What does transcendentalists mean?

Transcendentalists were a group of 19th-century American writers and thinkers who believed in the inherent goodness of people and nature, and the importance of individual intuition and self-reliance. They emphasized the idea of personal spiritual growth and connection with the natural world as a means of understanding the true essence of existence. Some famous transcendentalists include Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.