Transcendentalism & Nature: How One Movement Helped Save America’s Wilderness From Destruction
“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.”
It was a movement that helped redefine humans relationship with nature. While many ancient cultures believed in a spiritual connection with their land, early American explores didn’t share this same philosophy. Nature was viewed as a resource and a tool for survival.
This idea began to change however when the Transcendental movement of the early 19th century saw nature in a different way. Because of these individuals, American’s began to feel a sense of national pride about their countries wilderness and fought to protect it from total destruction. It inspired future programs and organizations like the National Park Service who help safeguard the countries wild places.
Learn more about the fascinating history of transcendentalism and see how it reshaped humans relationship with nature. It’s an inspiring story of overcoming harmful practices to create lasting change in a new country.
What Is Transcendentalism?
Before diving into the history of the movement, it’s important to understand what Transcendentalism is all about. Followers believed strongly in the power of the individual and personal freedom.
The European Romantic movement was a major influence on the Transcendentalist’s and many of their philosophies overlapped. Romanticism during this era differs from our idea of “romantic” today.
The Romantic movement emphasized emotion, individualism, and idealization of nature. These idea’s were adopted by the Transcendentalist’s, however, they tried to embrace science where as the Romantics rejected it.
Transcendentalist’s believed that the individual was inherently good and society–mainly political parties and organized religion–corrupted their purity. They believed the individual was at their best when they were self-reliant and independent.
Nature was very important to them and the Transcendentalist’s held a deep gratitude and appreciation for it. They believed one could study nature to understand the inner workings of the natural world.
According to them, nature had a holistic power and should remain undisturbed by the outside forces of society. The Transcendentalist’s were skeptical of capitalism, industrialization, and westward expansion.
The movement was the first of its kind in America and brought awareness to these individuals concerns about the future of the country. Before the Transcendentalist’s, many people held a very different view of nature and the wild.
Pre-Movement
When it comes to early American colonists idea of wilderness, the notion of protected spaces and nature preservation was the furthest thing from their minds. For early settlers, the wild was viewed as an obstacle needing to be overcome.
While it may be hard for us to understand this way of thinking now, it makes sense when seeing how vulnerable and exposed the first colonists were. Religion also played an important part in their views on nature.
The Biblical interpretation of “wilderness” is based off the world Adam and Eve found themselves in after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. The “wilderness” was characterized by danger, chaos, and evil which struck fear into the heavily religious colonists.
Wilderness was also the only tool for the colonists survival which was especially prevalent with forests. Whether the area was cultivated for farming or used as a resource to build housing and infrastructure, deforestation grew rapidly between the 17th to the mid-19th century.
114 million acres of forest are estimated to have been cleared during this time with New England states clearing over 70% of their forests. In an age before the Industrial Revolution, this was viewed as an accomplishment where man overcame nature.
The amount of effort and energy needed to clear this volume of forest before the invention of machines was viewed as a display of humans strength and willpower. It was something that Americans took pride in and felt was a great display of their young countries willingness to overcome.
Without the frame of reference we have today, it’s understandable to see why people felt this way about nature. To early settlers, the wilderness seemed scary and supernatural. Its beauty was lost on humans who were just trying to survive.
By the mid-1800s however, this idea began to change with the help of early intellectuals.
Early Transcendentalism
While there surely were individuals with a different attitude on nature before the 19th century, it wasn’t until former minister and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) and naturalist Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) came along that the traditional way of thinking about “wilderness” was challenged.
Born at a time where the United States was still a new and rising nation, they took issue with the countries materialistic approach towards nature and strong European influences. From this was born the Transcendentalist movement which sought to create a different identity for America.
During this time period, a movement called The Age of Enlightenment was coming to a close which challenged both the authority of the monarchy and Catholic Church. Some of the ideas they presented were individual liberty, religious tolerance, and an opposition to absolute monarchy.
Transcendentalists were influenced by these thoughts and adopted some of them into their own movement. The idea of “self-reliance” was an important element that has ties to the Enlightenment.
The idea that nature should be seen as more than a commodity became a strong belief amongst the Transcendentalists. Ralph Waldo Emerson in particular promoted this idea that nature is a place where people can find and reflect on higher and moral truths.
Connecting with nature could be a form of therapy and a way over being “reborn.” What they feared most was a society completely cutoff from the natural world, a future that seemed to be coming true by the mid-19th century.
Transcendental Club
Officially founded on September 12, 1836, the Transcendental Club was a group of like-minded men and women who would meet to discuss the liberal thinking of the era. It included many prominent intellectuals including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Frederic Henry Hedge, and Margaret Fuller.
Originally called “Hedge’s Club” after one of its founders, the name “Transcendental Club” was given as an insult by a critic reviewing one of Emerson’s essays. The group engaged in many meetings where they discussed the issues they believed were plaguing American society at the time.
The discussions amongst these young intellectuals were not met with acceptance from the general public. Very few American journals would accept their poem and essay submissions for publication and they were even accused of being devil-worshippers. Famous poet Edgar Allen Poe heavily disliked the group, accusing them of being foolish mystics and calling their movement a “disease.”
This lead to the group to begin publishing their own magazine called The Dial in 1840 where they could share their Transcendental ideas without fear of being censored. The magazine initially ran until 1844 but was revived and published intermittently from 1860 to 1929.
After September of 1840, the club ceased regular meetings but members still stayed in touch and attended each others lectures for many years afterward. With the creation of the Transcendental Club, the idea of a society living in harmony with nature had a chance to be fully discussed in an open form.
By the late 1840’s, the movement appeared to be dying off. After the death of prominent member Margaret Fuller, Emerson himself claimed that Transcendentalism had gone with her and the movement ran out of momentum.
There was however, a small, second wave of Transcendentalist’s who pushed the movement further along and keep the ideas it produced alive for future generations. Transcendentalism was one of the first intellectual movements in America and influenced the upcoming New Thought movement.
Walden
One of the most famous and well-known books of the Transcendental movement was Henry David Thoreau’s Walden; or, Life In The Woods. Written in 1854, Walden is a reflection on simple living in natural surroundings.
It details Thoreau’s two years, two months, and two days living in a cabin he built near Walden Pond. Between July 4, 1845 and September 6, 1847, Thoreau documented precise scientific observations of nature which he compiled into his first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers.
Walden is a compressed version of his simple living experience, condensing the two year period into a single calendar year. The book emphasized the importance of contemplation, solitude, and closeness to nature.
Some of the major themes presented throughout the book included self-reliance, simplicity, spiritual awakening, mediation, and patiences. It’s a combination of an autobiography mixed with critiques of contemporary Western societies destruction of nature.
While Thoreau’s writing may give off the impression he rejected society, the truth was that he understood the importances of companionship and being in the company of others. What he rejected was to be in constant search of this and believed that people should be reliant on themselves.
Walden serves as an important part of the Transcendentalist movement and outlines many of their core beliefs. It discussed the importances of a society connected with nature and the many positive benefits it presented.
Modern Influences
The Transcendental movement had far reaching influences that continue into the modern day. One of the most well-known organizations modeled after the movement is the National Park System which was founded in 1916.
The idea of simple living and self-reliance in nature was a core belief for the founders of the NPS as well as the Transcendentalist’s desire for man to live in harmony with the wild. Many early proponents of America’s National Parks were Naturalists influenced by Thoreau and Emerson.
As America was slowly building itself into an independent nation, the philosophy of nature being a part of its identity grew as well. A public urge to protect the countries “wild places” was the result of early Transcendentalist’s who saw these areas as more than just resources.
It’s because of this movement, we can explore and adventure in the great outdoors. The wilderness is no longer see as a place of danger and evil but as an area of contemplation and healing where we can discover truths about ourselves.
So the next time you’re hiking through a patch endless woods or canoeing across a pristine glacial lake, be sure to remember how the contributions of the Transcendentalist men and women helped preserve and protect this moment with nature.
