A 2023 Independence Day Reminder

Discover the Transcendental Values of America’s Founding Fathers

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Happy 4th of July to my fellow Americans. Although it’s only 112 today, where I live in Arizona, Independence Day is one of the coolest days of the year if we remember our founding fathers’ transcendent thinking and virtues.

Today we reflect on the birth of a nation over two centuries ago. From the turbulent throes of the American Revolution, a unique nation-state was born, conceived in liberty and dedication to human rights.

Behind these accomplishments were the Founding Fathers, enlightened thinkers significantly influenced by a philosophy later known as Transcendentalism. Figures such as Thomas Jefferson, alongside later Transcendentalists like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, upheld values that still form the bedrock of our society.

The Transcendentalist Values and the Founding of a Nation

In a time before the term Transcendentalism existed, our Founding Fathers knew and followed its tenets. “Transcendentalism” was coined in the 19th century, after Jefferson’s lifetime. I use the word because it best represents the universal views shared by many of the leaders of…