A Romance with the American Dream
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сourse: A Romance with the American Dream How to Become “Healthy, Wealthy and Wise” -- A Discussion of Dreams and Success in 19th-century American Literature Author: I.V.Morozova Just think of all the self-help and personal growth programs that have appeared in the past couple of years! There are spiritual development trainings, trainings on how to grow stronger and develop self-confidence, how to take control of your life, or simply personal development. There are a lot of names, but the essence is the same, and few stop to think that all these programs are just modern versions of the idea of self-help and self-development that arose in the 19th century, not without some help from America. The concept of self-help was explained by Scotsman Samuel Smiles (1812-1904) in his book Self- Help; with Illustrations of Character and Conduct (1859). In his work, Smiles talks about the necessity of developing and maintaining moral purity in oneself, which must be combined with an active life, hard physical labor, a thirst for knowledge, and perseverance in accomplishing one’s goals. Samuel Smiles Sir George Reid © National Portrait Gallery The book contained biographies of well-known European industrialists and inventors, whose entire lives were a testament to this postulate. Smiles showed that “Liberty is quite as much a moral as a political growth — the result of free individual action, energy, and independence… It may be of comparatively little consequence how a man is governed from without, whilst everything depends upon how he governs himself from within.” The book became a bestseller in America: the author’s thoughts accorded well with the American view of life, where everyone relied solely on himself. Even though most of the outstanding individuals described in Smiles’ work were British, the author did, in fact, neatly sum up the process of spiritual development taking place in America in the first half of the 19th century, in that to a great extent he shared American views on transcendentalism, the first national American philosophy. Transcendentalism, from the Latin transcendens, which means “to move beyond,” can rightly be considered the philosophy of American individualism. This philosophy, formed by New England intellectuals (clerics, teachers, writers), incorporated many elements of German idealism, as well as Eastern philosophy, adapting them to the needs of American spiritual development. The head of the Transcendentalists was Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), who presented this philosophical movement as an internal form of spirituality, which could be expressed in the language of poetry and the imagination. This is why there were so many writers among the Transcendentalists, including Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), author of The Scarlet Letter, and Henry David Thoreau (1817-1863), renowned for Walden; or, Life in the Woods, his book about his two-year stay in the woods. The great poet Walt Whitman (1819-1892) also shared his ideas on transcendentalism. Ralph Waldo Nathaniel Hawthorne Henry David Walt Whitman Emerson Mathew Brady Thoreau Mathew Brady © Beinecke Rare Book and © Library of Congress Prints B. D. Maxham © The U.S. National Archives Manuscript Library and Photographs Division © National Portrait Gallery Washington, D.C. 20540 USA According to the Transcendentalists, the physical world of Nature is a reflection of the Divine. This means that man and his intellect are divine in their very essence; therefore it is imperative to concentrate on understanding one’s own thoughts, feelings and emotions as a reflection of the divine plan and predestination. Transcendentalism promoted a new understanding of the individual, his connection to nature, society and the universe, and the importance of self-knowledge in the life of each person. This understanding of personality led to a new formula for American individualism within Transcendentalism – the doctrine of self-reliance. The basis for this doctrine is the idea that only man himself knows what he is capable of, but he cannot realize this until he tests himself. “Trust thyself; every heart vibrates to that iron string,” wrote Emerson. “Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events.” The philosophy of self-reliance, which was fully expounded in Emerson’s essay of the same name (“Self-Reliance,” 1841), means not only the transformation of the personality itself, but also political adherence to the ideals of democracy. Emerson was convinced that democracy provided the best environment for the active development of each individual. “The Self” became a central category in the life and activity of Americans. Important social movements and ideas developed within Transcendentalism, glorifying the total freedom of the individual. First and foremost was abolitionism – the movement for the freedom of the slaves. Emerson tried in an eloquent and accessible form to explain the terrible essence and consequences of slavery: “I think we must get rid of slavery, or we must get rid of freedom,” he wrote. “If you put a chain around the neck of a slave, the other end fastens itself around your own.” The Transcendentalists also campaigned to give women more rights and freedoms. In his lectures, Emerson called on women to fight for their rights in education, property, political participation, and the life of the nation. He maintained that if women did not have the right to vote, they should not be taxed. It is no accident that the editor of The Dial, the journal of the Transcendentalists, was a woman – the talented journalist and literary critic Sarah Margaret Fuller Ossoli, known as Margaret Fuller, (1810-1850), renowned for her feminist work Woman in the Nineteenth Century (1843). Margaret Fuller Josiah Johnson Hawes © National Portrait Gallery The Transcendentalists rejected any form of violence, and their favorite means of standing against the authorities was civil disobedience. The citizen’s right to peaceful protest was defended by Henry David Thoreau: in demonstrating the right of citizens to express their disagreement with the politics of the state, he himself refused to pay the poll tax. In this manner, he demonstrated his disagreement with the government’s policies regarding the War with Mexico (1846-1848), for which he was put in jail. On the basis of his own experience he developed the principle of civil disobedience in his tract “Civil Disobedience” (1849), in which Thoreau emphasized that citizens are obliged to peacefully oppose the force of the government so that this force would not become all- encompassing. It is Thoreau who promoted the idea of vegetarianism, which became popular in the 20th century. In his main work Walden; or Life in the Woods, (1854), he writes: “No humane being, past the thoughtless age of boyhood, will wantonly murder any creature which holds its life by the same tenure that he does.” For Thoreau, the decision not to eat meat is the beginning of spiritual transformation. Later, the ideas of Transcendentalism would find a hold not only in America, but all over the world. Transcendentalism inspired such different individuals as L.N. Tolstoy and Mahatma Gandhi. In the first half of the 19th century, social and philosophical concepts were developed affirming the American national character as that of the self-made man, relying only on himself, on his “I.” It is especially important to note that this reliance on oneself and on individualism did not mean promoting an egoistic attitude towards life. On the contrary, it was an attempt to affirm the creative nature of man, capable of changing his own world for the better, thereby making the whole world a better place. Walden; or Life in the Woods Ticknor and Fields This was during the presidency of Andrew Jackson, whose name is given to an entire decade in the country’s history, and who is considered the hero of his time. His administration, which lasted from 1829-1837, was a period of socio-economic and political reform in the U.S. He was born into a humble family, but, thanks to his own determination, received a good legal education and pursued a successful career as a lawyer, then as an entrepreneur and later as a plantation owner. During the Anglo-American War of 1812, Jackson gained a reputation as a talented general, and finally turned to politics. Jackson grew and became famous in the American West, spending a good part of his life among people who were building their futures with blood and sweat. He knew the life of the common man first-hand. To a large extent, this determined his future political creed. One of the main principles that guided Jackson was individual liberty and the sovereignty of peoples. He was convinced that no one had the right to interfere in the life of an individual or a community of individuals if their activities were not against the law. The first half of the 19th century in the U.S. were the years of the Industrial Revolution and rapid westward expansion, with more and more Americans on the move in search of new lands to settle. The purchase of the Louisiana territory from France in 1803 almost doubled the size of the country. In the Northeast, factories were springing up and farming was developing at a lively pace. Immigration from Europe also increased, with 2.45 million new Americans arriving in the U.S. between 1820 and 1850. From 1800 through 1860, the country’s population increased by more than one-third every ten years. Cheap land, and the chance to start one’s own enterprise with few competitors, prompted people to move to the new territories, which led to the construction and rapid development of new cities. New names appeared on the map: Chicago (1803), Astoria (1811), Montgomery (1819), Indianapolis (1821), Tallahassee (1824), Milwaukee (1833), and many others.