Amos bronson alcott biography of abraham

Biography

Born in 1799 to an illiterate flax farmer in Wolcott, Connecticut, Amos Bronson Alcott was singular among the Transcendentalists in his unassailable optimism and the extent of his self-education.

With the encouragement of his spirited and resourceful mother, he taught himself to read and write by forming letters in charcoal on the kitchen floorboards. Profoundly influenced by John Bunyan's book, Pilgrim's Progress, Bronson left home at the age of seventeen to become a peddler in Virginia and the Carolinas.

Amos bronson alcott biography of abraham

Through the sheer force of his personality, he charmed prosperous Southern families into opening their doors, and thus was introduced to an aesthetic and elegance that inspired him for the rest of his life. After five years, he returned to Connecticut, determined to become an educator.

Attracted to Pestalozzi's innovative child-centered educational ideas, he soon began a long and varied career as a te