During the 1830s and 1840s, a movement of philosophers and writers, called transcendentalism , began in New England. (Click here to hear transcendentalism pronounced.) The movement involved new literary and political thoughts, as well as new opinions on religion.

The American transcendentalists were a group of young people, mainly from New England (Concord, Massachusetts), who thought that American society was on the verge of a new philosophical era. They began to question human existence and ponder the fundamental problems of life. They believed that the answers could be found within each person.

The transcendentalist movement emphasized the imagination of the individual and the importance of nature. There were several ideas that most transcendentalists had in common.  Read about them below:

• Religion of the time was too formal to provide social and emotional support.
• Every individual had god-like characteristics and potential.
• Emotions and senses were the most important aspects of the individual.
• Nature was admired as a supernatural force through which people could discover more about themselves.

One of the most central figures of transcendentalism is Ralph Waldo Emerson, the son of a Unitarian minister, who found his parents’ religion unsatisfactory. He became a part of the movement after looking for answers to tragedies that he had experienced in his life. His father died when he was young, his first wife died early in their marriage, and his first son died at the age of five. Emerson believed in the need for harmony between man and nature. His ideas sparked the thoughts and ideas of others who soon looked to Emerson as the leader of the movement.

Read more about Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, and other transcendentalists in the slide show below.

There were many other transcendentalists such as Bronson Alcott, who focused on child development and education, and his daughter Louisa May Alcott, who later wrote the novels Little Women and Little Men.

Transcendentalists worked to apply their ideas of life in everyday America by establishing two utopian communities in Massachusetts.  Click on each of the red dots on the map below to learn more about the locations important to this movement.

Transcendentalism in Massachusetts