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# Henry David Thoreau and Transcendentalism
- URL: https://www.cascadepbs.org/show/henry-david-thoreau/extras/henry-david-thoreau-and-transcendentalism-uaddgh/
- Published: 2026-03-25T19:00:37.000Z
- Updated: 2026-05-14T21:57:03.000Z
- Description: Thoreau is introduced to Ralph Waldo Emerson and the radical ideas of transcendentalism.
- Author: Cascade PBS Staff
- Tags: Henry David Thoreau, #ZZZ_Show_2a95fc7a-ed85-4cbe-86a3-654f60762917, #geo-us, #v1.7, #ZZZ_Extra_34849a7a-4f27-4031-adf5-e42a021269e0, #extra

After graduating from Harvard Divinity School, Henry David Thoreau is introduced to an electrifying new social movement: transcendentalism. Transcendentalism is the first youth movement in American history, and it boils down to one simple, but powerful idea: that there is a spark of divinity within everyone, including enslaved people. This idea calls the entirety of American society into question.