Early Life and Education
Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on May 25, 1803. His father, William Emerson, was a Unitarian minister. Emerson lost his father when he was only eight. His mother, with the help of his aunt, raised him with care and discipline. Emerson entered Harvard College at age 14. Even when he was not a standout student, he loved writing and began to keep journals. These journals later became a foundation for his ideas and writings.A Shift in Beliefs
After graduating from Harvard, Emerson worked as a schoolteacher before deciding to become a minister. He served as a pastor at Boston's Second Church. Emerson married Ellen Tucker in 1829. After his first wife died in 1831, Emerson's faith in traditional Christianity was shaken. He resigned from the ministry in 1832. Then, he declared that he no longer believed in Jesus's divinity or traditional religious conventions.Journey into Philosophy and Transcendentalism
In 1832, Emerson travelled to Europe. He met famous scholars like William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Thomas Carlent on this continent. Inspired by their ideas, the author returned to the United States and started his career as a lecturer and writer. His second marriage happened in 1835 with Lydia Jackson. In 1836, he published his book Nature. This publication laid the foundation for the Transcendentalist movement. This movement emphasized the importance of individuality, intuition, and the spiritual connection between humans and nature.Emerson became a leader of the Transcendentalist Club. This club included thinkers like Henry David Thoreau and Margaret Fuller. In his famous essay "The American Scholar," delivered in 1837, he urged Americans to develop their own intellectual identity free from European influence.
