On August 31, 1837, Ralph Waldo Emerson delivered a speech at the Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that later became known as The American Scholar. In it, Emerson presented a fresh perspective for America’s young society to view the world, offering, possibly for the first time in the nation’s history, a forward-looking philosophical framework to forge a new, distinctly American cultural identity. Emerson outlines his vision of a scholar who is not confined to the past, imitating European traditions, but is instead inspired by nature, self-reliant, and innovative. This notion aligns with H. D. Thoreau’s ideals in his famous pamphlet On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, where he contends that individuals have a moral duty to resist unjust laws and authority that contradict their own sense of right and wrong. Both texts, in essence, advocate for individuals to trust their own intuition and conscience, rather than being blindly obedient to societal norms or government dictates. This edition invites the reader to explore the connections between the visions of America put forth by these two influential transcendentalists. It also provides a collection of additional essays by Emerson to further illuminate his ideas. The aim is to offer readers a clearer understanding of the perspectives these thinkers held on American identity and society.

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