Transcendentalism is a philosophy that evolved out of 19th Century, prior to the Civil War, specifically in the New England area ("What is Transcendentalism?" para. 3). The generation of people involved in this movement were artists, intellectuals, and activists who were "struggling to define spirituality and religion," as well as morals and the individual at a time when the bible was being re-examined and Hindu and Buddhist sacred texts were just coming to light in the western part of the world (para. 4,5,10). Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau are two of the most well known voices from that movement. Though they were similar in much of their philosophy, they differed in some key areas, such as slavery and responsibility for one's fellow man. This paper will compare the beliefs of Thoreau and Emerson, examining both where they agreed and where they differed.
Transcendentalists typically believed in the self-examined life, reason, independent thought (not dependent on what others teach, but on what someone learns on their own terms), and that there is a "Divine Soul" in everyone that leads them to do right for themselves ("What is Transcendentalism?" para. 4, 8, 9, 11). It is important to understand this because this is where Emerson and Thoreau agreed. In Emerson's essay, "Self Reliance," he noted:
Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind (Emerson para. 7)
In other words, if someone is told that something is "good" they need to examine it so they can verify for themselves that it is indeed good. Thoreau seems to agree in his work, "Civil Disobedience," when he says that the first duty of every person is to use their conscience and do what is right: "The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any...