Published in 1837, Ralph Waldo Emerson's The American Scholar examines nature as one or more "important influences on the mind" (515). By 1837, the United States had enjoyed six decades of independence and was beginning to establish a culture and identity distinct from that of Europe. With Emerson at its head, the Transcendentalist movement became a literary component of this new identity in the early 19th century. According to Emerson, nature contributes to the development of the typically American intellectual by fostering in him self-knowledge, thus contrasting with the colonial view of wilderness as ungodly. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay When it comes to nature, the reader can examine a notable shift in tone between early American texts and Emerson's work. While earlier writings such as William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation and Mary Rowlandson's Captivity Narrative contain dark visions of nature, The American Scholar employs a more charming and idealistic tone. Emerson's writings seem to be full of hope for a bright and promising American future. Emerson asserts that an understanding and appreciation of the natural world is essential for young American scholars because of the relationship between the laws of nature and "the law of the human mind" (515). Like his contemporaries, Emerson viewed nature as a cyclical and endless representation of God's "own spirit" (515) and inherent goodness. By extension, Emerson asserts that researchers should strive to appreciate nature as a physical counterpart to the human soul intended to “respond part for part” (516). This philosophy departs from the writings of the early settlers, who viewed the wild American landscape as a literal manifestation of hell. Emerson and the Transcendentalists saw the same landscape as evidence of a divine creator, of his beneficence, as well as proof that the same spirit of goodness resides in all humanity. Thus, just as previous authors claimed that the desert was abysmal, profane, and totally isolated from the Creator, Emerson describes it as a place of oneness with God “through which contrary and distant things coordinate” (515). In other words, everything is linked. From the author's point of view, a scholar can never truly understand himself without understanding nature. Fittingly, the opposing views of nature and the American landscape provide a framework for better understanding the soul of the country itself. It is likely that Emerson's philosophy is a consequence of American philosophy. cultural premium on freedom and independence. The United States was born from a spirit of revolution and rebellion. As we examine the shift in literary views on nature illustrated in The American Scholar, we begin to see a symbolic reflection of the principles above. We see this change beginning to take place as early as the 1780s in Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia. Jefferson, a man who for many embodies the revolutionary spirit, can be considered an early proponent of the view of nature that Emerson would later consolidate. In his essay, he marvels at the natural bridge as “the most sublime of nature’s works” (Jefferson 277). A scholar himself, Jefferson and his text symbolize the departure from Puritan views. The Puritans and other colonists were still very tied to Britain. Puritan descriptions of a “vast and howling wilderness” (Rowlandson 131) “filled with wild beasts and wild men” (Bradford 83)..