Part one of term paper
It was a reaction against the Enlightenment and yet akin in that they both assumed life was designed for human happiness. However the Enlightenment placed reason at the center of human acheivement. m distrusted the human intellect and placed its value on the emotions and intutive qualities. The natural and spontaneous was deemed good. The ...

Part two of term paper
... when people like Emerson protested the churchs' lifeless teachings. Transcendalism's body of doctrine was back to nature, a divine spark in each individual and a belief in the goodness of man. Transcendalists emphasized feeling over reason and that the human has faculties to transcend experiences, i.e. to go beyond the senses. They looked at Jesus Christ as an example of that human potential. They were to follow the inner conscience, even if driven through conscience, to defy the state. It bui ...