The American Scholar

He was invited to speak in recognition of his groundbreaking work Nature, published a year earlier, in which he established a new way for America's fledgling society to regard the world.

Sixty years after declaring independence, American culture was still heavily influenced by Europe, and Emerson, for possibly the first time in the country's history, provided a visionary philosophical framework for escaping "from under its iron lids" and building a new, distinctly American cultural identity.

A few key points he makes include: Emerson was, in part, reflecting on his personal vocational crisis after leaving his role as a minister.

"[2] Building on the growing attention he received from the essay Nature, The American Scholar solidified Emerson's popularity and weight in America, a level of reverence he would hold throughout the rest of his life.

[3] This success stands in contrast with the harsh reaction to another of his speeches, "Divinity School Address", given eleven months later.