Nature and Man
The human race, since the beginning of time, has always had some oneness and connection with nature. This oneness is attributable to the fact that they hold the incredible power of transforming the environment either for better or for worse in the daily activities through interaction with it. A focus on the American landscape and its’ inhabitants shows that a conservational way of thinking was adopted with time, after various aspects of technology developed and contributed to industrialization, deforestation, and urbanization of nature and a vast amount of land. Despite measures put in place to aid in conserving and protecting natural resources, it proved challenging to keep up these measures with an increased paradigm shift to the urbanized way of living and a heavily market-driven economy in the mid-19th century. A new school of thought towards nature was thus adopted by Americans that championed the need to have a harmonious relationship with nature, to improve one’s spirituality, and connect the rest of the world in a transcendental manner.
The natural world was important to Americans as it was viewed to be an intricate part of the day to day life of humans; additionally, they perceived it to be the harmony that existed between humans and the natural world that influenced divinity. The transcendental movement heavily was influenced by the romanticism that put a value on the goodness of an individual and perceived covetousness to taint the purity of this goodness. In explaining Emerson’s’ school of thought, it is reiterated that any revolution that came to be was first thought of in a man’s’ mind, and when the same thought crossed another man, it’s inevitable for an era to arise ( Sack). Emerson influenced Americans in the mid-19th century with his view that material care was detrimental to nature and thus encouraged the citizens to be in harmony with nature and experience it without a care of materialistic needs that, in hindsight, exploited the natural world. Americans also viewed divinity as having the power to permeate all nature and humanity as a whole. Thoreau held onto the belief that people and the environment are part of each other and that interacting with the natural world will benefit ones’ soul. Amanda affirms, “It is important that humanity transcends its centrism and works together to save our environment here on Earth” (A). This transcendental views by Thoreau enabled Americans to have a perceived change in attitude towards reforming their ways to live a more spiritual life as he elucidated the connection of divinity, nature, and human interaction. The natural world was of vital importance to Americans as it was viewed to be inherently ingrained in human beings day to day living, and it created harmony and oneness with divinity.
Nature has always been held in high regard from time immemorial, as it is of vital importance for humanity to survive with changing times. The natural world was thus crucial to Americans as it influenced them to adopt a harmonious way of living and connect to the world in a transcendental manner through improving their spirituality.