How do the values of charity and brotherhood expressed in "Self Reliance" conflict or agree with those expressed in "The Emancipation Proclamation?"

Of all the heroic figures mentioned in these essays—Plato, Lincoln, Napoleon, John Brown, Thoreau, Carlyle—there are no women. Is this chauvinism on Emerson's part of merely a reflection of his times?

English romantic poets such as Wordsworth and Coleridge hold the common man in high esteem. Emerson seems to disdain the common man in favor of "great men." How does this attitude fit within the beliefs of transcendentalism?

Does transcendentalism, with its emphasis on an individual connection to the "oversoul," conflict with the basic tenets of organized Christianity?

Emerson espouses the importance of developing a uniquely American culture independent of Europe, and yet was influenced by English poets and penned a long essay on "English traits." Does he...