Transcendentalist Writings for the Occupy Movement

New England Transcendentalism – Ralph Waldo Emerson

THE New England Transcendentalist movement was the first systematic reaction in America against greedy capitalism and the excesses of Wall Street. Nothing written since gets more directly to the heart of the problem: the dehmanizing effects of crass materialism and of a society driven by a narrow emphasis on financial profit. Today, even though we see the problems with greedy capitalism, we labor under the weight of an education which that very system provided. But their minds were clearer and their education better. We therefore do well to look back to these pioneers for ideas and ideology.

In addition to the links below, here’s a followup post with a selection of relevant quotes by Henry David Thoreau from his essay, Life Without Principle.

Transcendentalist Works

• William Ellery Channing, Self-Culture (1838), On War (1839)
• Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature (1836), The American Scholar (1837), Self-Reliance (1841), Character (1841), Wealth (1860)
• O. B. Frothingham, Transcendentalism in New England (1876)
• Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1854), Life Without Principle (1863)

Websites

• American Transcendentalism
• Transcendentalists
• American Transcendentalism (Washington State)
• Perspectives on American Literature – Transcendentalism
• Overview of American Transcendentalism – Martin Bickman
• The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson (online, with search engine)

Books/Chapters

• Parrington, Vernon L. Main Currents in American Thought, Vol. 2, Book 3, Part 3 (The Transcendental Mind, Chapters 1-5). New York: Harcourt Brace And Co., 1927.
• Richardson, Robert D. Jr. Emerson: The Mind on Fire. University of California Press, 1995 . ISBN 0520206894
• Wayne, Tiffany K. Encyclopedia of Transcendentalism. Infobase Publishing, 2009. ISBN 1438109164