What does Transcendentalism mean?

Transcendentalism was a style of writing that emerged from
the Romantic style of writing, around 1840.  Just like music has different styles that
are popular at different times, writing too has different styles throughout  history. 
In America, the transcendentalists were motivated and inspired by nature, individualism
(belief and celebration of oneself), a belief in universal truth that transcended (or
went beyond) our mortal existences and a focus on the dignity of manual labor and
personal introspection.  In their writing, they focused on identifying truths of human
nature, and finding great joy and wisdom in those truths, revering them as sacred and
spiritual.  They delighted in nature, and often found nature itself to be very spiritual
and a conveyor  of truth and beauty.  They also focused on how every person should trust
themselves, and should rejoice in all of their own beauty, instead of relying on others
or the world to form their opinions or ideas.

The most
famous transcendentalists are Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote numerous essays, the most
well-known being "Self-Reliance," where he preached the importance of relying one
yourself as a source of truth and wisdom.  Then, Henry David Thoreau, who wrote
Walden, a book on how he went to live by himself on Walden Pond,
reaping truth and satisfaction from the work of his own
hands.

I hope that those thoughts helped; good
luck!