Transcendentalism

NOTES :
- a movement in philosophy and literature
- a lot of the most influential people such as Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela studied transcendentalism
- there is no distinct definition for transcendentalism
- Transcendentalists were a generation of people who wanted to define spirituality and religion in a new way.
- "Transcendentalism is a loose collection of eclectic ideas about literature, philosophy, religion, social reform, and the general state of American Culture."
1) Transcendentalists   are people who want to define things in their own way, and word things the way they believe it should be worded.
2) Transcendentalism is a period of time when people started gathering ideas and putting them together in their own way, individualism. (understanding the American culture)
- how we understand our current society now, and how we navigate through it.
- HOW DO WE SEE OURSELVES? --->  
- Period that lasted during last half of 19th century.
-The 13 colonies gained independence from the British Empire and became the United States of America.
- Revolutionary War : 1775-1783
- Declaration of Independence
- Definition and role of democracy was debated over. (THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION)
ex : we always have to follow our parents rules because we are minors and its the law, but when we are 18 we have to support ourselves and we become independent. But there is a crisis where we question ourselves and try to guide ourselves and figure out how we're going to live and what paths we are going to take. Do we know who we are?
- The Transcendentalist movement flourished primarily in Boston and Concord, Massachusetts from the 1830s to the late 1840s.
- Transcendentalism questioned established cultural forms, and set the terms for being an intellectual in America.
- Steps towards progressive thought that include social justice, analyzing literature and art, and individuality.
- Changing the way we think about and see our surrounding.
- Reliance on...