The essay titled History by Emerson attempts to demonstrate the unity of experience in men of all ages. The opening remark begins with, “There is one mind common to all individual men.” It is interesting that he opens the essay up with this remark because it resembles a type of anti-self reliance thought by using the word “common”. Emerson’s essay Self-Reliance places a huge emphasis how each individual needs to avoid conformity and follow ones instinct and ideas. This small contradiction leads to an array of thoughts and interesting concepts throughout the rest of History.
“All history becomes subjective; in other words, there is properly no History; only Biography. Every mind must know the whole lesson for itself-must go over the whole ground.” I believe that this quote strongly reflects the views of History all together. One mind should be universal in terms of history. Emerson takes the concept of history and breaks it down into several subdivisions. These divisions include nature and genius, a term that Emerson significantly emphasizes in Self-Reliance. He defines genius as “Believe your own though, to believe what is true for you in your private heart” as well as stating, “God has given each man a unique job to do, and to do this, you are acting on the voice of God.”
History is in one man and can be explained by individual experience. History did not occur in the past, but it is constant like nature and its presence is ever so strong. Essentially, I feel as though Emerson wants individuals to gain their own life experiences and not conform to mainstream society. However, if everyone doesn’t conform, wouldn’t that ultimately be society conforming to not conform? This also leads to a question I have directed towards his essay, History. What does history stand for towards individuals and what is the relationship that history and nature share? Do individuals need to make history personal as a way to fully understand?
