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A 19th-century American, literary and philosophical movement called Transcendentalism, centred around Ralph Waldo Emerson.The combination of Emerson's 'Nature' and 'Self-Reliance' stressed the significance of trusting inner voice while Thoreau's Walden preached the importance of nature in self exploration.For the Transcendentalists, the world of spirits is the only source for reality.

A 19th-century American, literary and philosophical movement called Transcendentalism, centred around Ralph Waldo Emerson. Transcendentalism came from the word "transcend", which means to go beyond. This paper explores the origins, main figures and major ideas of the movement. The movement began as a religious concept, believed in the existence of God within every creature. Self-reliance, intitution and the deep connection between human and nature are the main themes and ideas of the movement, It is concerned with making individuals find meaning within themselves instead of waiting for another higher source of guidance including God or church, in addition to promoting the idea of nature as a divine and human soul as inherently wise. The transcendentalist brought a lot of thoughts and philosophy into the movement. Slavery and the Civil War, women’s rights, growing industrialism and class division were all events that influenced and had a role to play in the transcendentalist movement. Moreover, Transcendentalism emerged as a response to strict religious beliefs and the growing materialism which was brought by the industrial revolution. One of the major themes of transcendentalism is that individualism and self-reliance are better than following than the thoughts and beliefs of others, and Emerson used this philosophy to transform the literary terrain. He argued that Americans would have to define their own forms of literature and find ways to represent the uniqueness of the American landscape, as well as American individualism. The transcendentalist brought a lot of thoughts and philosophy into the movement. Slavery and the Civil War, women’s rights, growing industrialism and class division were all events that influenced and had a role to play in the transcendentalist movement. Many of the Transcendentalists became involved in social reform movements, especially anti-slavery and women’s rights. Many people keep asking why they got involved in these particular problems. Besides that, they believed that all people had access to divine inspiration, and that they sought and loved freedom, knowledge and truth. As a leading proponent of American Transcendentalism, Ralph Waldo Emerson thought that the spiritual world is primary in comparison to the physical world, which is regarded as the secondary. He believed that the physical world through making humans aware of its beauty and providing useful goods serves human beings. What Emerson and his followers believed that human beings find truth within themselves; for themselves reliance and individuality were of prime importance, and so were individuality, a strong connection with nature, beauty and God. Furthermore, the poet Walt Whitman was deeply influenced by Emerson‘s thoughts and works. His Leaves of Grass (1855) praised the individual and appreciated personal expression, freedom, and the understanding of the world through intuition. In summary, Transcendentalism had a significant impact on American society by encouraging writers to show self-sufficiency, freedom, and unity with nature. For the Transcendentalists, Transcendentalism was not just a literary and philosophical movement; it was a way to go about everyday life and to discover God through nature. Transcendentalists believed intuition should have precedence over intellect because intuition comes from the universal soul. They also thought nature was divine and that they would find ultimate beauty and God within nature. Emerson discovered that beauty within nature, as he asserts in his essay on "Nature": "To the attentive
eye, each moment of the year has its own beauty, ... a picture which was never seen before and which shall never be seen again."
The combination of Emerson’s ‘Nature’ and ‘Self-Reliance’ stressed the significance of trusting inner voice while Thoreau’s Walden preached the importance of nature in self exploration.
For the Transcendentalists, the world of spirits is the only source for reality.