Transcendentalism is an offshoot of Romanticism that is even more spiritual and rejects the rational mindset of the Enlightenment.
Also playing into the emergence of Transcendentalism was the Second Great Awakening.
The Second Great Awakening was another period of spritual revival in America that occurred mainly in the first half of the 19th Century.
This spiritual revival challenged existing religious ideals and dogmas and prompted many to re-examine themselves and their souls.
Ralph Waldo Emerson is the main figure of the Transcendentalist movement.
The other main figure was Henry David Thoreau (a close friend of Emerson), but there were many significant authors, such as Walt Whitman and Margaret Fuller.
Many of these movements occurred in the New England area, usually around Boston.
Many of these writers were abolitionists, so the Mexican-American War affected them greatly, but its greatest effect was on Thoreau, who wrote "Civil Disobedience" after being imprisoned for not paying taxes to a government that supported slavery, in his eyes.
Along with "Civil Disobedience," some of the key works are "Nature," by Emerson, and Walden by Thoreau.
"Nature" is the starting point of the whole movement. It talks about the raw natural surroundings of the Americas, untouched by Western Civilization. As a result of this beauty, transcendentalism incorporates a non-traditional appreciation for nature.
Walden was influenced by "Nature." It details the two-year experiment of solitary confinement in the woods that Thoreau attempted in order to test the ideals of transcendentalism.
Transcendentalists were very non-conformist and individualistic. Because of this, a plethora of genres sprouted under many authors.
Writers like Emerson and Thoreau stressed more individualism and original thoughts and actions
Other writers tried a more communal approach to their ideals, but people held on to at least some of their individuality, which undermined them fully achieving their goals.
As a result of so many genres, there were many subjects covered, including:
Abolitionism
Government questioning
Simple living
Criticism of change and "progress" as a result of the Industrial Revolution
Transcendentalism
Early- and Mid-19th Century America