the killing was a result of a sudden heat of passion 2. In the same situation a reasonable person would have also been provoked and also would have lost self-control. 3. There was no cooling off period between the provoked anger and the homicide of the first or second victim Model Penal Code lessens murder to manslaughter if the murder is committed during an extreme mental or extreme emotional disturbance. Under the Model Penal Code there are two elements that need to be proven: 1. that the defendant was under an extreme emotional disturbance. 2. That there was a reasonable explanation or excuse for the extreme emotional disturbance. Analysis When Hal decided to come home early and bring his wife flowers he was already in an emotional and easily excitable mood. Then when he pulled up to the house he looked into the office window before he entered the house where he saw his wife in an embrace with the neighbor Norm. This evidence being right before his eyes made him believe they were sex partners and this put him into a rage where he went to the garage to get his gun and bullets with the intention of doing bodily injury maybe even killing Norm and possibly Ronda. In...
Words: 537 - Pages: 3
...Chronology 1837: Thoreau graduates from Harvard at twenty, comes home to Concord, and looks for a career. Probably begins a journal. 1838: Gives his first lecture before the Concord Lyceum, thus initiating a practice that was to have an important effect on his writing. 1839: With his brother John, embarks on a fluvial excursion along the Concord and Merrimack, and gather material for The Week. 1840 Makes his bow as a poet: the Transcendentalist Dial prints his lyric about Edmund Sewall. 1841 As handyman and friend, takes up residence with the Emersons. Is attracted to Linda Emerson. 1842 Publishes in eh Dial which carries nine of his best poems and his essay Natural History of Massachusetts 1843 Leaves Emersons home to act as a tutor to Emersons nephew at Staten Island and to try his luck with the New York literary market. More publications of essays and poems. 1845: Goes to live in a hut beside Walden Pond. Commences his period of greatest literary productivity. 1846 Travels to Main; gathers some of the material later to go into The Maine Woods. 1847. Ends Walden experiment; resumes residence at Emerson home. 1849: Thoreaus first book, the Week, and most influential essay, Civil Disobedience, published. 1854 Walden or Life in the Woods published. 1857 Fight over slavery intensifies; Thoreau meets John Brown and is deeply impressed by him. 1860 More essays, including two on Brown are printed. 1862 Dies of tuberculosis on spring. Where I lived. By surveying...
Words: 599 - Pages: 3
...Ants’’ © The McGraw−Hill Companies, 2000 Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), transcendentalist essayist, naturalist, editor, and social critic, was born David Henry Thoreau in Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau graduated from Harvard University and taught briefly at a school in Concord but resigned rather than be expected to strike his students. He ran his own school from 1838 to 1841, teaching Latin, Greek, and science. In 1938 Thoreau also began lecturing, which he continued intermittently, often emphasizing his strong opposition to slavery, but his message was not always well received. Thoreau began his lifelong friendship with Ralph Waldo Emerson when he tutored Emerson’s brother William in 1843 on Staten Island, boarding with Emerson and his wife. He helped Emerson edit the Transcendentalist magazine The Dial. Thoreau kept a journal at Emerson’s urging, which aided him in his writing. He took a canoe trip with his brother John during the first two weeks of September 1839, which experience he transformed into a volume of poems and essays entitled A Week on the Concord and Merrimac Rivers (1849). While he published 1000 copies himself, only about 300 sold. On July 4, 1845 Thoreau moved into a cabin on the shores of Walden Pond, on land belonging to Emerson, about two miles from Concord, and lived there alone for over two years. Thoreau condensed this outdoor life as if it were a single year in his classic Walden: Or, Life in the Woods (1854), in which he describes...
Words: 1884 - Pages: 8
...appened in between 1800-1850 in England? 1800: Jan First soup kitchens to relieve hungry poor in London Autumn Robert owen begins philanthropic reform for workers employed in his mills at New Lanark Maria Edgeworth publishes Castle Rackrent, one of the earliest historical novels 1801 Steam carriae of Richard Trevithick carries road passengers at Camborne, Cornwall 1802 June 22 Health and Morals of Apprentices Act, first protective factory legislation, no children under 9 in mills,maximum 12-hour day for children Madame Tussaud mounts the first waxwork exhibition in Lyceum Hall, London Chalotte Dundas, a wooden ship with a single paddle-wheel, covers 20 miles of the Forth and clyde Canal, the world's first steam vessel. 1805 October 21 Battle of Trafalgar, Nelso defeats Franco-Spanish fleet, but is mortally wounded. 1807 Mar 25 Slave Trade abolished in all British possessions June 4 Federick Winsor illuminates part of pall Mall with gas lighting. 1811 Regency Act in favour of Prince of Wales because of George III's insanity. Mar organised machine-breaking (Luddism) in Nottingham Jane Austen publishes Sense and Sensibility Fashionable women reject tight corsets and petticoats 1812 Mar Publication of first 2 cantos of Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrimage causes sensation: "I woke one morning and found myself famous" autumn Countess Lieven, wife of russian ambasador, introduces waltz to London 1813 Jane Austen publishes Pride and Prejudice Smooth-wheeled...
Words: 4602 - Pages: 19
...Named three months after his birth, Henry David Thoreau was an accomplished author who lived from 1817 to 1862. A major writer in the Transcendentalist movement, Thoreau penned several poems, essays, and other works including “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience” and Walden. Thoreau harboured an affinity for life, having lived a full one himself; penned works discussing the importance of life; and produced literary pieces that arguably are some of the most influential and exploratory of his time. David Henry Thoreau was born on July 12th, 1817 and named after his late paternal uncle three months later on the 12th of October. Thoreau was the third child of John Thoreau and Cynthia Dunbar, younger brother to Helen and John Jr, and older brother...
Words: 358 - Pages: 2
...Comparative Essay Ginsberg, Hughes and Thoreau Confidence and self-reliance are qualities that are admired and desired by many people. Confidence is defined as a feeling or consciousness of one's powers or of reliance on one's circumstances, and a faith or belief that one will act in a right, proper, or effective way. Self-reliance is defined as the ability to care for one's self. Because people aspire to be confident and self-reliant, these qualities are common themes in literature. This essay compares three quotes, taken from three very different pieces of literature about American values, in which confidence and self-reliance are illustrated. “I refuse to give up my obsession. America, stop pushing. I know what I’m doing.” – Allen Ginsberg, “America.” Allen Ginsberg’s “America” presents a sharp criticism of American culture by someone who has almost completely rejected its values. The poem’s speaker addresses America directly, as if he were giving a lecture or a sermon to the nation itself instead of to the American people. The nation’s aggressive anticommunist foreign policy and its culture of materialism and conformity are the targets of the speaker’s criticism. This poem was written in 1956 and was one of the first widely read literary statements of political unrest in the post-World War II America. Themes from the recent wars are prominent such as the nuclear bomb or Asian foreign policy, but the poem also depicts national racial unrest...
Words: 1053 - Pages: 5
...were both born in Massachusetts in the early 19th century. Emerson was born in Boston in 1803 and Thoreau was born in Concord in 1817. Both are writers and proponents of Transcendentalism--the belief that man, by studying nature and examining self, can transcend his humanity and become one with God. Both used literary devices in their works (essays), metaphors and have similar themes. Both Thoreau and Emerson used the theme: trust yourself, know yourself, be yourself; slow down and "simplify, simplify, simplify"; examine nature to find truths about yourself; human ingenuity will always show itself; trust self before government; man is inherently good. These two men believe that nature is what forces us not to depend on others' ideas but to develop our own. Nature is ever changing so we must keep searching for explanations about human life. They feel that nature is the key to knowing all. In Emerson’s “Self-Reliance”, social responsibility is important. Similar to “Self-Reliance”, Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” shares the same philosophical ideas. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “Self Reliance” and Henry David Thoreau’s essay “Resistance to Civil Government (“Civil Disobedience”), both transcendentalist thinkers speak about being individual and what reforms and changes need to be made in our society Social responsibility is often encouraged and is used to...
Words: 481 - Pages: 2
...Eternal One' theory. Many important authors gained fame form this movement, such as : Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman. Ralph Waldo Emerson is often regarded as the heart and soul of the Transcendentalism movement. He left Unitarian church ministry to focus more on physiological and spiritual writing. His first well known essay was "Nature" ; It gave insight to Emerson's view of the natural world, and in it he said that through exploring nature, man would find out more about himself. He also believed it was fundamental that man take a break from the distractions in society and get lost in ones thoughts about the natural world. “The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship”. This direct quote from "Nature" embodies the principles of the transcendentalist movement by restating their belief on separation from the church to build a better 'Eternal Self' with the universe and nature. Henry David Thoreau was inspired to start writing with a more transcendentalist view after borrowing a copy of Nature, by Ralph Waldo Emerson, from a neighbor. he was so heavily influenced by this essay and Emerson that he went to Walden Pond, land owned by Emerson, and built his own home. Here, he explored nature to its absolute depths and wrote many essay's. His best...
Words: 691 - Pages: 3
...Search thousands of free essays... Search Type in your essay topic: ex. Vietnam War JOIN LOGIN CUSTOM ESSAYS HELP CONTACT Concord Book Paper Essay Below is a free essay on "Concord Book Paper" from Anti Essays, your source for free research papers, essays, and term paper examples. Join Anti Essays to read full essay. Already a Member? Login Now Please upgrade your account to view this essay on Concord Book Paper. Running head: CONCORD BOOKSHOP PAPER Submitted by: jmb529 Concord Bookshop Paper Jonell Benson HCS/587 Ginger Weatherston University of Phoenix Concord Bookshop Paper This paper will discuss the organizational change process from the readings of, “Tales of Woe at Concord Bookshop.” The variety of change processes gives change leaders and administrators the ability to visualize the internal and external components of change that will go against the status quo and possibly cause a clash between the owners and the workers. The phases in the organizational change model are strategic responsiveness, behavioral change, employee participation and resistance to change. Also included, are the three faces of change and trigger events and change. I will describe two portions of the change process that were not completed or implemented at the Concord Bookshop, which caused failure of the change process. While attempting to implement change, the change leader must first assess the need for change. There was an increase in the amount of competition with...
Words: 633 - Pages: 3
...existence for himself at Walden, where he found joy and fulfillment in nature, truly awakening in his mornings there, while most of society remains perpetually asleep, living mean lives when the possibility of a much better life is possible. The key to achieving such a life, he says, is simplicity. In the third chapter, "Reading," Thoreau describes how he derives enlightenment from reading Homer and other great writers, men who spoke of the truth and speak of life in terms too noble for most to understand. Most of society, however, is not content to strive after such truths and instead wastes their time reading popular fiction and newspapers, when they should instead be dedicated to improving the intellectual culture, making the village of Concord become a university. However, as Thoreau relates in the fourth...
Words: 1407 - Pages: 6
