Intellectual and Cultural History

Transcendentalism Practice Questions

19 free Transcendentalism practice questions for the US History, each with the correct answer and a detailed explanation. Open any question below, or take the full set as an interactive quiz.

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All Transcendentalism questions

19 questions
  1. Q1. Which 1836 essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson is considered the foundational text of Transcendentalism, urging Americans to find an original relation to the universe?
  2. Q2. The Transcendentalist concept of the 'Oversoul' can best be described as:
  3. Q3. In his essay 'Self-Reliance,' Ralph Waldo Emerson famously stated that 'Whoso would be a man must be a ______.'
  4. Q4. Henry David Thoreau’s experiment at Walden Pond was primarily an attempt to:
  5. Q5. What was the primary reason Henry David Thoreau was jailed, leading to his writing of 'Civil Disobedience'?
  6. Q6. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 1837 speech 'The American Scholar' was described by Oliver Wendell Holmes as America's 'Intellectual Declaration of Independence' because…
  7. Q7. Transcendentalism emerged as a philosophical reaction against which two movements?
  8. Q8. Which communal living experiment was founded by Transcendentalists in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1841?
  9. Q9. Who was the prominent female Transcendentalist and editor of 'The Dial' who wrote 'Woman in the Nineteenth Century'?
  10. Q10. How did Transcendentalists generally view the institution of slavery?
  11. Q11. The term 'Transcendental' refers to the idea that knowledge of the world comes from:
  12. Q12. Which of the following authors was heavily influenced by Transcendentalism, despite his more pessimistic view of human nature?
  13. Q13. Thoreau's famous quote, 'The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation,' appears in which work?
  14. Q14. What was the significance of 'The Dial' in the 1840s?
  15. Q15. How did Emerson and Thoreau differ in their approach to the natural world?
  16. Q16. Which Transcendentalist was also a leader in educational reform and the father of the author of 'Little Women'?
  17. Q17. In 'Self-Reliance,' Emerson argues that 'A foolish consistency is the ______.'
  18. Q18. What was the Transcendentalist view of the Industrial Revolution?
  19. Q19. Which Transcendentalist figure was most directly involved in the 'Hudson River School' of landscape painting?