WebQuest: The Transcendentalist Spirit

Overview: In this WebQuest, you will explore the Transcendental period as an age of reform. Nineteenth-century America proved to be a dramatic time of change in the area of women’s rights, slavery, education, publication (and thus the reading population), and industry. In exploring these sites, think about why such change was taking place at this particular time, in this particular place.

Step 1: Gain a basic understanding of Transcendentalism.
Read about the American Renaissance and Transcendentalism. Read about the center of Transcendentalism: Concord, Massachusetts.

Learn about the development of events in Concord. Consider the question: What Is Transcendentalism?

Step 2: Learn about key figures in the Transcendentalist movement.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Henry David Thoreau

Margaret Fuller

The Alcotts

Walt Whitman

Emily Dickinson

Learn about others in the Transcendentalist circle. Visit Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, where many Transcendentalist authors are buried.

Step 3: Gain a deeper understanding of how ideas were circulated and discussed during this time.
Learn about the Lyceum Circuit. Be sure to follow all the links and sections of this site. Explore the role of magazines, books, and other periodicals at Making of America: 19th-Century Magazines.

Learn about the famous Transcendentalist magazine, The Dial.

Step 4: Consider the connections between the Transcendentalist movement and the educational reform movement in the United States.
Read about A. Bronson Alcott and reform movements in which he participated. Learn more about the Alcott family (including Louisa May!) and their connections to the literary history and reform of the period. Bronson Alcott was at the center of the educational reform movement. His children, including Louisa May Alcott, benefited from this approach to learning. Look at this picture of a Bronson Alcott publication (with more information on his role in education reform). Then read Elizabeth Palmer Peabody’s essay, “Record of Mr. Alcott’s School.” (When you get to this page, scroll down, click on “Page A,” and then load each page individually. Do NOT click “view entire text”: it takes far too long to download and it eliminates all of the wonderful visuals included in Peabody’s essay.) Peabody herself is known for her role in educational reform, especially her role in bringing the concept of kindergarten to the United States.

Finally, learn about the contributions of educational reformer Horace Mann (married to Mary Peabody—the sister of Sophia Peabody Hawthorne and Elizabeth Palmer Peabody). You may also wish to explore Lucretia Mott’s contributions to educational reform through public speaking. (NOTE: This is a PDF file and may take a while to download.)

Step 5: Consider the connections between the Transcendentalist movement and the nineteenth-century women’s movement in the United States.
Visit Jone Johnston’s excellent site to learn about Transcendentalist Women. Read about the Women’s Rights Movement. Read about the Seneca Falls Convention, and read “The Seneca Falls Declaration” (1848). Delve into Godey’s Lady’s Book, one of the most popular publications for women in the nineteenth century. Read about the women’s suffrage movement.

Step 6: Consider the connections between the Transcendentalist movement and the abolitionist movement.
To understand this crucial chapter in American history, explore the materials at Abolition, Anti-Slavery Movements, and the Rise of the Sectional Controversy (Library of Congress).
Part 1
Part 2

NOTE: We’ll be exploring abolitionism much more fully on March 13 when we study the work of Frederick Douglass.

Step 7: Familiarize yourself with the best web resources on Transcendentalism.

The Web of American Transcendentalism

Transcendentalists.com

. . . and finally, for those of you who are interested, consider the connections between Transcendentalism and Eastern philosophy.

East Meets West (including Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, Alcott)

Journal Prompts
As always, at least one of your journal entries this week should be in response to the WebQuest.

Essay Question
Discuss one or two ways the educational reform movement OR the women’s rights movement were connected to the Transcendentalist movement. (We’ll save abolitionism for our study of Douglass.) What was it about the period that created an atmosphere where reform would flourish? Use excerpts from the sites as well as from the works in the Transcendentalism Reader (Margaret Fuller, Sophia Ripley, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and A. Bronson Alcott). See the Essay Guidelines for more detail about research, sources, length requirements, and documentation. Essay due to Dr. Tate via email by Wednesday, February 6, at 3:00 p.m.

“American Transcendentalism: An Online Travel Guide” was produced by students in ENGL 446, American Transcendentalism, and ENGL 447, American Literature and the Prominence of Place: A Travel Practicum. These courses were team-taught in the Department of English at Shepherd College (now Shepherd University), Shepherdstown, West Virginia, in Spring 2002 by Dr. Patricia Dwyer and Dr. Linda Tate. For more information on the course and the web project, visit “About This Site.” © 2003 Linda Tate.