When settlers first arrived in the United States, they encountered the dangerous wilderness. Curiosity transformed into reverence as Americans started to worship nature starting in the 1820s. Philosophers and authors alike vested their time to write about Transcendentalism, which developed into a talking point in literature as theorists continued to spread their interpretation of it. For instance, coined terms such as civil disobedience, and self-reliance inspired many individuals who feel oppressed in life since they feel they cannot reach their true potential because of the government. These ideas still inspire Americans today. For instance, radical individuals named sovereign citizens challenge the government based on civil disobedience. …show more content…
Because of similarities with these people, the sovereign citizen movement has some connections with Transcendentalism. As of 2012, the United States accommodates approximately “300,000 people in the movement, and approximately one third of these are what I would call hard-core believers – people willing to act on their beliefs rather than simply walk away” (MacNab). The platform of these intransigent individuals mainly rides on Thoreau’s civil disobedience. Sovereign citizens take this term to heart and express contempt towards the government by feeling that it treats its citizens like slaves. In fact, these “constitutionalists” or “freemen” believe that “the government is operating outside of its jurisdiction and generally do not recognize federal, state, or local laws, policies, or governmental regulations” (FBI). This belief allows them to infringe on all governmental laws. They also respect Emerson’s self-reliance since they justify their own actions despite the backlash the media gave them. Protesting issues such as paying taxes and owning a driver’s license, these people render both as unnecessary in their pursuit to life just like Chris. Overall, sovereign citizens seem to fulfill the necessities of a Transcendentalist. However, they have some glaring differences and disagreements with Transcendentalists. while having their own …show more content…
Sovereign citizens believe that the government treats them like collaterals ever since they abandoned the gold standard. According to the Redemption Scheme, for every citizen's birth certificate issued since 1936 in the United States, the government deposits from $630,000 to $3,000,000 in a hidden bank account. By selling an individual’s future earnings to foreign investors, sovereigns claim this is a form of slavery and presumes the government's need to pay back their debts to its citizens. As people retrieve documents over their lifetime, their name pertains to a corporate identity, otherwise known as a “straw man”, rather than a true, sovereign identity. Sovereign citizens believe they have every right to redeem their money by filing “legitimate IRS and Uniform Commercial Code forms for illegitimate purposes, believing that doing so correctly will compel the U.S. Treasury to fulfill its debts, such as credit card debts, taxes, and mortgages” (FBI). As the sovereign citizens’ higher power, the Redemption theory does not involve Transcendentalism whatsoever. Sovereign citizens mainly believe the United States is forever in their debt. Their roots do not involve nature and spirituality, and therefore proves sovereign citizens are not Transcendentalists to begin
Beliefs are what define humans not as a society, but as individuals. Individualism is a large part of Transcendentalism, which was a movement started in the mid-nineteenth century led by figures such as Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Into the Wild, written in 1997 by Jon Krakauer, is a modern novel that examines a transcendentalist young adult. That young man is Chris McCandless, who leaves his family at the age of 23 to live the Transcendentalist dream. He hitchhikes and travels through many rivers and cities to get to Alaska, the place where he believes he can finally experience that dream. Transcendentalism is the idea that humans are innately one with nature, and therefore God, and that nature is the only place where humans belong because society is poisonous. By enjoying himself and connecting with god through the environment in an isolated location, Chris McCandless demonstrates that he is a faithful Transcendentalist.
In all the history of America one thing has been made clear, historians can’t agree on much. It is valid seeing as none of them can travel back in time to actually experience the important events and even distinguish what has value and what doesn’t. Therefore all historians must make a leap and interpret the facts as best they can. The populist movement does not escape this paradox. Two views are widely accepted yet vastly different, the views of Richard Hofstadter and Lawrence Goodwyn. They disagree on whether populists were “isolated and paranoid bigots” or “sophisticated, empathetic egalitarians”; whether their leaders were “opportunists who victimized them” or “visionary economic theorists who liberated them”; whether their beliefs were rooted in the free silver campaign of the 1890s or the cooperative movement of the 1880s; and finally whether their ideal society was in the “agrarian past” or “the promise of a cooperative future”. They could not agree on anything, over all Richard Hofstadter seems to have a better idea of the truth of populism.
1. Write a thematic statement for the essay “Self-Reliance”. Explain how Emerson's idea of Self-Reliance is different from and similar to the common use of the term (take care of your own needs and don't depend on others outside yourself). Emerson’s idea of self- reliance is different from similar to the common use of the term (take care of your own needs and don’t depend on others outside yourself) Emerson’s idea is similar because the words “self- reliant” is saying take care of your own.
“Civil Disobedience,” written by Henry David Thoreau – originally published as “Resistance to Civil Government” in Aesthetic Papers (1849) and motivated by slavery and the Mexican-American War – discusses the hold government has on individuals in a society and the potential risks, as well as solutions, to overcoming the majority consciousness. Thoreau opens his essay with words he believes every government should live by: “That government is best which governs least.” Thoreau expresses that traditional government is often an inhibitor to the fluidity of justice and the desires of the majority, as well as the minority. As detailed, the American people have established a desire for some complicated concept to derive their government in order
What is Transcendentalism? Though this may sound like a new topic to you, its major tenets have been around for almost a century and many are still influencing modern life today. Transcendentalism is an American literary, political, and philosophical movement of the early nineteenth century, centered around the premises of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Along with Emerson, other important Transcendentalists including Henry David Thoreau, Emily Dickenson, and Walt Whitman also took on the unconventional morals of this movement. Today, we are going to delve into a few of these major premises practiced by Transcendentalists. The first principal is that God can be found in both nature and human nature. The second principal is embracing individualism. Both of these aspects play key roles in creating the foundation for Transcendentalism that was both seen in the 19th century and modern society.
An influential literary movement in the nineteenth century, transcendentalism placed an emphasis on the wonder of nature and its deep connection to the divine. As the two most prominent figures in the transcendentalist movement, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau whole-heartedly embraced these principles. In their essays “Self-Reliance” and “Civil Disobedience”, Emerson and Thoreau, respectively, argue for individuality and personal expression in different manners. In “Self-Reliance”, Emerson calls for individuals to speak their minds and resist societal conformity, while in “Civil Disobedience” Thoreau urged Americans to publicly state their opinions in order to improve their own government.
In “Civil Disobedience” Thoreau emphasizes the need for self-reliance (“Clendenning”). This statement is fitting because Thoreau was one of the most self-reliant men of his time period. He was an individual and enjoyed nature. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) is closely related to the Transcendentalism movement, which lasted a mere ten years in the 1830s and 1840s. Transcendentalism is the belief of self-reliance, individuality, social reform, and relying on reason. Henry David Thoreau’s love of nature, languages, and contemporary English, as well as the growth of Transcendentalism greatly influenced the life of this great American Author.
A transcendentalist whom strongly urged passive, non-violent resistance to the government’s policies to which an individual is morally opposed wrote his ideas in his essay,“On the Duty of Civil Disobedience” in the year 1849. Thoreau’s transcendentalist belief is seen in his text continuously, “In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well. Such command no more respect than men of straw or a lump of dirt. They have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs”(Thoreau 4). As a white male who was given the right to vote, Thoreau’s writing is more direct and
One of these thinkers was Henry David Thoreau, a transcendentalist. This movement reflected a deeper thought process moving through the country where longstanding ideas were questioned and the role of nature was put into more prominence. Thoreau says, “I thus dispose of the superfluous and see things as they are, grand and beautiful” (Thoreau 34). This speaks to the overall thought process of the budding country and the people who make it up. Seeing things as they are and doing away with excess is a cornerstone of the transcendentalist movement, which took hold of the dominant thinkers of the
Why partake in civil disobedience? Oscar Wilde, an influential author, has an opinion on utilization of civil disobedience. “Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion. Meaning, if a person wants to change society and its actions, they must rebel against the governing body in order to create effective alterations. Many situations exist where civil disobedience advocates change. In those situations, people have rights for disobedience, but must realize consequences may result from their disobedient actions.
To trace the origin of the Transcendental movement one needs to go back to the city of Concord, Massachusetts. There during the early 19th century many well-known and world-renowned authors were following the practices of one man, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson, who was considered America's first philosopher, had earlier traveled to Europe and became fascinated by the concepts of one German philosopher known as Kant. According to Emerson's understanding of Kant, there were two pure objects in the world in which are the bases of everything, nature and soul. He took this philosophy and brought it back to America where it later, with the help of Henry David Thoreau, revolutionized American literature.
The transcendentalists of America are heralded as some of the best writers in history, because they revolutionized the ways in which people think. Although Martin Luther King Jr. was not a transcendentalist, his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” is considered to share many similar ideas to the transcendentalists and can also be considered revolutionary. In today’s American society, nonconformity and independent action are built off of the same ideals that the transcendentalists had. One such act is the protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline. According to transcendentalist ideas and modern day protesters, the main reason for independent action and nonconformity is a sense of greater purpose in the world brought about by religion.
“Transcendentalism, An American Philosophy.” U.S. History Online Textbook. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2014.
His ideas of taking action against government corruption instead of just shyly agreeing or sinking into the shadows of the societal majority is a universal message that can apply to anyone at anytime. Like his revolutionary predecessors, Thoreau establishes a compelling argument that resonates in the hearts of man and pushes them to rise up. America is founded upon the ideals of democracy and being governed by the people. Thoreau, almost a century after America gained its independence, reestablishes these importance of these principles in our society through his essay. He is not only a Transcendentalist, but also a
America was built on the foundations of independence, adventure, and patriotism. The people of the original thirteen colonies sought out more. They yearned for the once forbidden expanses past the Appalachians and west of the Mississippi when they were under the control of the tyrant British crown. The wilderness contained savagery and temptation, which threatened the authority of the community, but it represented a new beginning, which was mysterious but could flourish. Contrasting views of the wilderness established a civilization by removing the obstacles presented by the natural environment, the state of wilderness that originally characterized the young nation eventually became the source of national pride and identity for America. Manifest destiny was the dream of the citizens of this new country. It was America’s god given right to expand from sea to shining sea - as if it was parallel to their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Explores sought to make manifest destiny come true, but in the process, they found more: spacious skies, amber waves of grain, purple mountains, and the fruited plain. While the beauty of the frontier intrigued early settlers, nature became a tool to build society. This conflict characterizes the relationship Americans have with nature today. While at the conception of America, a passionate relationship with nature, which inspired and provided an escape from the corruption of society, today, Americans have a conflicted relationship with their surroundings because nature is seen as a resource rather than something sacred.