American Transcendentalism is an important movement in philosophy and literature founded intellectuals who were mostly based in New England. Decades after America won its national independence the first Transcendentalists believed it was time for literary independence. Thus, Transcendentalist stars like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau deliberately went to create unique essays, novels, philosophies, and poetry that were very distinct from European literature. Transcendentalists, especially Henry David Thoreau, emphasize that simplifying one's life is vital to lead a life without distractions. Transcendentalists viewed that luxury and materials are unnecessary to live a full and healthy life. During his two-year experiment in natural living in Walden, Thoreau contemplated the benefits of a simple, self-reliant lifestyle in nature. He set out to explore this simplicity and wanted to immerse himself in it. Upon returning, Thoreau discovers the theme of simplicity and how a pure, natural lifestyle without extravagance is an asset every man should pursue.
English: Henry David Thoreau, photograph taken in ...
1967 U.S. postage stamp honoring Henry David Thore...
English: Portrait by Benjamin D. Maxham (daguerreo...Thoreau challenges the needfulness of modern man with a simple observation in nature: man has no need to be wasteful in his possessions.
In the 21st Century people are plagued by their possessions, wealth, and personal property to show "this is who I am." Thoreau wants people to be content as they are and to ignore of the wasteful ways unnecessary pleasure in materialistic goods. People have become so dependent on unnecessary objects that eventually such objects will consume typical daily life. In Why I Went to The Woods Essay, Thoreau has said, "Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumbnail. In the midst of this chopping sea of civilized life, such are the clouds and storms and quicksands...