In the article “Emerson’s Transcendentalism” by Regis Michaud, poses the following debate of whether or not Ralph Waldo Emerson was a true Transcendentalist and the leader of Transcendentalism in New England. Emerson was born in Boston on May 25, 1803 as the son of a Unitarian minister and the second of five brothers. After his wife’s death in 1829, he became skeptical of his religion and felt the need to resign as a junior pastor of the Unitarian church (Baym). At this time is when much of his disillusionment with Unitarianism itself started, which began leading to his belief that experiencing Nature was the answer. Much of the public tends to favor Emerson as a true Transcendentalist, which I lean towards also. Transcendentalists believe…show more content… Quakers are known as members of a family of religious movements collectively known as the Religious Society of Friends. In the life of a Quaker they aren’t seen as “conforming” to a church and being preached to every Sunday, yet on their own time he becomes apt to thinking about life, God, and why he is here. Once it is their time to come to realization, God will speak to them (Francis). In Emerson’s section of his essay called “Commodity” he explains how individualism is the most important characteristic to explore. Without finding your true self, you cannot learn to the language and without understanding the language you cannot talk to God. Emerson breaks away from Unitarianism in search for his own true self instead of conforming to the society his father had set up for him. Another reason proving he was a true Transcendentalist, he shows that he is breaking away from society or “rebelling” to find individualism in this current time where religion being forced is a main issue.
Lastly, after classifying himself in spirituality and not a religion, Emerson sees individuals as the spiritual center of the universe, along with God and views Nature as a mystery. In Nature, Emerson has a desire to embrace the world but to also remain unique and individual while doing it. In writing this essay, he is giving us advice in doing the same. Emerson’s beliefs ultimately are shaped around the basic premises of the