The Philosophy of Transcendentalism

Transcendentalism was a movement in philosophy, literature, and religion that emerged and was popular in the nineteenth century New England because of a need to redefine man and his place in the world in response to a new and changing society. The quote that most provoked thought and emotion from within me comes from the essay "Self-Reliance" by Ralph Waldo Emerson. "To be great is to be misunderstood" was used by Emerson to explain the lagging growth of the conception of ideas and thoughts of his generation. "Self-Reliance" expressed the need for creative thinking. Society during Emerson's era resisted reform and scorned the reformer. Emerson saw individualism in direct conflict with society. "The effect of society," he thought," was not to strengthen the individual, but to breed conformity and fear."

Margaret Fuller was the most successful and active feminist reformer out of all the transcendentalists. Margaret Fuller published "Women in the Nineteenth Century," a feminist book of demand