He Gave More Than 1500 Lectures, Which Made Him Rich

Emerson began lecturing often in 1833, converting his passion for writing into a business. He spoke to audiences while traveling throughout New England, reading aloud from his articles and discussing his travels, views on nature, and the place of religion. One of the interesting facts about Ralph Waldo Emerson is he gave his first of perhaps 1,500 lectures, titled “The Uses of Natural History” in Boston on November 5, 1833. This was a more thorough account of his time in Paris. He outlined some of his core principles and the concepts he would later explore in his first published essay, “Nature” in this lecture.

Emerson delivered one of his most well-known speeches in 1838 at the Harvard Divinity School's commencement ceremony for graduating students. He emphasized his Transcendentalist beliefs of personal power above religious doctrine in his “Divinity School Address” which was radical and divisive at the time. He also made the erroneous claim that Jesus Christ was not God. The elite and the wider Protestant community were offended by his remarks. He was accused of being an atheist and of corrupting the brains of young men. Despite the clamor of criticism, he didn't respond, giving others a chance to defend themselves. For another thirty years, he was not invited back to Harvard to deliver a speech.

He used his own funds to rent a space and publicize his speaking engagement in towns like Boston. Emerson organized some of his lectures into series, addressing the same subject at various gatherings. The “Sage of Concord” was able to sustain his family and acquire land because of his talks, which resulted in strong ticket sales.