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. His father, Reverend William Emerson, was a Unit