Religion And Transcendentalism In America

Through observation, the American identity to a lot of people is having freedom and

opportunity, along with biased opinions. It is interesting that most people include this with being

American. If everyone wants freedom and equality, why do we not have it then? America was

discovered as a result of seeking freedom, opportunity for jobs, new beginnings, etc. To this day

we still have people from other countries, seeking this opportunity we are supposed to be

providing, in a number of different things. The question is, are they finding and being given that

what is expected? Has American lost this a while back and are we blinding ourselves with what

it use to be instead of analyzing it for what it has become now?

Another major reason people come here, and still do for the freedom of religion and

having your own belief you could follow and not be punished for it. If you look around, certain

religions are still looked down upon. People argue that religion should not be included into the

government, but that is not the idea of it. The idea of it is that the government should not decline

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us or try to control and discourage us for our beliefs, but accept it and not try to rid of it or us.

The Transcendentalism philosophy is a legit example and the ideal way of being an

American. It is mort simple than most people think it is. They do not focus on religion, meaning

overly strict rules and regulations that can also result in sketchy actions. Religion is a set of laws,

based on beliefs of the individual, which they are required to follow. The idea of religion can,

and does, scare people away, including myself. Transcendentalism focuses on having intimate

relationship with the Creator, the One most commonly k...

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...od’s power and moral weakness of

man) and believed in Unitarianism (believed individual and social reform are important). Their

idea of equality consisted of education, Abolitionism, women’s rights, and temperance. Two

major transcendentalism writers during this era were Ralph Waldo Emerson, who emphasized

living a simple life and that truth is found in nature, and Henry David Thoreau, who was into

civil disobedience.

This Era started in 1815 after the victory over the war of 1812 when James Monroe made

a “goodwill” trip to England and declared to be safer, peaceful, and more united. “and to the

defense of our own, which has been achieved by the loss of so much blood and treasure, and

matured by the wisdom of their most enlightened citizens, and under which we have enjoyed

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unexampled felicity, this whole nation is devoted.” (Monroe 2).