Transcendentalism, characterized by authors such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, was an intellectual reaction to Enlightenment values in the early nineteenth century. Transcendentalists did not believe reason and logic alone were sufficient to understand nature and the world. Instead, transcendentalists sought to go out in nature, understand their emotions, and reflect on those feelings.

Beginning in the late 1820s, the Transcendentalist movement focused on establishing belief and principles through inner, individual spiritual experience. It opposed established and organized religion in favor of an individualized outlook. Its leading proponents were Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.

The Transcendentalism movement arose in the first half of the nineteenth century in opposition to the state of American politics and society at the time. Transcendentalists believe in the core goodness of people, nature, and people in nature. They also opposed organized religion, which they felt corrupted the individual and prevented man from attuning himself to nature. Of these five, Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson are the two most famous for their Transcendentalist beliefs. Walt Whitman and Margaret Fuller were both also keen writers in support of the Transcendentalist cause. Nathaniel Hawthorne (author of The Scarlet Letter), however, was a very well known anti-Transcendentalist. His work focused on the deplorable nature of humans and the impious and impure nature of the human spirit. 

Again, this is another straightforward vocabulary question. Manifest destiny was the belief that Americans had a culture of superior values and thus had a quasi-divine mandate to spread across the continent and bring American culture and values to all—willing or not. “A jingoistic cry . . .” may have been a fairly tempting answer due to the buzzwords “jingoistic” and “conscience Whigs,” but if you remember your history (hopefully you do!) you’ll recall that conscience Whigs were against things like the Mexican-American War, and other [in]direct products of manifest destiny.

Although the majority of the passage could be referring to any one of a number of disenfranchised groups in American history. The opening line is very similar in character to that of the Declaration of Independence. The only manner in which it differs is to include both men and women as being endowed with certain inalienable rights; therefore, we can confidently suppose that it was written on behalf of women. The quote is taken from Declaration of Sentiments, adopted by the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848—the proscribed purposed of which was to gain the complete enfranchisement for women in the United States. 

In the Nineteenth Century, many Americans believed that the United States was ordained by God to expand westwards and occupy all the lands of North America, between the Atlantic and the Pacific. This ideology was expressed as Manifest Destiny. Although never universally accepted, it was a strong influencing factor in the way many American’s looked at the future of their nation. And, it was variously co-opted by political factions to support war with Mexico and territorial disagreement with Great Britain. The key terminology in the question here is “divinely ordained” for Manifest Destiny expressly stated that America’s westward expansion was a part of God’s will. 

Realism refers to an attempt to depict the subject matter in an accurate and direct manner. It was often used in the United States to depict ordinary men or women going about daily life in a realistic manner. It is considered one of the most important artistic movements in European and American history.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin was authored by Harriet Beecher Stowe and published in 1852. The author was a devout abolitionist and the novel centers on the character Uncle Tom—a long suffering black slave. The book was a seminal influence in growing the abolitionist movement. It became the best-selling novel of the nineteenth century and was a significant literary influence on the nature of black identity in the United States. 

Transcendentalism was a philosophical movement in the early nineteenth century. It explicitly opposed the teachings of the Harvard Divinity School. Transcendentalists argued that there is an inherent unity between man and nature, and both man and nature are inherently good. Central to transcendentalist beliefs is the notion that organized religion and political parties corrupt the nature of the individual and are therefore deplorable. Influential transcendentalists include Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.

Sputnik was the first satellite launched into orbit around the Earth. It was launched in 1957, twelve years before America would put a man on the moon, representing a major point of discomfort for many Americans who suddenly felt as if the US was falling behind the Soviet Union. Shortly after Sputnik was launched, the US space program was greatly expanded and significant resources were put into education for scientists and engineers. In 1961, John F. Kennedy initiated the Apollo Program with the intention of putting a man on the moon by 1971.