English

how many men and small rowboats were there after the Essex sunk?

20 men and 3 whaleboats

Clipper ship

A clipper was a very fast sailing ship of the middle third of the 19th century. Developed from a type of schooner known as Baltimore clippers, clipper ships had three masts and a square rig. They were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. Clipper ships were mostly constructed in British and American shipyards, though France, Brazil, the Netherlands and other nations also produced some. Clippers sailed all over the world, primarily on the trade routes between the United Kingdom and its colonies in the east, in transatlantic trade, and on the New York-to-San Francisco route around Cape Horn during the California Gold Rush. Dutch clippers were built beginning in the 1850s for the tea trade and passenger service to Java. The boom years of the clipper ship era began in 1843 as a result of a growing demand for a more rapid delivery of tea from China. It continued under the stimulating influence of the discovery of gold in California and Australia in 1848 and 1851, and ended with the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.[1]

Typee

After being out to sea for six months without seeing land, the whaling ship The Dolly stops in the Marquesas Islands located in the South Pacific. Tired of a life of drudgery and abuse on board, the narrator, later called Tommo, decides to flee the ship with a fellow shipmate, Toby. The two men plan to hide on the island of Nukuheva, eating tropical fruits until they can catch a ride on a better boat. They must be careful while hiding, though, since the island is partially populated by the Typees, a violent tribe known for being cannibals.The two men make their escape while the crew is on shore leave. After spending several cold and wet nights on the island mountain, Tommo and Toby spot a beautiful valley below. They are hungry, cold, and Tommo also feels feverish due to an injury to his leg. They decide to descend into the valley even though they are not sure if it is the home of the friendly Happar tribe or that of the dreaded Typee. After a dangerous descent, which involves scaling a steep ravine and jumping onto a tree from a cliff above, the two men are in the heart of the valley. They spot a tree of tropical fruit and then a young native man and woman. Because of their desperation, they approach the natives and offer them a piece of calico cloth. Initially, Toby and Tommo happily think that the natives are Happars, not Typees. After arriving in their nearby village however, a stern chief, Mehevi, asks Tommo, "Typee" or "Happar"? Knowing that he must choose correctly, Tommo suddenly changes his mind and says "Typee." His guess is right and the surrounding natives start chattering happily. The Typees offer Tommo and Toby food and a place to sleep. Mehevi orders a man named Kory-Kory to be Tommo's servant. Tommo immediately feels deeply attracted to a beautiful maiden named Fayaway.In their initial days with the Typees, Tommo quickly learns to enjoy the pleasures of their lifestyle. Kory-Kory feeds Tommo by hand, carries him everywhere due to his injured leg, and bathes him each morning in the nearby stream. Despite the Typees's hospitality though, neither Toby nor Tommo is entirely free from their fear about cannibalism. When they are served meat for the first time, Toby instantly declares that it is roast human baby and refuses to eat it. Tommo later discovers that it is actually roast pork, but he still remains apprehensive that the Typees plan to do him harm. Tommo's leg injury also continues to be painful and crippling. Eventually, Toby starts for Nukuheva to get Tommo some European medicine, but has to turn back after an altercation with nearby Happars. Soon after, some foreign ships appear in the Typee Bay and Toby goes with the Typees to greet them. He never returns and Tommo is given only inconclusive answers about where he went. Tommo occasionally worries that the Typees killed and ate Toby, since he has no other explanation.

fatalism

the belief that all events are predetermined and therefore inevitable. or a submissive outlook, resulting from a fatalistic attitude.

nihilism

the rejection of all religious and moral principles, in the belief that life is meaningless.

Ahab's Bible

Ahab (Hebrew: אַחְאָב, Modern: Aẖ'av, Tiberian: ʼAḥʼāḇ; Akkadian: 𒀀𒄩𒀊𒁍, romanized: Aḫabbu; Ancient Greek: Ἀχαάβ; Latin: Achab) was the seventh king of Israel since Jeroboam I, the son and successor of Omri, and the husband of Jezebel of Sidon, according to the Hebrew Scriptures.[1] The Hebrew Bible presents Ahab as a wicked king, particularly for condoning Jezebel's influence on religious policies and his principal role behind Naboth's arbitrary execution. The existence of Ahab is historically supported outside the Bible. Shalmaneser III documented in 853 BC that he defeated an alliance of a dozen kings in the Battle of Qarqar; one of these was Ahab. Ahab became king of Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa, king of Judah, and reigned for twenty-two years, according to 1 Kings.[2] William F. Albright dated his reign to 869-850 BC, while E. R. Thiele offered the dates 874-853 BC.[3] Most recently, Michael D. Coogan has dated Ahab's reign to 871-852 BC

Billy Bud

Billy Budd is a seaman impressed into service aboard HMS Bellipotent in the year 1797, when the Royal Navy was reeling from two major mutinies and was threatened by the Revolutionary French Republic's military ambitions. He is impressed to this large warship from another, smaller, merchant ship, The Rights of Man (named after the book by Thomas Paine). As his former ship moves off, Budd shouts, "Good-bye to you too, old Rights-of-Man." Billy, a foundling from Bristol, has an innocence, good looks and a natural charisma that make him popular with the crew. His only physical defect is a stutter which grows worse when under intense emotion. He arouses the antagonism of the ship's master-at-arms, John Claggart. Claggart, while not unattractive, seems somehow "defective or abnormal in the constitution", possessing a "natural depravity." Envy is Claggart's explicitly stated emotion toward Budd, foremost because of his "significant personal beauty," and also for his innocence and general popularity. (Melville further opines that envy is "universally felt to be more shameful than even felonious crime.") This leads Claggart to falsely charge Billy with conspiracy to mutiny. When the captain, Edward Fairfax "Starry" Vere, is presented with Claggart's charges, he summons Claggart and Billy to his cabin for a private meeting. Claggart makes his case and Billy, astounded, is unable to respond, due to his stutter. In his extreme frustration he strikes out at Claggart, killing him instantly. Vere convenes a drumhead court-martial. He acts as convening authority, prosecutor, defense counsel and sole witness (except for Billy). He intervenes in the deliberations of the court-martial panel to persuade them to convict Billy, despite their and his beliefs in Billy's moral innocence. (Vere says in the moments following Claggart's death, "Struck dead by an angel of God! Yet the angel must hang!") Vere claims to be following the letter of the Mutiny Act and the Articles of War. Although Vere and the other officers do not believe Claggart's charge of conspiracy and think Billy justified in his response, they find that their own opinions matter little. The martial law in effect states that during wartime the blow itself, fatal or not, is a capital crime. The court-martial convicts Billy following Vere's argument that any appearance of weakness in the officers and failure to enforce discipline could stir more mutiny throughout the British fleet. Condemned to be hanged the morning after his attack on Claggart, Billy before his execution says, "God bless Captain Vere!" His words were repeated by the gathered crew in a "resonant and sympathetic echo."CH 26 The novel closes with three chapters that present ambiguity: Chapter 28 describes the death of Captain Vere. In a naval action against the French ship, Athée (the Atheist), Captain Vere is mortally wounded. His last words are "Billy Budd, Billy Budd." Chapter 29 presents an extract from an official naval gazette purporting to give the facts of the fates of John Claggart and Billy Budd aboard HMS Bellipotent - but the "facts" offered turn the facts that the reader learned from the story upside down. The gazette article described Budd as a conspiring mutineer likely of foreign birth and mysterious antecedents who is confronted by John Claggart. The master-at-arms, loyally enforcing the law, is fatally stabbed by Budd. The gazette concludes that the crime and weapon used suggest a foreign birth and subversive character; it reports that the mutineer was executed and nothing is amiss aboard HMS Bellipotent. Chapter 30 reprints a cheaply printed ballad written by one of Billy's shipmates as an elegy. The adult, experienced man represented in the poem is not the innocent youth portrayed in the preceding chapters.

Galapagos Islands

DescriptionThe Galápagos Islands is a volcanic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. It's considered one of the world's foremost destinations for wildlife-viewing. A province of Ecuador, it lies about 1,000km off its coast. Its isolated terrain shelters a diversity of plant and animal species, many found nowhere else. Charles Darwin visited in 1835, and his observation of Galápagos' species later inspired his theory of evolution. Location: Pacific Ocean

what happened on Feb. 6---after 9 weeks in the rowboat?

February 6, 1821—nine weeks after they'd bidden farewell to the Essex—Charles Ramsdell, a teenager, proposed they draw lots to determine who would be eaten next. It was the custom of the sea, dating back, at least in recorded instance, to the first half of the 17th century. The men in Pollard's boat accepted Ramsdell's suggestion, and the lot fell to young Owen Coffin, the captain's first cousin. Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-true-life-horror-that-inspired-moby-dick-17576/#qoMmV79VPbUVGsl1.99 Give the gift of Smithsonian magazine for only $12! http://bit.ly/1cGUiGv Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter

Elijah Bible

Elijah (/ɪˈlaɪdʒə/; ih-LY-jə; Hebrew: or latinized form Elias (/ɪˈlaɪəs/ ih-LY-əs)[a] was, according to the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible, a prophet and a miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel[4] during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BC). In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defended the worship of the Hebrew God over that of the Canaanite deity Baal. God also performed many miracles through Elijah, including resurrection (raising the dead), bringing fire down from the sky, and entering Heaven alive "by fire".[5] He is also portrayed as leading a school of prophets known as "the sons of the prophets".[6] Following his ascension, Elisha, his disciple and most devoted assistant took over his role as leader of this school. The Book of Malachi prophesies Elijah's return "before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD",[7] making him a harbinger of the Messiah and of the eschaton in various faiths that revere the Hebrew Bible. References to Elijah appear in Ecclesiasticus, the New Testament, the Mishnah and Talmud, the Quran, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and Bahá'í writings.

Benito Coreno

In "Benito Cereno," the narrator is Amasa Delano, the captain of a Massachusetts whaling ship. When the story begins, Captain Delano and his ship, the Bachelor's Delight, are anchored off the island of Santa Maria. The Delight is a sealer, or whaling ship. While anchored, the crew spots another ship coming toward the island. The new ship seems to be floating rather listlessly, and her sails are torn. Delano decides to send a boat over to investigate.He and his men reach the ship, which they see is called the San Dominick. The ship looks weather-beaten and decrepit. The figurehead of the ship is covered by canvas, but chalked underneath are the words (in Spanish), "follow your leader." Delano becomes fascinated by the mystery the ship presents. He boards the ship, and he is immediately accosted by sailors and black slaves, all begging for water and supplies. Delano orders his crew back to his own ship to get supplies, then tries to figure out what's happened to the San Dominick. He meets the ship's captain, Benito Cereno. Cereno seems a strange man, very nervous and strangely aloof; his behavior confuses Delano. Delano wonders if Cereno is an aristocrat who was given command of a ship, even though he doesn't seem to be a very good captain. But Delano is a patient and forgiving man, so he persuades himself that Cereno's behavior is a result of the trouble Cereno and his ship have suffered. Cereno is constantly attended by Babo, his young black servant. Delano asks Cereno to explain what happened to the San Dominick. Briefly, Cereno falters, staring down at the deck. Annoyed, Delano goes to ask a sailor for the story, but Cereno abruptly speaks up. He tells Delano that the ship had left Buenos Aires six months earlier, bound for Lima. While rounding Cape Horn, they struck heavy winds, Cereno claims, and to lighten the ship they threw supplies overboard, including their containers of fresh water. While telling this story, Cereno has one of his many near-fainting spells, which makes Delano believe that Cereno is both sick and perhaps mentally troubled. Whenever he has these spells, Babo catches his master in his arms. Cereno continues the story, brokenly: the San Dominick rounded Cape Horn, but the ship was badly damaged, and many of the ship's crew became sick with scurvy and died, including every officer. The ship was then blown into the deep seas, where the wind suddenly died out, leaving the ship adrift and with little water. Since then, Cereno claims he had continually attempted to reach land, but had always been prevented from doing so by bad weather or bad seamanship by the remaining sailors. He adds that the slaves' owners were "quite right" in claiming that it was safe to allow the slaves to roam free on the deck, without chains. Cereno ends by praising his servant Babo, whom he credits with keeping the slaves pacified during all the problems. Delano also praises Babo, saying he envies that Cereno has such a faithful friend. Delano is particularly struck by the image of the pleasant, strong black slave upholding the weak, well-dressed white captain.

Ishmael Bible

Ishmael (Arabic: إسماعيل‎, Ismā'īl) is the figure known in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as Abraham's (Ibrahim) son, born to Hagar (Hajar). In Islam, Ishmael is regarded as a prophet (nabi) and an ancestor to Muhammad. He also became associated with Mecca and the construction of the Kaaba. Stories of Ishmael are not only found in Jewish and Christian texts, such as the Bible and rabbinic Midrash, but also Islamic sources. These sources include the Quran, Quranic commentary (tafsir), hadith, historiographic collections like that of Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, and Isra'iliyat (Islamic texts about Biblical or ancient Israelite figures that originate from Jewish or Christian sources).[1][2]:13

Lewis Temple

Lewis Temple (1 October 1800 - 5 May 1854), an American "negro whalecraft maker,"[1] blacksmith, abolitionist, and inventor. He was born in slavery in Richmond, Virginia, and moved to the whaling village of New Bedford, Massachusetts during the 1820s, where he worked as a blacksmith. He married Mary Clark in 1820 and they had no children. He is best remembered for the invention of "Temple's Toggle" or "Temple's blood" which was a harpoon toggle tip based upon Eskimo and Indian harpoon tips brought back to New England by Whalers in 1835.[2] After some trials, whalers took to the improved harpoon. Temple never patented his invention which resulted in others copying his work and selling it as their own. Temple did live well, enough to build a larger shop. Unfortunately, due to the negligence of a city construction worker, he fell and was injured. He sued the city and won two thousand dollars, which he never received. He died from his injuries from falling down a sewer in May 1854 he was only 54 and his profits from the invention went largely to paying off his debts.

Metaphysics

Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the fundamental nature of reality, including the relationship between mind and matter, between substance and attribute, and between possibility and actuality.[1] The word "metaphysics" comes from two Greek words that, together, literally mean "after or behind or among [the study of] the natural". It has been suggested that the term might have been coined by a first century CE editor who assembled various small selections of Aristotle's works into the treatise we now know by the name Metaphysics (ta meta ta phusika, 'after the Physics ', another of Aristotle's works).[2] Metaphysics studies questions related to what it is for something to exist and what types of existence there are. Metaphysics seeks to answer, in an abstract and fully general manner, the questions:[3] What is there? What is it like? Topics of metaphysical investigation include existence, objects and their properties, space and time, cause and effect, and possibility.

Omoo

Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas is the second book by American writer Herman Melville, first published in London in 1847, and a sequel to his first South Sea narrative Typee, also based on the author's experiences in the South Pacific. After leaving the island of Nuku Hiva, the main character ships aboard a whaling vessel that makes its way to Tahiti, after which there is a mutiny and a third of the crew are imprisoned on Tahiti. In 1949, the novel was adapted into the exploitation film Omoo-Omoo, the Shark God.

what real life incident inspired the novel Moby Dick?

That month he took a steamer to Nantucket for his first visit to the Massachusetts island, home port of his novel's mythic protagonist, Captain Ahab, and his ship, the Pequod. Like a tourist, Melville met local dignitaries, dined out and took in the sights of the village he had previously only imagined.And on his last day on Nantucket he met the broken-down 60-year-old man who had captained the Essex, the ship that had been attacked and sunk by a sperm whale in an 1820 incident that had inspired Melville's novel.

what happened at Henderson Island?

On 29 January 1606, Portuguese captain Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, leading a Spanish expedition, was the first European to see the island, and named it San Juan Bautista.[7] Captain Henderson of the British East India Company ship Hercules rediscovered the island on 17 January 1819 and named it Henderson Island. On 2 March 1819, Captain Henry King, in the Elizabeth, landed on the island to find the king's colours already flying. His crew scratched the name of their ship into a tree. A sperm whale rammed and sank the Nantucket whaleship Essex on 20 November 1820 (a report of which inspired Herman Melville to write Moby-Dick), and the crew arrived at Henderson on 20 December in three small whaleboats. They found the island's only known drinkable water-source - a brackish spring on the north shore, exposed at half tide - and ate fish, birds, eggs, crabs and peppergrass, but they had largely exhausted the available food within a week, and on 27 December the three boats set sail for South America, leaving behind Thomas Chappel, Seth Weeks, and William Wright, who chose to stay. They survived until their rescue on 9 April 1821. In his account of the ordeal, Chappel reported having seen human skeletons in a cave.

Owen chase and Melville

Owen Chase (October 7, 1797 - March 7, 1869) was first mate of the whaler Essex, which a sperm whale rammed and sank on 20 November 1820. Chase wrote about the incident in Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex. This book, published in 1821, would inspire Herman Melville to write Moby-Dick. Chase was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, the son of Phebe (Meader) and Judah Chase.[1]

Kokovoko

Rokovoko or Kokovoko is the fictional island home of the character Queequeg, as described in Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick. Rokovoko is said to be "an island far away to the West and South" from New England. "It is not down in any map; true places never are," Melville writes. It was ruled by Queequeg's father, who is described as both high chief and king. Queequeg's uncle is the island's High Priest. Ishmael feared this island's inhabitants practiced cannibalism. The spelling of the name differs in the initial British and American editions of the book.

Norway maelstrom

The Moskstraumen or Moskenstraumen is a system of tidal eddies and whirlpools, one of the strongest in the world,[1] that forms at the Lofoten archipelago in Nordland county, Norway between the Norwegian Sea and the Vestfjorden. It is located between the Lofoten Point (Norwegian: Lofotodden) on the island of Moskenesøya (in Moskenes Municipality) and the island of Mosken (in Værøy Municipality).[2][3] Moskstraumen is unusual in that it occurs in the open sea whereas most other whirlpools are observed in confined straits or rivers. It originates from a combination of several factors, the dominant being the strong semi-diurnal tides and peculiar shape of the seabed, with a shallow ridge between the Moskenesøya and Værøya islands which amplifies and whirls the tidal currents.The Moskstraumen has been featured in many historical accounts, generally exaggerated. It is also popularly known as maelstrom - a Nordic word for a strong whirlpool which originates from the Dutch combination of malen (to grind) and stroom (stream). This term was introduced into the English language by Edgar Allan Poe in 1841, through his short story "A Descent into the Maelström". Poe provides an alternate name for the whirlpool with the line: "We Norwegians call it the Moskoestrom, from the island of Moskoe in the midway."[4]

Seamen's Bethel New Bedford

The Seamen's Bethel (or Seaman's Bethel) is a chapel in New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States, located at 15 Johnny Cake Hill.In 1851, Herman Melville published his famous tale of the white whale. In it he wrote: In this same New Bedford there stands a Whaleman's Chapel, and few are the moody fishermen, shortly bound for the Indian Ocean or Pacific, who fail to make a Sunday visit to the spot. — Moby-Dick, by Herman Melville From this point on, the Seamen's Bethel came to be widely seen as a symbol of the whalers, and later as a symbol of their history.

toggling harpoon

The toggling harpoon is an ancient weapon and tool used in whaling to impale a whale when thrown. Unlike earlier harpoon versions which had only one point, a toggling harpoon has a two-part point. One half of the point is firmly attached to the thrusting base, while the other half of the point is fitted over this first point like a cap and attached to the rest of the point with sinew or another string-like material. When the harpoon is thrust into an animal, the top half of the point detaches and twists horizontally into the animal under the skin, allowing hunters to haul the animal to ship or shore. This harpoon technology lodges the toggling head of the harpoon underneath both the animal's skin and blubber, and instead lodges the point in the muscle, which also prevents the harpoon slipping out.

what caused the Charles Island Fire and what was the environmental issues did it result in?

To restock, the Essex anchored at Charles Island in the Galapagos, where the crew collected sixty 100-pound tortoises. As a prank, one of the crew set a fire, which, in the dry season, quickly spread. Pollard's men barely escaped, having to run through flames, and a day after they set sail, they could still see smoke from the burning island. Pollard was furious, and swore vengeance on whoever set the fire. Many years later Charles Island was still a blackened wasteland, and the fire was believed to have caused the extinction of both the Floreana Tortoise and the Floreana Mockingbird.

Two Years Before the Mast

Two Years Before the Mast is a memoir by the American author Richard Henry Dana Jr., published in 1840, having been written after a two-year sea voyage from Boston to California on a merchant ship starting in 1834. A film adaptation under the same name was released in 1946. While an undergraduate at Harvard College, Dana had an attack of the measles which affected his vision. Thinking it might help his sight, Dana left Harvard to enlist as a common sailor on a voyage around Cape Horn on the brig Pilgrim. He returned to Massachusetts two years later, aboard the Alert (which left California sooner than the Pilgrim). He kept a diary throughout the voyage, and, after returning, he wrote a recognized American classic, Two Years Before the Mast, published in 1840.

Marquesas Islands Melville

Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life is the first book by American writer Herman Melville, published first in London, then New York, in 1846. Considered a classic in travel and adventure literature, the narrative is partly based on the author's actual experiences on the island Nuku Hiva in the South Pacific Marquesas Islands in 1842, liberally supplemented with imaginative reconstruction and adaptation of material from other books. The title is from the province Tai Pi Vai. Typee was Melville's most popular work during his lifetime; it made him notorious as the "man who lived among the cannibals".[1]

Unitarism

Unitarianism (from Latin unitas "unity, oneness", from unus "one") is a Christian theological movement named for its belief that the God in Christianity is one person, as opposed to the Trinity (tri- from Latin tres "three") which in many other branches of Christianity defines God as three persons in one being: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.[1] Unitarian Christians, therefore, believe that Jesus was inspired by God in his moral teachings, and he is a savior,[2][3] but he was not a deity or God incarnate. Unitarianism does not constitute one single Christian denomination, but rather refers to a collection of both extant and extinct Christian groups, whether historically related to each other or not, which share a common theological concept of the oneness nature of God. While the uncompromising theological monotheism at the heart of Christian Unitarianism distinguishes it from the major Christian denominations which subscribe to Trinitarian theology, Christian Unitarianism is analogous to the more austere monotheistic understandings of God in Judaism, and nearer to the concept of the oneness of God in Islam.

what happened on Ducie Island?

Years later, the third boat was discovered on Ducie Island; three skeletons were aboard. Miraculously, the three men who chose to stay on Henderson Island survived for nearly four months, mostly on shellfish and bird eggs, until an Australian ship rescued them.

Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism,[n 1] or Mazdayasna, is one of the world's oldest religions that remains active. It is a monotheistic faith (i.e. a single creator God), centered in a dualistic cosmology of good and evil and an eschatology predicting the ultimate destruction of evil.[1] Ascribed to the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster (also known as Zarathustra),[2] it exalts a deity of wisdom, Ahura Mazda (Wise Lord), as its Supreme Being.[3] Major features of Zoroastrianism, such as messianism, judgment after death, heaven and hell, and free will may have influenced other religious systems, including Second Temple Judaism, Gnosticism, Christianity, Islam,[4] and Buddhism.[5] With possible roots dating back to the second millennium BCE, Zoroastrianism enters recorded history in the 5th century BCE.[3] Along with a Mithraic Median prototype and a Zurvanist Sassanid successor, it served as the state religion of the pre-Islamic Iranian empires for more than a millennium, from around 600 BCE to 650 CE. Zoroastrianism was suppressed from the 7th century onwards following the Muslim conquest of Persia of 633-654.[6] Recent estimates place the current number of Zoroastrians at around 190,000, with most living in India and in Iran; their number has been thought to be declining.[7][8][3][n 2] However, in 2015, there were reports of up to 100,000 converts in Iraqi Kurdistan.[9] Besides the Zoroastrian diaspora, the older Mithraic faith Yazdânism is still practised amongst Kurds.[n 3]

Existentialism

a philosophical theory or approach which emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will.

Transcendentalism

an idealistic philosophical and social movement which developed in New England around 1836 in reaction to rationalism. Influenced by romanticism, Platonism, and Kantian philosophy, it taught that divinity pervades all nature and humanity, and its members held progressive views on feminism and communal living. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were central figures.

Naturalism

he philosophical belief that everything arises from natural properties and causes, and supernatural or spiritual explanations are excluded or discounted.

Absurdism

intentionally ridiculous or bizarre behavior or character. or the belief that human beings exist in a purposeless, chaotic universe.