The Transcendentalists

The Transcendentalists were a 19th-century American intellectual movement emphasizing individual intuition, spiritual growth, and the inherent goodness of people and nature. They believed that truth and meaning come from personal experience and inner reflection, rather than external authorities or traditional institutions. Led by thinkers like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, they encouraged self-reliance, nature appreciation, and social reform. Their ideas influenced American literature, philosophy, and the broader cultural emphasis on personal freedom and connection to the natural world.