Ralph Waldo Emerson was a leader of Transcendentalism which was a literary and philosophical movement that began in the United States in 1836. Transcendentalists did not agree with the strict ritualism of established religious institutions. They supported individualism and self- examination. They believed that they could understand themselves better if they study nature and their surroundings. Transcendentalists also believed in an "Over-Soul" where all forms of being are united spiritually. Emerson's lectures and writing were based on this philosophy. (Hirsh) Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in Boston, Massachusetts on May 25, 1803