Major events in history have always influenced writers, but it very rare for a writer to influence history. Ralph Waldo Emerson was one of these rare writers. He put into words a new air, a new way of thinking, which began to drift into American minds since the colonial days. His words condensed this air into something tangible, "the literature of the poor, the feelings of the child, the philosophy of the street, the meaning …
showed first 75 words of 824 total

showed last 75 words of 824 total
…his circumstance and found in himself the great person he had the potential of being. Emerson brought the vaguely forming image of individual American thought into focus. His stirring words left writers with either the motivation to express themselves in ways that shined their full potential or to accept themselves the way they are. These writers breathed life into a new literature based on spiritual and intellectual freedom inspired by Emerson's definition of an American.