Ralph Waldo Emerson led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. Emerson was an American poet, essayist and lecturer. He was regarded as a proponent of individualism and a critic of the countervailing pressures of society. Emerson shared his thoughts through a plethora of essays and over 1,500 public lectures in the United States.Throughout Emerson's life, he steadily moved away from the social and religious beliefs of his peers. In...