LEADERS & FOUNDATIONAL IDEAS
This famous author led the Transcendentalist movement and penned the celebrated piece "Self-Reliance".
Who is Ralph Waldo Emerson?
Transcendentalist thinkers voiced deep concerns about industrialization because they felt labor in factories turned humans into these.
What are "living machines"?
This term describes a brief, memorable statement that delivers a concise life lesson.
What is an aphorism?
True or False: Transcendentalists believed human beings were born naturally wicked and sinful.
What is False? (They believed humans are inherently good.)
Dr. King expanded on Thoreau's political philosophy by arguing that citizens have a moral imperative to do this to unjust laws.
What is peacefully break them?
Transcendentalists used this term for the universal, spiritual force that binds together God, humanity, and the natural world.
What is the Oversoul?
Henry David Thoreau landed in a jail cell because he refused to pay a state tax that went toward supporting this practice.
What is the Mexican-American War and slavery?
Standing up against social pressure and refusing to simply copy the crowd is known as this core principle.
What is non-conformity?
True or False: Emerson maintained that listening to your internal instinct was superior to strictly following cold rational thought.
What is True?
Emerson encourages this practice when he says "Trust thyself."
What is staying true to your own morals?
To test his philosophy in daily life, Henry David Thoreau constructed a simple cabin near the shores of this body of water.
What is Walden Pond?
his communal experiment was formed so members could share physical chores equally alongside intellectual learning.
What was Brook Farm?
Having confidence in your personal judgment, decisions, and capabilities instead of leaning on others.
What is self-reliance?
True or False: Dr. King penned his jailhouse letter on high-quality stationery sent in by his defense attorneys.
What is False? (He wrote it on newspaper margins, scrap paper, and toilet paper.)
Dr. King demonstrated this Transcendentalist principle when he refused to conform to society's pressure to wait and accept unjust segregation laws.
What is non-conformity?
Rooted in Latin, this verb literally means to rise above, go past, or surpass normal limits
What does "transcend" mean?
According to Transcendentalist thought, spending quiet time in the wilderness allows people to clear their minds and connect to this.
What is God (or the Divine / the Oversoul)?
The intentional, nonviolent refusal to comply with a law that violates your personal moral conscience.
What is civil disobedience?
True or False: Dr. King advocated that citizens must follow every single ordinance passed by local authorities, regardless of fairness.
What is False? (He believed there is a moral obligation to disobey unjust laws.)
Modern technologies like smartphones and social media often prevent people from doing this core Transcendentalist practice.
What is spending quiet time in nature?
This 20th-century civil rights leader drew directly upon Henry David Thoreau's essay on Civil Disobedience to justify nonviolent resistance against racial segregation.
Who is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.?
In "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Dr. King criticized white moderate leaders for valuing peaceful "order" over taking this step.
What is nonviolent action against injustice?
Emerson argued that copying others destroys your true self, famously declaring that "envy is ignorance" and this.
What is "...imitation is suicide"?
True or False: Transcendentalist thinkers preferred living in bustling, polluted industrial cities rather than out in natural settings.
What is False? (They preferred nature over dirty, crowded cities.)
Transcendentalists favored relying on this internal "gut feeling" rather than relying strictly on book learning or logic.
What is intuition?