On War

[northerngal]

While preparing a presentation on Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Nature", I came across an article on American Transcendentalism that highlighted Emerson's address to the American Peace Society at an 1838 meeting in Boston. In reading through this brief dissertation, I found the warnings that Emerson issued about the future of humanity and war to be quite unsettling and very relevent to modern, recent events. For a person who had attended or read this lecture, the onset of the Civil War must have brought these words to a true fruition. Ever since Emerson delivered this address, people from every era have identified with it, and we can still identify with it now as members of the 21st century. Thinking back to the end of World War II and the introduction of the atom bomb, Emerson's statement in 1865 that "as if the earth, water, gases, lightning and caloric had not a million energies, the discovery of any one of which could change the art of war again, and put an end to war by the exterminating forces man can apply" is undeniably haunting and seemingly prophetic. However, Emerson leaves his trust in humanity when he states that his faith was in "the search of the sublime laws of morals and the sources of hope and trust, in man, and not in books, in the present, and not in the past." When looking at this from a modern perspective, we can see that the statement was just as relevent to those who lived before and during the Civil War as it is now. And again, Oh! how times haven't changed all that much.

You can view the essay on Emerson's "War" at:

http://www.san.beck.org/GPJ16-Abolitionists.html#4

(There are also other Transcendentalist writings on war and abolition on this page that are worth reading as well.)

You can read Emerson's original address, "War", in its entirety here:

http://www.rwe.org/works/other_works/war_delivered_in_march.htm

~Natalie Baur

[Yulie]

Re: On War

Natalie,

Thanks for sharing this information. I will read the essays with relish as I recently had a discussion about the political environment that bred transcendentalists, radical abolitionists, radical Republicans and what they said and did during and after the Civil War.

[styler]

Just for discussion...

Did Transcendentalism really have much of an effect on American society in the 1850s and 60s?

There was a thread over a year ago that tried to bring out more about the Transcendentalists - maybe it's time to try to turn the wheel again.

[northerngal]

Re: Just for discussion...

Did Transcendentalism really have much of an effect on American society in the 1850s and 60s?

Hmm, ever heard of abolition? Women's rights? These movements, although with roots in schools of thought preceding Transcendentalism, were really finally able to manifest themselves through the fervent writings and lectures of the Transcendentalists. In essence, transcendentalists were the radicals of their day as far as the fight for social equality went. If their efforts didn't influence the 1850's and 1860's, I don't think history would have unfolded in the way that it ultimately unfolded. Transcendentalism also provided America with some of the first truly, uniquely American works of philosophy and literature. For the most part, America had been heavily influenced by England and other forms of literature and art from the Continent. With the birth of truly American ideas and art, Transcendentalism paved the way for America's spot at the table as far as literature and philosophy are concerned, which obviously has had an enduring legacy, even to this day. Also, the transcendentalists preached the philosophy of self reliance (Emerson wrote an essay of that same title). Emerson embodies this belief in a single statement: "Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string." A large majority of Americans have subscribed to this very credo since the time that it was uttered; Americans in the 1840's, 1850's, 1860's, and beyond, and even today.
In 1845, former slave Frederick Douglass published his very famous piece entitled "Narative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself". In this, Douglas put forth his beliefs in self-reliance, self-worth, and self-developtment, all ideals embodied by the transcendentalist philosophy. In the introduction to The Oxford Frederick Douglass Reader , William Andrews states that "Frederick Douglass's basic idea of his own individuality, his own quintessential identity, lay not in his racial affiliations or his American allegiances but in his sense of himself as a person with a moral mission. . . [he] stood, not just for freedom, but for intellectual and moral integrity in the articulation and pursuit of freedom." How could the writings and ideas of Douglas not have somehow influenced thought in the 1850's and 1860's? After all, slavery was an issue that people generally had a viewpoint on, one way or another. As I have said before, and I will say again and again, the very beliefs and philosophies that the Transcendentalists embodied in their day, many Americans still subscribe to today.
And, if the previous examples aren't enough to persuade one that Transcendentalism had an enduring effect on American thought, take Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience". His essay has been championed by people who were put at odds against the very government that represented them. Thoreau also wrote fervent essays and expositories about the plight of John Brown and the plea for his requittal. Thoreau's Transcendental philosophies were the root of his horror over the fact that Brown would be "labeled as pathological by a government staunchly opposed to change." Thoreau was not just impassioned over the issue of John Brown, but over the issue of slavery as a whole. What more could one need to illustrate the lasting influence that Transcendentalism had in America, from the time that it was concieved, through the rest of the 19th century, and even beyond to contemporary times?
Transcendentalists were also dissatisfied with the American education system, and many Transcendentalists tried new educational systems. For instance, Bronson Alcott set up a short-lived school, called the "Temple School" at which fellow Transcendentalists Elizabeth Peabody and Margaret Fuller (an ardent feminist of her time) taught. However, the educational goals and philosophies of the transcendentalists were a bit too idealistic and lofty for their time; but, it is safe to say that the Transcendentalist's attempt at reforms was just the beginning of public education reform in American schools.
Before I wrap this mini-exposee up, I'd just like to state once again that Transcendentalism just didn't simply, abruptly end. The ideas that the movement embraced have been with us ever since they were first written about in 1836, when the essay by Emerson, "Nature", was first published and adopted as a sort of unofficiall Transcendentalism 'manifesto'. Transcendentalists never considered themselves an organized movement; in fact, they shied away from being classified as such. The members of this intellectual community considered their philosophies and ideas to be more of a life philosophy, not a set of rules and creeds that one had to follow. I truly believe that even if modern Americans don't recognize their belief in self-dependence and self-reliance and self-worth as being a Transcendental philosophy, it is obvious that we still subscribe to the same beliefs and life values to which the Transcendentalists adhered. Not to mention that many Transcendentalists were still touring and lecturing in the 1850's and 1860's. And, to answer your question, Steve, yes:Transcendentalism really DID have much of an effect on American society in the 1850s and 60s.

For further reading, please visit:

http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/index.html

From this site, you can accesss scholarly articles and essays on Transcendentalism, Transcendentalists, and the lasting legacy of Transcendentalism in America.

~Natalie Baur

[styler]

Re: On War

Thanks for the well written response, although I do take exception to some of the things you say. For instance, I don't believe that Douglas was a Transcendentalist. Nor do I belong to the school of thought that believes they jumpstarted some of the movements you mentioned.

But anyway, the question I was really asking is: What did the average person care about transcendentalism in 1855? How did it effect him or her? In what homes was The Dial or Emerson read? Thoreau is a interesting read today, but what was his popularity then?

[va-yank]

Re: On War

Common folks at that time were probably no more aware of Transcendentalism than people today are aware of or proponents of modern philosophies or schools of thought. Its hard to say how affected they were by these ideas though, given that some in positions of power may have been more aware of or schooled in Transcendental thought, and passed it into the mainstream.

I will bet that there was some New Bedford fisherman and his family, or some Ohio farmer who read Emerson, Thoreau and Miss Howe. On the other hand they were probably a small, educated or self-taught minority.