Critical Thinker

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” I chose Ralph Waldo Emerson as my critical thinker for this assignment. There are a few reasons why I chose Ralph Waldo Emerson, first he was a man who used poetry as a way of expressing his views on politics, religion, love, and life. Second he was a man whom people would listen to and have to think about what Ralph Waldo Emerson was saying in his lectures in order to understand his point of views. Finally he was an educated man at a very young age and used his education for good reasons. I hope that once I have completed my college courses and earned my degree, I can have the same effect on people when I speak, that Ralph Waldo Emerson had when he spoke.

Some of the contributions that R.W. Emerson influenced on society by public speaking through lectures around the United States were he was against slavery and was pro women’s educational and economic rights. Ralph Waldo Emerson was influential in emancipation of slaves after the Civil War; He scorned the Abolitionists for the bitterness of their agitation. Yet he spoke out strongly in defense of Elijah Lovejoy, lynched for his anti-slavery publications, and later defended the abolitionist radical John Brown. He delivered his first public antislavery address in 1844, a commemoration of the British emancipation of the slaves in the West Indies.

Ralph Waldo Emerson was pro women’s educational and economic rights, his contribution to help the women of the Massachusetts area was he taught school at his brothers’ school in the Boston area and then eventually opened a finishing school for girls in the Boston area.

Some of the reasons that Ralph Waldo Emerson, was in my opinion, a critical thinker was he surrounded himself around people that made him think and ask questions about life, love, and religion. Some of the people that Ralph Wald Emerson associated with over his life span were:...