LITR 4328 American Renaissance / Model Assignments

Sample Student Research Project 2018: Journal

Ruth Brown

28 November 2018

Concord, the Literary Conquering City

Entry 1: Introduction

“Here in New England, the character is strong and unshakable.” -Norman Rockwell         

          When trying to decide what topic I should pick for my research project, I was a little stumped at first. There were a lot of topics that sounded interesting and a lot of subjects I was relatively unaware of before taking this class. Coming into this class, the only thing I had associated with the American Renaissance was the area of New England, specifically the literary hub of Concord, Massachusetts.

          I knew that many prominent writers of this time period lived in the area of Concord, but I had never looked into their interactions with each other or even their major writings. The research project seemed like a perfect opportunity to dig deeper into something that had always interested me, but I had never taken the initiative to fully learn about.

          After I decided to focus my topic on New England and Concord, I knew I had to narrow it down a bit more and decided what specifically I wanted to research, as there are so many directions I could have gone. I saw the phrase “Concord Circle” when brainstorming specific topics and it grabbed my attention. I had never heard of this title, but I recognized many names associated with the circle.

          I plan on researching each writer separately and presenting a short biography of them, looking at their shared set of morals, beliefs, and values, what they based the circle on, why the city of Concord, and the different famous sites associated with them, including their houses and graves.

Entry 2: What is the Concord Circle?

“Those Concord days were the happiest of my life, for we had charming playmates in the little Emersons, Channings, Hawthornes, and Goodwins, with the illustrious parents and their friends to enjoy our pranks and share our excursions.” -Louisa May Alcott

          To begin my research, I first wanted to find out what this circle even referred to and which writers were members. I found that the Concord Circle, or Concord Writers, was the name given to a group of 19th Century writers that lived and worked in the city of Concord. The group included Henry David Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and William Ellery Channing (Brooks, “The Concord Writers”). Besides these writers that actually lived in Concord, many other prominent writers visited and spent time there, including Margaret Fuller, Walt Whitman, and Herman Melville (Radio Open Source). Emerson is often claimed to be the head of this circle of writers and moved to the city of Concord in 1835. Although Thoreau was born and raised in Concord, the rest of these writers moved to the city following Emerson (“Concord, Massachusetts”). The circle might also be referred to as a literary or philosophical movement, as the writers shared many of the same ideas, styles, and values.

Entry 3: Set of Morals, Ideas, and Values

“Every human being is intended to have a character of his own; to be what no others are, and to do what no other can do.” -William Ellery Channing 

          As I mentioned in my last entry, the views and beliefs of these members were closely aligned, and the circle was not just a literary movement, but also a sort of philosophical movement. They were prominent writers of the American Romantic movement and their writing styles and subjects were greatly influenced due to their ideas and values. David Bromwich describes them as “concerned with experiences of the mind and of…the sensations we associate with just living and observing life…they say look in yourself. Is there something you can find there that [sic] that’s different from anything else that wants to be redeemed” (Radio Open Source). They were involved in many radical movements of the time, including women’s suffrage, abolition, and transcendentalism.

Sub-Entry 1: Women’s Suffrage

“If women feel wronged then they are wronged…I should vote for every franchise for women.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

          Louis May Alcott herself was the first woman in Concord registered to vote. In 1879, Massachusetts passed a law giving women the right to vote in town elections on issues involving children and education (Brooks, “Louisa May Alcott”). Her father, an educator, did not hold his children back from receiving a fine education even though they were girls and Louisa May Alcott took full advantage of her reading and reading skills to later help support the family.

          Ralph Waldo Emerson also supported the women’s rights movement and in 1850 “signed the ‘Declaration of Principles’ put forth by the first National Women’s Rights Convention held at Worcester, Massachusetts” (“Ralph Waldo Emerson and Women's Rights”). He was asked to speak at the convention, but was unable to at the time. However, in 1855 he gave a speech in support of the women’s movement and said it was “a right and proper inquiry…honoring to the age” (“Ralph Waldo Emerson and Women's Rights”).

          I had some difficulty in researching whether or not Hawthorne supported the women’s rights movement and didn’t find conclusive evidence. It is said that he is known for making negative remarks about women writers, calling them "ink-stained Amazons,” a "damn'd mob of scribbling women,” and that they should be "forbidden to write, on pain of having their faces deeply scarified with an oyster-shell” (Idol). However, it also seems that Hawthorne had a lot of female support, friendship, and influence in his life from his mother, sisters, the Peabody sisters, and Margaret Fuller. He wrote many stories centered around women, which was not very common for that time. Whether or not he fully supported women’s rights, he did explore many ideas and themes concerning gender roles, domesticity, and the role of emotion (Eaton and Pennell).

          As for Thoreau and Channing, I also found little concerning their views on women’s suffrage. I did find that both were more wary of collective movements and preferred to act as individuals, which is in accordance with the transcendentalist movement. Thoreau seems to have “avoided organized reform movements until the moral imperative of abolition commanded his attention” (Witherell). While Channing “sympathized with the beliefs of several social and educational reform movements but did not believe that society could be improved by collective action” (Britannica, “William Ellery Channing”). However, Channing did marry one of the wealthiest women in the country, but upheld her right to own property “and never claimed his wife's money, as the law of the time allowed him to do” (Carpenter).

Sub-Entry 2: Abolition

“The first question to be proposed by a rational being is, not what is profitable, but what is Right.” -William Ellery Channing

          Almost all members of the circle were involved in some way with the abolitionist movement. The area of Concord was a host for many social reform and anti-slavery societies. “Concordians were already sensitive to the issue of slavery by the 1830s” (Hall). Emerson delivered many speeches and wrote an assortment of work on the topic. Channing, a minister, also spoke out frequently upon this subject and wrote a book entitled Slavery. Thoreau also wrote an essay on slavery entitled "Slavery in Massachusetts” and he “was an ardent and outspoken abolitionist, serving as a conductor on the underground railroad to help escaped slaves make their way to Canada” (Schneider). The whole Alcott family were abolitionists, with Amos Bronson Alcott being a member of the William Lloyd Garrison’s Preliminary Anti-Slavery Society and his wife Abigail being a member of the Female Anti-Slavery Committee. They were even said to once host an escaped slave and have a black girl enrolled in their school (Jacyszyn). Amos Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau are also said to have all helped and contributed to the Underground Railroad (Jacyszyn). The only member it seems that didn’t support the abolitionist’s cause was Hawthorne. A democrat in firm support of Franklin Pierce and against anything contradicting to that position, Hawthorne was quoted in 1851 as saying “I have not . . . the slightest sympathy for the slaves” (Benfey and Stauffer).

Sub-Entry 3: Transcendentalism

“Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.” -Henry David Thoreau

          Although all members might not have been in complete agreement on women’s suffrage or abolition, they did all share the beliefs of transcendentalism. It was a movement that began in Boston around the 1830s that could be called a philosophical, religious, political, or literary movement (Brooks, “The Concord Writers”). Transcendentalism grew out of the Unitarian movement, of which both Channing and Emerson were ministers of, and was in opposition to rationalism. Emerson was a lead pioneer in this new movement. A central belief was “in the reliability of the human conscience…based upon a conviction of the immanence, or indwelling, of God in the soul of the individual” (Witherell). They aspired to something higher than themselves and valued intuition, the mind, and the soul. Many members of this movement placed an emphasis on nature, such as Emerson and Thoreau, or participated in social experiments of communal living, such as the Alcott family and Hawthorne.

Entry 4: Henry David Thoreau

“Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life so. Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something.” -Henry David Thoreau

          A native of Concord, Thoreau was born in 1817 to John and Cynthia Thoreau. His older siblings helped him attend Harvard College by contributing money out of their teaching salaries. At Harvard he studied Latin, Greek, mathematics, English, history, philosophy, Italian, French, German, and Spanish. He is known for not being the happiest with his teachings at Harvard and is described by Emerson as having “seldom thanked colleges for their service to him, holding them in small esteem.” After graduating, Thoreau worked for a little while in his father’s business of pencil-making. He was determined to improve the techniques being used and produce a higher-quality pencil. He succeeded and then stated that he would never make another pencil. He founded his own school and later partnered with his brother John, but had to close the school in 1841, after his brother became ill. He then lived off and on at Emerson’s place and began in earnest his writings and nature living. In 1846, he was arrested for not paying a poll tax and spent one night in jail. Apparently, Thoreau was not the only resident of Concord to have been arrested for not paying a poll tax, as Amos Alcott was arrested for the same reason in 1843. He died in 1862 from tuberculosis.

          He wrote both political and nature writings and his most notable works include “Civil Disobedience,” “Slavery in Massachusetts,” “John Brown,” Walden, Walking, The Main Woods, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, “Life Without Principle,” Wild Apples, and Cape Cod.

Works Consulted:

Brooks, Rebecca Beatrice. “Henry David Thoreau Arrested For Nonpayment of Poll Tax.” History of Massachusetts, 14 July 2012, historyofmassachusetts.org/henry-david-thoreau-arrested-for-nonpayment-of-poll-tax/.

Schneider, Richard J. “Life and Legacy.” The Thoreau Society, www.thoreausociety.org/life- legacy.

Witherell, Elizabeth. “Life and Times of Henry David Thoreau.” The Writings of Henry D. Thoreau, thoreau.library.ucsb.edu/thoreau_life.html.

Entry 5: Louisa May Alcott

“He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions.” -Louis May Alcott

          Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1832 to what could be described as a progressive family. She received education from her father Amos Bronson Alcott, an educator and philosopher. Her family had been so established in the New England area that she was even descended from a judge in the Salem Witch Trials. Although, that was felt with deep shame. The family frequently struggled financially and moved 22 time in 30 years. Before moving to Concord in 1840, the family unsuccessfully took part in a utopian community named Fruitlands. To help support her family, Alcott took many jobs as a teacher, governess, seamstress, and washer. However, she held writing aspirations and began to write and publish her works of poetry and short stories in the 1850s. When the Civil War began, she became a nurse in Washington D.C., but had to return home after becoming severely ill. As mentioned above, she was a strong supporter of women’s rights and became the first female registered to vote in Concord. She never married, but she adopted and looked after her niece when her sister died. Due to mercury poison she picked up while nursing in D.C. she continually struggled with her health and died in 1888.

          Her most known works are Little Women, Little Men, and Jo’s Boys, but other notable work includes An Old Fashioned Girl, Eight Cousins, Jack and Jill, Rose in Bloom, many short stories, and a children’s book entitled An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving. Two works of a different tone are her Hospital Sketches, based off of her letters and time nursing, and Transcendental Wild Oats, based on her family’s time at Fruitlands.

Works Consulted:

Brooks, Rebecca Beatrice. “The Life of Louisa May Alcott.” History of Massachusetts, 8 Sept. 2011, historyofmassachusetts.org/louisa-may-alcott/.

Norwood, Arlisha R. “Louisa May Alcott.” National Women's History Museum, www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/louisa-may-alcott.

Entry 6: Nathaniel Hawthorne

“Every individual has a place to fill in the world, and is important, in some respect, whether he chooses to be so or not.” -Nathaniel Hawthorne

          Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. He is also descended from judge John Hathorne of the Salem Witch Trials, of whom he was so ashamed, it is said he added the w into his name. Hawthorne did not have a close relationship with either of his parents. His father died when he was four and he spent his time growing up between Salem and his mother’s place in Maine, but his mother was known for being a cold, distant person. He went to Bowdoin College in Maine and then began writing after he graduated. His first novel, Fanshawe, was published “at his own expense, but Hawthorne disapproved of it and tried to destroy all copies” (Brooks,“The Life of Nathaniel Hawthorne”). He met and married Sophia Peabody and moved to Concord, where during the 1840s he was an original shareholder and member of the communal living experiment of Brook Farm. Due to financial woes, he moved back to Salem again. After his work started producing more money, he moved back to Concord and bought the house, the Wayside, from the Alcott family. He was close to then president Franklin Pierce and became a consul to Liverpool, England in the 1850s. He died in 1864 on a trip with Franklin Pierce.

          Best known for writing The Scarlet Letter, he also wrote the novels The House of the Seven Gables, The Blithedale Romance, based on his time at Brook Farm, and The Marble Faun, based on his travels in Italy. He wrote many short stories, perhaps his most known are “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Minister’s Black Veil.”

Works Consulted:

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Nathaniel Hawthorne.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 30 June 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Nathaniel-Hawthorne.

Brooks, Rebecca Beatrice. “The Life of Nathaniel Hawthorne.” History of Massachusetts, 15  Sept. 2011, historyofmassachusetts.org/nathaniel-hawthorne/.

Entry 7: Ralph Waldo Emerson

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

          Born in Boston in 1803 to a Unitarian minister who died when he was eight, Emerson was influenced and shaped by the care of his aunt Mary Moody Emerson. He went to Harvard College and became a Unitarian minister himself. He married Ellen Louisa Tucker in 1829, but she died of tuberculosis in 1831. He was already questioning his beliefs and doctrine, but the combined death of his wife and his brother William’s introduction to German biblical criticism influenced him to resign from his ministry in 1832. He traveled, began writing, moved to Concord, and remarried to Lydia Jackson. He started developing his own ideas and became the leading member of American transcendentalism. He was a prolific writer and lecturer and helped found the transcendental magazine The Dial, of which Margaret Fuller became editor. His radical ideas and philosophy greatly influenced the time and place in which he lived. He died at the age of 79 in 1882. He is most known for his works entitled Nature and “Self-Reliance,” but he also wrote a wide assortment of essays, short stories, poems, and letters.

Works Consulted:

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Ralph Waldo Emerson.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 21 Sept. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Ralph-Waldo-Emerson.

“Ralph Waldo Emerson.” American Transcendentalism Web, transcendentalism-legacy.tamu.edu/authors/emerson/.

Entry 8: William Ellery Channing

"The great hope of society is in individual character.” -William Ellery Channing

          William Ellery Channing was born in 1780 in Newport, Road Island to William and Lucy Ellery Channing. His father was an attorney and represented the first slaver convicted in an American court, while his mother’s father, William Ellery, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Channing attended Harvard College and became a Unitarian minister. He married Ruth Gibbs, a wealthy cousin, and in 1803, became the minister of Federal Street Church in Boston where he remained so until his death. He was an outspoken moralist who took part in many social reforms for education, poverty relief, and anti-slavery. He is said to be described by Emerson as “a kind of public Conscience.” Although he is different from the other members of the circle by being a full-time minister, his views and beliefs of morality, freedom of the mind, and individualism keep him in accordance with the transcendental mindset. He is claimed to be one of the most influential American religious leader and died in 1842.

          Although he was not a man of literary ambitions or aspirations, many of his sermons and writings are excellent pieces where transcendental ideas can be seen. He also wrote and delivered many addresses concerning his social reform involvements. Some of his better known pieces are “Unitarian Christianity,” “Likeness to God,” “Remarks on Education,” “Remarks on National Literature,” “Self-Culture,” Slavery, and “The Duty of the Free States.”

Works Consulted:

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “William Ellery Channing.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 28 Sept. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/William-Ellery-Channing.

Carpenter, Frank. “William Ellery Channing.” Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography, 22 Jan. 2004, uudb.org/articles/williamellerychanning.html.

Entry 9: Why Concord?

“Poor dull Concord. Nothing colorful has come through here since the Redcoats.”

-Louisa May Alcott

          Concord, Massachusetts is a town 20 miles north west of Boston and is most known for the Battle of Concord in 1775 during the American Revolution. “It was the first inland settlement in New England and in the Massachusetts Bay Colony” (Brooks, “History of Concord, Massachusetts”). One of my main goals in this research project was to try to find out why Concord was the hub of this literary movement. While I didn’t find specific answers, it seemed like most of the writers were born in the New England area because this was still a time in America before great expansion and the majority of the population lived on the east coast. These writers were descended from families of great New England history and legacy. Thoreau was born and lived in the Concord area his entire life and Emerson moved to Concord in 1834 to live with his step-grandfather Dr. Ezra Ripley. The others moved to the area after Emerson, and because he was the leading man in the transcendental movement, he attracted many writers to either move there altogether or visit frequently.

Entry 10: Sites and Landmarks

“Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind.” -Nathaniel Hawthorne

          A town so rich in history, Concord has many museums, houses, and sites to visit. There is Orchard House, the home of the Alcott family, Thoreau Farm, the birthplace of Thoreau, The Old Manse, where Emerson first stayed and wrote Nature, The Wayside, where the Alcott’s stayed before selling it to Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Emerson’s house, which was partly destroyed by fire in 1872, but rebuilt with the help of his friends. Nearby, one can also visit the sites of Brook Farm and the Fruitlands museum. Beyond the historical houses and museums, there is also the graves of the writers buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, another influence of the American Renaissance. All five writers are buried in the place aptly named, Author’s Ridge. Below are links to the visitors sites in Concord.

Orchard House: http://www.louisamayalcott.org/index.htm

Thoreau Farm: https://thoreaufarm.org

The Old Manse: http://www.thetrustees.org/places-to-visit/greater-boston/old-manse.html

Walden Pond State Reservation: www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/region-north/walden-pond-state-reservation.html

Emerson’s House: https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/massachusetts_conservation/ralph_waldo_emerson_house.html

The Wayside: https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/pwwmh/ma47.htm

Brook Farm: https://www.mass.gov/locations/brook-farm-historic-site

Fruitlands: http://fruitlands.thetrustees.org

Concord Museum: www.concordmuseum.org

Entry 11: Conclusion

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

          I began this project to learn more about New England during the American Renaissance. Through my research of the five writers in the Concord Circle, I grew to understand more about the styles and values of this time period. I had a sense of what Concord must have felt like in the mid-1800s and it ignited a new dream in me to one day visit this town and its sites. Before this project, I had heard of every name except William Ellery Channing and had read pieces from every writer except Channing. This provided me with an opportunity to not only learn about someone I had never come in contact with before, but also to learn more about the writers I had studied this semester. I found that this new information actually increased my appreciation of these authors and made me want to study more of their work. Over semester break, I’m setting an ambitious goal to read one work by each of these authors, Little Women, Walden, The Scarlet Letter, “Likeness to God,” and the full text of Nature. Through this project, I understood that their writing and ideas were very different from past views and it helped build a more in depth context for me to work from. I also discovered that there were many writers and transcendentalist associated with them that I did not get a chance to research, such as Margaret Fuller, Elizabeth Peabody, Herman Melville, George Ripley, and Theodore Parker. Although this project was really just scratching the surface of a place and time so abundant with literary and philosophical leaders, it established a foundation of which I intend to build more upon in the future. I enjoyed this project more than most of my school assignments and that is due in part to the subject I selected and in part to the flexible nature of the journal format. I felt I had liberty to read and explore what truly interested me and because of that I grew even more interested and found an area of study that I didn’t know I would be passionate about.

Works Cited:

         Benfey, Christopher, and John Stauffer. “Were Hawthorne's Politics 'Disgraceful'?” The New York Review of Books, The New York Review of Books, www.nybooks.com/articles/  2013/07/11/were-hawthornes-politics-disgraceful/.

         Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “William Ellery Channing.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 28 Sept. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/William-Ellery-Channing.

         Brooks, Rebecca Beatrice. “The Concord Writers.” History of Massachusetts, 18 Jan. 2017, historyofmassachusetts.org/concord-writers/

         Brooks, Rebecca Beatrice. “History of Concord, Massachusetts.” History of Massachusetts, 2 May 2017, historyofmassachusetts.org/concord-massachusetts-history/.

         Brooks, Rebecca Beatrice. “Louisa May Alcott: The First Woman Registered to Vote in Carpenter, Frank. “William Ellery Channing.” Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography, 22 Jan. 2004, uudb.org/articles/williamellerychanning.html.

         Concord.” History of Massachusetts, 19 Sept. 2011, historyofmassachusetts.org/louisa-may-alcott-the-first-woman-registered-to-vote-in-concord/.

        “Concord, Massachusetts.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 30 Nov. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Concord,_Massachusetts.

         Eaton, Cathy, and Melissa Pennell. “Women in Hawthorne: Introduction.” Hawthorne in Salem, www.hawthorneinsalem.org/Literature/Hawthorne&Women/Introduction.html.

         Hall, Robert C. W. “V. CONCORD’S CONSCIENCE .” Wayback Machine,         web.archive.org/web/20090108052357/http://www.concordlibrary.org/scollect/Emerson_Celebration/Section_5_Essay.html.

Idol, John L. Jr. Description. Hawthorne and Women, University of Massachusetts, 1999.

         Jacyszyn, Adam. “The Germantown Woman behind ‘Little Women," Abolition and Women's Right to Vote.” Germantown Beat, 8 May 2013, wp.lasalle.edu/gb/2013/05/08/527/.

         Radio Open Source. “The Concord Circle & the Birth of American Philosophy.” Medium.com, 16 July 2017, medium.com/@RadioOpenSource/the-concord-circle-the-birth-of-american-philosophy-9f7399e72276.

       “Ralph Waldo Emerson and Women's Rights: Legacy of Emerson Series.” Harvard Square Library, 10 Aug. 2016, www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/biographies/emerson-and-womens-rights/.

         Schneider, Richard J. “Life and Legacy.” The Thoreau Society, www.thoreausociety.org/life- legacy.

         Witherell, Elizabeth. “Life and Times of Henry David Thoreau.” The Writings of Henry D. Thoreau, thoreau.library.ucsb.edu/thoreau_life.html.

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