LITR 5535: American
Romanticism
Sample Student Research Project, fall 2003
Sherry Evard
21 October 2003
Seeking an Understanding of Transcendentalism
A Journal
“In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts; they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty. Great works of art have no more affecting lesson for us than this. They teach us to abide by our spontaneous impression with good-humored inflexibility then most when the whole cry of voices is on the other side. Else, tomorrow a stranger will say with masterly good sense precisely what we have thought and felt all the time, and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another” (Emerson 73-4). Thus inspired by Emerson, I shall begin this journal.
Introduction and Opening Thoughts
The purpose here will be to learn more about transcendentalism by allowing Ralph Waldo Emerson, Sarah Margaret Fuller, and Henry David Thoreau to introduce themselves and guide me through a journey. By looking at their lives and some particularly moving excerpts from their works and journals, I hope to find a deeper understanding of their transcendentalist philosophy. Granted, a good portion of this consists of condensed biographical information. But in defense of any concern that this might be just an “information dump,” please note that I have also tried to make observations that reveal my personal reactions within the biographies. Certainly I have accomplished a main objective, which is to come to know these authors, by retelling their stories.
Speaking of biographies, legitimacy is always a question. I must acknowledge that the website biographies used for the main portion here were chosen for their clarity and conciseness. Their trustworthiness seems to hold up well when I compare them to our Norton Anthology biographies—which I assume has the ultimate gold star for literary accuracy—(Are we ever really sure, however?)
The reader should be aware that the word “journal” suggests to me that this writing should be for pleasure and enrichment. So you may find that I have been rather candid with my reactions at times. I have considered myself to be the audience while acknowledging that others are in the audience too. Furthermore, as it seems appropriate for my particular journal, I have taken the liberty to postpone stating highlights until the Concluding Thoughts section.
Transcendentalism—Can It Be Defined?
Trusting my instincts as Emerson’s words above have inspired me to do, I will begin by attempting to define transcendentalism. This is a very elusive word/concept. My search reveals why it is so difficult to crystallize its meaning. At least as many questions arise as definitions: Is it religious or anti-religious? What are its origins—German, English, indigenous, something else? Was Emerson its true spokesperson? What about its relationship to reform movements such as utopian communities, abolition and temperance? Does it advocate society or solitude? A reflection of art of life? Is it mystical or scientific, idealistic or naturalistic in its attitudes toward nature? (Porte 5) Does this string of questions confound more than ever? Not really, because the questions are in themselves answers to some extent. The meaning of transcendentalism can only be captured in generalities of idealism. I believe its very essence is a question—a question that should be referred back to my opening quote, which gives the individual the courage to trust his own instincts. Transcendentalism is a personal quest. Emerson tells us that “no pure Transcendentalist” exists (7). It is therefore impossible to come up with a final definition. A few highly qualified authorities have made these attempts to describe it:
Simply not “a known and fixed element”—Emerson
“maddeningly indescribable”—Hawthorne
“comically unintelligible”—Dickens
“happily inexplicable”—Thoreau (4-5)
With this leaving more questions than answers, I shall move ahead and further condense some condensed biographies of my highly esteemed subjects of discussion: Emerson, Fuller and Thoreau. It is ever more my contention that the combined study of the text and the author clarifies and gives depth to the meaning of the work. And since the works of these authors are undeniably infused with transcendentalism, this approach leads me toward my stated objective.
Ralph Waldo
Emerson 1803-1882
Source: http://www.age-of-the-sage.org for the following biographies unless otherwise noted.
Born in 1803, the son of a Unitarian minister, Ralph Waldo Emerson was the fourth child of the family’s eight. A Harvard graduate at 18, he was considered popular rather than brilliant. He became a teacher, then a Unitarian minister, married Ellen Louisa Tucker and tragically lost her to tuberculosis 16 months later (Baym 483). (Life altering personal tragedy is so often identifiable as either a springboard of inspiration or the handmaiden of ruination.) One year later Emerson resigned as Unitarian minister because of doubts about administering Holy Communion as a permanent sacrament. Perhaps he was facing a period of intense self-reflection and re-evaluation after the loss of his wife. At this time he also seriously pursued poetry and philosophy of numerous classicists including Kant who was greatly influenced by “Transcendentalism”—however vaguely defined it was (and ever more shall be). While traveling in Europe he was introduced to a variety of British literary icons including Taylor, Coleridge, Carlyle, Wordsworth and Mill. Back in America, he lectured in Boston on such topics as “The Philosophy of History,” “Human Culture,” “Human Life,” and “The Present Age.” (“Ralph” 2). These topics certainly suggest that he is emerging and establishing himself as a philosopher. He married heiress Lydia Jackson in 1835 and moved to a spacious house in Concord.
Backtracking to his childhood, I learned that Mary Moody Emerson, his intellectually inclined maiden aunt, had introduced him to the Neo-Platonists and translations of the Sacred Books of the East. In his adult years he habitually read the Hindu Bhagavad Gita as a morning ritual (2). From this I observe that transcendentalism is influenced by a range of established religions, yet it claims no allegiance to any one in particular.
Moving forward again, in 1836 he helped to organize a group of ideas known as the Transcendental Club. Through this we can gather further insight into Emerson’s own version of transcendentalism for which of course he had many followers. In “Nature” he asks, “Why should not we have a poetry and philosophy of insight and not of tradition, and a religion by revelation to us, and not the history of theirs?” (2). Let me interpret this while considering the context from which it is taken. Why should one read about religion in order to experience God? Is it logical to experience God by reading historical records of religious experience? Shouldn’t there be a first-hand revelation of God to man? (3). Once again questions are defining basic tenants of transcendentalism. These are deep questions, I should add. Are they possible to answer? I shall not hazard. But toward an answer, it has been said that the New England Transcendental movement was underpinned by the notion that the individual should have a direct route to God—not just a historical or second hand connection.
Transcendentalism gained momentum as it sprang forth from a dissatisfaction with Unitarianism. Of course, as mentioned, Emerson had been a Unitarian minister. Apparently Unitarianism, described as rationalism, lacked spiritual and emotional verve. “Heavily influenced by German biblical criticism, Unitarians rejected doctrines such as Christ’s divinity, the necessity of conversion, and original sin. Instead they encouraged adherents to cultivate their innate spiritual resources, which they argued would lead to an enlightened life” (Hansen 1). This definition, however, leaves me with yet another question because it reveals no sharp contrast between the Transcendentalism and Unitarianism. So what is the difference? A rather vague answer may be that Transcendentalism moved even more in the direction of “a more personal and intuitive experience of the divine, one available to every person” (“Ralph” 3). The structure of the church house and any religious doctrine were too confining and limiting to the Transcendentalists. In his controversial “Divinity School Address” Emerson gives us this, “[. . .] dare to love God without mediator or veil [. . .] cast behind you all conformity, and acquaint men at first hand with Deity [. . .] (3). In essence Emerson seems to be saying to take care of your own spiritual needs and rely on yourself as an individual. OK. My question is, does this work? I don’t know. I’m still seeking yet acknowledging my strong Christian roots.
In 1840 Emerson founded The Dial, the journal of New England Transcendentalism, with its editor Margaret Fuller who will be introduced shortly. She became famous later as a critic and feminist. Emerson succeeded her as editor in 1842 and remained in that capacity until it ceased publication in 1844. Obviously he was a leader and active contributor to the transcendental movement. It occurs to me that we do not notice its strong presence today because of its “doctrine” of individualism. Organized Movement and Transcendentalism do not even sit well in the same sentence. Yet it takes an organized movement to gain any significant presence in today’s chaotic society. In other words, the nature of Transcendentalism, as it relates to individualism, creates its own demise as an organized movement.
In touch with his conscience, Emerson became involved in national issues. Particularly adamant about the Fugitive Slave Act, he referred to it as “this filthy enactment” (4). He wrote in his journal, “I will not obey it, by God!” (4). And he addressed the citizens of Concord imploring them to break this law “on the earliest occasion, a law which no man can obey or abet without loss of his self-respect and forfeiture of the name of gentleman” (4).
With celebrity status, Emerson became known as “The Sage of Concord” (4). He was awarded a Doctoral degree from Harvard in1866. His life had been rich with travel abroad and opportunities to meet people. After making an indelible mark on history with his passionate writing and activism, he passed away in 1882 and is buried at Sleepy Hollow cemetery in Concord.
This short biography begins to illuminate Emerson’s vision of Transcendentalism. His writing strongly reflects the underlying notion that the individual is supreme and should rely on his own conscience. As I continue, this individualistic philosophy will be observed in the lives and writings of Fuller and Thoreau as well. Yet, I am finding that the very nature of Transcendentalism allows the individual to establish his or her own version of it.
Sarah Margaret Fuller 1810-1850
Sarah Margaret Fuller was born into a Unitarian family just as Emerson had been. As a child her parents encouraged intellectual endeavors, which is an understatement, for she began reading Virgil (in Latin) at age six and Shakespeare at eight. After an impressive classical education, Margaret gained admission to the male-only halls of Harvard College Library. Eventually becoming proficient in four languages, she gained the ability to read original texts.
Considering her intellectual accomplishments, she must have had her nose in the books much of the time. Yet her honored reputation as a conversationalist gained her favor with many students. She became friends with Rousseau, Byron and Mme. De Stael who shared a common interest in the “romantic movement” (“Margaret” 1)
Margaret’s father, a Harvard educated lawyer and four term Congressman, died of cholera when she was 25. Her plans to travel in Europe with other literary friends had to be canceled, and she stood by her mother’s side and led the fight against an inheritance struggle between her mother and her father’s brother. (Family issues do get sticky.) Thereafter, financial difficulties plagued her.
Sympathetic with her disappointment in not being able to continue preparing for a literary career abroad, mutual friends appealed to Emerson to invite Fuller to Concord. There she was introduced into the Transcendentalist circle. It is said that Emerson was at first put off by Fuller’s physical appearance but later came to appreciate her “nobility of mind and a capacity for being extremely entertaining” (2).
In 1839 Margaret established and taught conversation classes “designed to emancipate women from the traditional intellectual subservience to men” (2). Lidian (Mrs. Ralph Waldo) Emerson was among her other students who were influentially connected to Unitarian and Transcendentalist circles. These conversation classes provided her with steady income for five years (3).
Fuller brought a feminist voice to The Dial where she was editor from 1839-42. This Transcendentalist journal publication included essays by other “names” such as Emerson and Thoreau. Emerson would later become editor (as I mentioned previously). However, Margaret continued to write for the journal and in 1843 contributed “The Great Lawsuit: Man versus Men, Woman versus Women” arguing for women’s rights. I must comment, however, that my personal reaction to this essay is that much of the language is vague and pretentious. In her defense, though, this is the language she aspired to achieve and display in the world of the dominant, Harvard-educated, male intellectual. There are several points she makes clearly enough and they seem to call for mutual respect between men and women. She remarks “that the very fault of marriage, and of the present relation between the sexes, [is] that the woman does belong to the man, instead of forming a whole with him” (Fuller 771). Fuller does not forward a woman at the expense of a man. She is expressing the ideal that they compliment each other. She also bridges the difference between the sexes saying, “There is no wholly masculine man, no purely feminine woman” (768). Her language appeals to our sense of justice and encourages a “think for yourself” strategy that parallels transcendental philosophy: “[. . .] I would have woman lay aside all thought, such as she habitually cherishes, of being taught and led by men. I would have her, like the Indian girl, dedicate herself to the Sun, the Sun of Truth, and go no where if his beams did not make clear the path” (769). There’s that transcendental message again—follow your conscience; seek the truth.
Unfortunately Fuller did not have a permanent home after the sale of her family’s house in Groton. “Throughout the late 1830s and early 1840s, she inhabited a succession of boarding houses, rented cottages, and friends; guest chambers” (Dickenson 115). She also provided lodging and care for her mother as well as several other family members. So factor in that domestic duties zapped her time and energies that might otherwise have been spent on writing (115). She courageously moved forward with strength and ambition in spite of disadvantages.
Through this biography, I have begun to get a sense of Fuller’s transcendental philosophy insofar as she is speaking out for individual rights—women’s rights. And her Unitarian upbringing “predisposes” her to transcendental tendencies, shall I say. Perhaps she was not preaching transcendentalism as such, but reflecting it—as she must have absorbed a ton of it from her cronies. I ran across this, “she had expressed a yearning for some sort of Christianity that would take (as she put it) ‘the right ground between Rationalism and ignorant faith’” (Cappar 183). Furthermore, I have observed that it is generally in a woman’s nature to seek rather than to know. Yes, I do observe this in Margaret. She is searching for a direction while Emerson and Thoreau think that they have unquestionably found theirs.
Continuing with her story, she had friendly connections with such intellectual leaders as Emerson, Thoreau, the Peabody sisters, the Alcotts, and others. They must have gotten momentum and reinforcement from each other regarding transcendental notions. Further establishing herself as a respected authority, she was employed at the New York Tribune in 1844 as the first literary critic in any American newspaper. And she became concerned with issues of “prison reform, prostitution, suffrage rights for women, slavery abolition, and the status of minorities” (3). She is known for her book titled Women in the Nineteenth Century (1845) and as a foreign correspondent for the Tribune (1856)—unheard of for a young woman at that time (“Margaret” 3).
Margaret became personally involved in the Italian revolution and fell in love with Lieutenant Giovanni Angelo, the Marchese Ossoli. They had a son together and while returning to America, all three tragically perished in a shipwreck just off the U.S. coast at Fire Island. The sadness at the end of her life leaves me shattered. Hauntingly she wrote in a letter to a friend shortly before her fatal voyage, “I am absurdly fearful about this voyage. Various little omens have combined to give me a dark feeling. [I pray], indeed fervently, that it may not be my lot to lose my babe at sea, either by unsolaced sickness, or amid the howling waves. Or that if I should, it may be brief anguish, and Ossoli, he and I go together” (Dickenson 199). On the voyage, she managed to nurse her child through smallpox only to face death in a hurricane (200). I can hope that their anguish was brief, for if it was, her prayer request was granted. They went together.
Henry David
Thoreau 1817-1862
Born in the local market town of Concord, Massachusetts, Thoreau grew up helping out with his mother’s cows in their open pastures. Thus, opportunities to commune with nature abounded. Yet another Harvard grad destined to become a noteworthy transcendentalist, his record was not brilliant; however he did take extra classes in science and studied four foreign languages.
He became a schoolteacher and later manager of Concord Academy in 1838. As leader he chose to implement a policy that eliminated physical punishment and encouraged students to participate in class discussions. This approach was inspired by the progressive ideas of Bronson Alcott—and promotes a transcendental spirit that honors the sanctity and worthiness of the individual.
By 1839 however, Thoreau decided to leave his teaching responsibilities behind and become a poet of nature. Apparently a canoe trip had left him awe-struck. Later, as I suspect anyone needs to supplement the income from writing poetry, he became a tutor to the children of William Emerson (brother of Ralph) in Staten Island. This move gave him access to the New York literary market. Doors really began to open, however, after he moved to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s home in Concord and became a gardener and handyman. Considerately, Emerson gave Thoreau access to his library. He found himself in the right place at the right time and began to lecture at the Concord Lyceum and contribute to “The Dial.” These opportunities, as you would expect, brought him into a respected circle of leaders such as Bronson Alcott, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and George Ripley.
Between 1845 and 1847, our trusty transcendentalist committed to his Walden Pond experiment. There he constructed a hut on property recently purchased by Emerson close to the northern shore of Walden Pond (which is more like a small lake.) He farmed and cultivated a sort of mutual respect with the animals. Let’s say he got into the act for which he is well known—communing with nature. Although he continued to do odd jobs for Emerson such as planting trees and clearing undergrowth, he managed to commit considerable time to “reading, thinking, walking, observing, and writing” (“Henry” 2).
The personal tragedy of loosing his older brother, John, who died of Tetanus in 1842, inspired the writing of Thoreau’s first published work. “A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers” is the story of a memory shared with this beloved brother. Yes this is about the canoe trip that had moved Thoreau to pursue his writing more seriously. Years later, the death of his brother, who had been his companion on this canoe trip, inspired him to produce his first published work. From this I am reminded that life-altering events, both happy and sad, do get us moving. It appears somewhat disappointing, however, that less than 300 copies of the 1000 printed were sold in the first four years.
“Walden” was begun in 1846 and evokes images (for me) of a kicked-back, hippy-style view of life. Thoreau expresses little appreciation for the value of work and laments that intensive farming spoils the land. He appears to be advocating a life of simplicity that allows time to focus on moral and intellectual purpose. During this time, he was not really isolated and kept in contact with family, friends and townspeople who frequented Walden Pond.
With his essay “Civil Disobedience” (1849) Thoreau asserted his “transcendentalist” opinion that the human conscience is ultimately reliable and should supersede any legal authority. We can assume that this essay is a response to his arrest and overnight jailing for refusal to pay a poll tax that was, in effect, his protest against the Mexican-American War.
More transcendentalism is clearly apparent in the sentiments expressed in “Walden.” “God himself culminates in the present moment [. . .] And we are enabled to apprehend at all what is sublime and noble only by the perpetual instilling and drenching of the reality that surrounds us” (4). Thoreau implores us to find God in the present moment—living each moment to the fullest by staying in touch with “the reality that surrounds us”—that being nature and our own instincts.
Although he seemed to resist involvement in a number of organized movements for change, Thoreau did speak out in opposition to the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law. And it is accepted that he assisted fugitive slaves as they sought a place of refuge. As I have mentioned before, it seems contradictory for a transcendentalist to lead or become a member of an organized movement, especially since its philosophy is based so much on individualism. However, as per transcendentalism, the individual should listen to the dictates of his or her conscience. Thereby it becomes a duty to take a stand when conscience calls.
In 1862 at age 45, Thoreau passed away as a result of Tuberculosis. (That must have been a frightening disease. Emerson’s first wife succumbed to this disease also.) He was buried at Sleepy Hollow cemetery in Concord.
Concluding
Thoughts
Through this journal exercise I have come to know better three prominent figures known for their contributions to American Literature. I have confirmed my belief that getting to know the author adds to the depth of understanding that can be applied to the literature. As always, I am frustrated by the wealth of information available and the limited time to read and assimilate it. The books I have referred to offer a wealth of information, which I am only able to skim. I do, however, come away from this consultation with “the books” with some additional information that helps form my interpretation and impression of Transcendentalism.
Unfortunately I am not sure that the study of Transcendentalism deserves a nod. Ironically it would be in defiance of Emerson’s own edict if I were to use his historical interpretation of a spiritual experience in order to observe or pursue my own. Both Emerson and Thoreau impress me as overly confident, to put it nicely. Consequently, as you might expect, they annoyed each other. In order to accurately convey the sentiment, the following quote from is included from Thoreau’s October 10, 1851 journal entry as he refers to Emerson:
Ah, I yearn toward thee, my friend, but I have not confidence in thee. We do not believe in the same God. . . . Why are we related, yet thus unsatisfactorily? We almost are a sore to one another. Ah, I am afraid because thy relations are not my relations. Because I have experienced that in some respects we are strange to one another, strange as some wild creature. Ever and anon there will come the consciousness to mar our love that, change the theme but a hair’s breadth, and we are tragically strange to one another. . . . when I consider what my friend’s relations and acquaintances are, what his tastes and habits, then the difference between us gets named. I see that all these friends and acquaintances and tastes and habits are indeed my friend’s self. In the first place, my friend is prouder than I am,--and I am very proud, perchance (Porte 96).
This being a journal entry, I assume it was never intended to be shared, much less published. This is Thoreau speaking his heart. My research suggests that he was, in effect, shunned by Emerson at some point. So they did have their disagreements. I wish Thoreau would have elaborated about not believing in the same God; I am unable to interpret and was inclined to believe that they both found God within and in nature. Apparently Thoreau is put off by Emerson’s “acquaintances, tastes, and habits” and is suggesting that Emerson is in love with himself or only those who replicate Emerson’s ideas. Through Thoreau’s journal entry, we can see that the ideas of these two highly renowned transcendentalist philosophers did clash at some point and in some respects.
Striving to be fair and equitable, I should expose some of Emerson’s private thoughts as well. Here is an 1841 entry from his personal journal where the tension between the two men is once again revealed:
I told Henry Thoreau that his freedom is in the form, but he does not disclose new matter. I am very familiar with all his thoughts,--they are my own quite originally drest. But if the question be, what new ideas has he thrown into circulation, he has not yet told what that is which he was created to say (Porte 98).
I wonder if they even bothered to say hello when passing on the street, for these are harsh words. Apparently Emerson thinks Thoreau is a copycat. I guess their transcendence falls short on fostering brotherly love. No matter what your philosophy, it is virtually impossible to escape the tendencies of competitive human nature.
It’s probably a good thing that Margaret Fuller was somewhat distracted by the responsibility of taking care of her family. “Emerson’s capacity for friendship—never deep enough to satisfy Fuller—was drained still drier by the death of his five-year-old son” (Dickenson 115). Apparently she too longed for a closer relationship with Emerson and eventually had problems breaking away from his influence (5). “She could and did use the same language of ‘manliness’; but she could never be a native of that country” (5). (I must interject here that this is the reason that underlines my distaste for some of her writing. It’s very likely that she was straining her style by trying to use “the same language of manliness.”) Furthermore Fuller’s family believed that Emerson distorted her memoirs, which were published posthumously. “The mushy thought and the prissy self which the editors (Emerson, Clarke and Channing) presented as the real Margaret—in the name of respectability—killed off interest in Fuller more effectively than blatant mud-slinging could ever have done” (7). They gave the impression that these were really her own memoirs when in fact she had destroyed early diaries, which suggests that she would not intend to write her memoirs. Dickenson argues that “she lacked the egotism ever to have done so” (6).
Dickenson draws conclusions about Emerson from his mean spirited jabs at both Fuller and Thoreau:
The tone of Emerson’s entry on Fuller shares, however, the same malevolent superiority as his patronising dismissal of Thoreau’s talents in the funeral oration which he delivered at the younger man’s grave. [I read some of this and can confirm its malevolent tone.] In later life Emerson, changed his mind about Fuller, finding her letters much more profound and astute on rereading them than he had while he was editing the Memoirs; but the critical damage to her reputation had already been done by his generally unfavourable judgment there. Perhaps by his later years, Emerson no longer felt so threatened by Fuller’s superior sales and worldwide reputation—having done his conscious or unconscious best to undermine them. Still, Emerson’s dismissal of Thoreau does at least indicate that he bore Fuller no particular ill-will because she was a woman; his jealousy was distributed justly and evenly among both sexes” (11).
Dickenson leaves no room for doubt about what she thinks. She is suggesting the Emerson was selfishly and competitively motivated. He spurned Fuller and Thoreau equally as they advanced on his territory. It is clear, however, that the three transcendentalist writers were interacting, or at least reacting to one another.
My search for a better understanding of transcendentalism has been productive—leaving me with some answers—some questions. Still it is helpful to crystallize what I see in common among Emerson, Fuller and Thoreau by considering some relevant aspects of the definition of transcendentalism found in The Bedford Glossary. Emphasizing intuition and individual conscience, it [transcendentalism] holds that the “human being is innately divine and that God’s essence lies within all individuals” (488). This “new thought [. . .] extolled individual rather than ritualistic spiritual living, the virtues of nature and manual labor, and the need for intellectual stimulation” (488). As a philosophy that touted self-reliance and self-trust, it was allied with the abolitionist and women’s suffrage movements. At first a religious philosophy, it is also associated with a literary movement and is reflected in the literature from the period of American Romanticism.
I continue to believe that it is completely relevant to study the lives of the people best known for this philosophy in order to gain an better understanding of what it means. For future studies it would be interesting to investigate the life of Kant in order to understand his contributions to transcendental thinking and how it relates to the ability to “discover higher truths intuitively or mystically, without recourse to the senses or logic” (488).
Somewhat bewildered by all the questions remaining, I keep coming back to something Thoreau included in his “Walden” essay: “Confucius said, ‘To know that we know what we know, and that we do not know what we do not know, this is true knowledge’” (858). Transcendentalism is about being in touch with the inner spiritual being. It is about a quest for the truth—and perhaps that can be found at the end of the rainbow.
Works Cited
Baym, Nina, ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., Inc., 2003.
Cappar, Charles. Margaret Fuller: An American Romantic Life: The Private Years. New York: Oxford UP, 1992.
Dickenson, Donna. Margaret Fuller: Writing a Woman’s Life. New York: St. Martin’s P, 1993.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Self-Reliance. Ed. Richard Whelan. New York: Bell Tower, 1991.
Fuller, Margaret. “The Great Lawsuit.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., Inc. 2003. 763-71.
Hansen, Collin. “Christian History Corner: When Denominations Divide.” Christianity Today. Posted 10 Oct. 2003.
“Henry David Thoreau: An Outline Biography—Major Works.” 12 Oct. 2003. http://www.age-of-the-sage.org
“Margaret Fuller: An Outline Biography.” 12 Oct. 2003. http://www.age-of-the-sage.org
Murfin, Ross and Supryia M. Ray, eds. The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2003.
Porte, Joel. Emerson and Thoreau: Transcendentalists in Conflict. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan UP, 1965.
“Ralph Waldo Emerson: An Outline Biography—Emerson and Transcendentalism.” 12 Oct. 2003. http://www.age-of-the-sage.org
Thoreau, Henry David. “Walden.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., Inc. 2003. 853-939.