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TTC - The Teaching Company

Emerson, Thoreau, and the Transcendentalist Movement

(24 lectures, 30 minutes/lecture)

Course No. 2598

Taught by Ashton Nichols

Dickinson College

Ph.D., University of Virginia

Where did the America we know today?so different in its fundamental views

about almost every aspect of life as to be unrecognizable to our countrymen

of two centuries ago really come from?

How, for example, did the colonial idea of the classroom as a place devoted

to & 34;breaking the will& 34; and & 34;subduing the spirit& 34; of students, change to that of

a vibrant, even pleasurable experience?including innovations such as kindergarten

and recess?with children encouraged to participate actively in their own education?

What forces eventually enabled our nation to see slavery as morally abhorrent

and unequivocally wrong , when we had once passed a law permitting the capture and

return of escaped slaves who managed to make their way to the & 34;free& 34; North?

How did the struggle for women's rights?not just for the left to vote but also to

have control over their own aspirations and destinies?gain the momentum to unleash

changes still felt today?

Why did the once-unassailable power wielded from the pulpit begin to weaken in the

1800s? Why did certain theologies become more liberal and increasing numbers of

people choose less dogmatic expressions of faith?or even no faith at all?

What are the roots of our love for nature, of the near-spiritual experience so many

of us now find in the ripple of a stream in the morning sun or the thunderous roar

of ocean waves?

Finally, and perhaps most important of all, what is the source of our distinctly

American way of experiencing ourselves?confident in our value as individuals,

certain of our ability to discover personal truths in the natural world, self-reliant

in the face of uncertainty and change?

Answers to questions like these are found in and around Boston and the town of

Concord, Massachusetts, which became, little more than five decades after the

American Revolution, the epicenter of a profoundly influential movement that would

reshape many beliefs and make possible the America we know today.

That movement is Transcendentalism. Drawing on an array of influences from Europe

and the non-Western world, it also offered uniquely American perspectives of

thought: an emphasis on the divine in nature, on the value of the individual and

intuition, and on belief in a spirituality that might & 34;transcend& 34; one's own sensory

experience to provide a more useful guide for daily living than is possible from

empirical and logical reasoning.

A Movement that Transformed America

The extraordinary members of this informal movement provided intellectual and moral

leadership for many social transformations: the abolition of slavery, equal rights

for women, freedom of religious thought and practice, educational reform, and more.

The influence of their ideas continues today in many aspects of our culture, from

efforts to preserve large tracts of wild nature to civil disobedience around the world.

But although the ideas that contributed to New England Transcendentalism had many

roots, the strength of its impact came from the intellectual energy of two remarkable

individuals: Ralph Waldo Emerson, the most important figure behind Transcendentalism

in America, and Henry David Thoreau, his most influential disciple.

The Power of the Individual

& 34;Without Emerson and Thoreau,& 34; notes Professor Ashton Nichols, & 34;the United States

would not have developed into the nation it has become. We would not believe in the

power of the individual to the extent that we do, nor would we see nature at the

left of one view of the American psyche. ... If Emerson gave us a new view of

America and American thinking, Thoreau gave us a new way of living and a new vision

of each individual.& 34;

In Emerson, Thoreau, and the Transcendentalist Movement, Professor Nichols introduces

us to these two remarkable thinkers and a diverse group of intellectual activists,

literary figures, and social reformers whose ideas, often considered radical in the

decades before and after the Civil War, would remake American society.

Among those you'll meet:

Liberal theologian Theodore Parker. He made the pulpit a forum for social activism

and, as a staunch opponent of slavery, would sometimes preach with a pistol in the

pulpit, knowing that the fugitive slaves who often attended his massive rallies of

2,000 or more were likely to attract slave-catchers.

Educator Amos Bronson Alcott. A self-taught teacher and educational reformer, he did

away with corporal punishment and even extended his own hand for students to hit to

demonstrate his position that classroom confusion was likely to be the teacher's fault.

Writer Margaret Fuller. The brilliant writer, editor, and voice for women's rights

was also the most influential of the female Transcendentalists and one of the first

female foreign correspondents. She was onboard a ship that sank within sight of Fire

Island, New York, and a saddened Emerson dispatched Thoreau in hopes of at least

recovering Fuller's manuscripts from the wreckage. Thoreau reported finding only

unidentifiable human remains on the desolate beach.

Explore the Lives of Emerson and Thoreau

Many courses relate the principles of Transcendentalism and discuss the crucial

contributions of these two extraordinary men, Emerson and Thoreau. But what motivated

them? Who and what were their chief influences?

You'll learn, for example, of the profound impact on Emerson of the death of his

first wife. You'll learn that he was influenced by a deep understanding of classical

texts. He read Buddhist and Hindu sacred writings at a time when most Americans were

not aware of their existence, and he translated Dante. You'll also see how this

thoroughly well-read person never lost contact with those who were less well educated.

Professor Nichols tells a story of a washerwoman who was fond of attending Emerson's

lectures, even though, she said, she could not understand his ideas. Why did she

attend? Because she liked & 34;to go and see him stand up there and look as though he

thought everyone else is as good as he is.& 34;

And you will see a Thoreau who, though often thought of as the & 34;hermit& 34; of Walden

Pond, was also a profoundly dedicated abolitionist?like so many other

Transcendentalists. When John Brown led the raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers

Ferry, was captured, and subsequently executed, it was Thoreau who delivered a

stirring eulogy, citing Brown as a & 34;Transcendentalist above all& 34; who & 34;did not recognize

unjust human laws but resisted them as he was bid. No man in America has ever stood up

so persistently and effectively for the dignity of human nature,& 34; he said, concluding

that Brown was & 34;the most American of us all.& 34;

The Impact of Transcendentalism

Yet as important as the dynamic figures you'll meet is Professor Nichols's own

multifaceted approach?essential in a course examining Transcendentalism. Rather than

focusing on a handful of well-known figures, or on a single issue such as slavery,

religion, philosophy, or literature, he has created a course meant to instill a new

appreciation of the individuals who made up the movement and of the movement's impact

on America. You come away not with an arid list of abstract ideas, but with a real

understanding of aspects of American life before the Transcendentalists' ideas took hold,

of the contemporary reactions provoked by those ideas, and of the long-lasting changes

they inspired, many of which are still with us today.

Professor Nichols's rich background?he worked as a journalist before going on to study,

teach, and write about poetry, fiction, history, and nature writing?makes him an ideal

teacher for a course that extends across so many subjects and so many remarkable individuals.

His wide-ranging approach links directly to the themes of the course; the path of lifelong

self-education is yet another legacy left to us by Emerson, Thoreau, and the Transcendentalists.

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