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Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and
philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
. A leading transcendentalist, he is best known for his book '' Walden'', a reflection upon
simple living Simple living refers to practices that promote simplicity in one's lifestyle. Common practices of simple living include reducing the number of possessions one owns, depending less on technology and services, and spending less money. Not only is ...
in natural surroundings, and his essay "
Civil Disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...
" (originally published as "Resistance to Civil Government"), an argument for disobedience to an unjust state. Thoreau's books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry amount to more than 20 volumes. Among his lasting contributions are his writings on natural history and philosophy, in which he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology and environmental history, two sources of modern-day environmentalism. His
literary Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...
style interweaves close observation of nature, personal experience, pointed rhetoric,
symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...
ic meanings, and historical lore, while displaying a poetic sensibility, philosophical
austerity Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spend ...
, and attention to practical detail.Thoreau, Henry David. ''A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers'' / ''Walden'' / ''The Maine Woods'' / ''Cape Cod''. Library of America. . He was also deeply interested in the idea of survival in the face of hostile elements, historical change, and natural decay; at the same time he advocated abandoning waste and illusion in order to discover life's true essential needs. Thoreau was a lifelong abolitionist, delivering lectures that attacked the fugitive slave law while praising the writings of Wendell Phillips and defending the abolitionist
John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...
. Thoreau's philosophy of
civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...
later influenced the political thoughts and actions of such notable figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. Thoreau is sometimes referred to as an
anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
. In "Civil Disobedience", Thoreau wrote: "I heartily accept the 'That government is best which governs least;' and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I 'That government is best which governs not at all;' and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have. ... But, to speak practically and as a cit­i­zen, unlike those who call themselves no-gov­ernment men, I ask for, not at once no gov­ernment, but ''at once'' a better government."Thoreau, Henry David (1849)
"Resistance to Civil Government"
. Retrieved October 2, 2020via Sniggle.


Pronunciation of his name

Amos Bronson Alcott Amos Bronson Alcott (; November 29, 1799 – March 4, 1888) was an American teacher, writer, philosopher, and reformer. As an educator, Alcott pioneered new ways of interacting with young students, focusing on a conversational style, and av ...
and Thoreau's aunt each wrote that "Thoreau" is pronounced like the word ''thorough'' ( —in General American, but more precisely —in 19th-century New England). Edward Waldo Emerson wrote that the name should be pronounced "Thó-row", with the ''h'' sounded and stress on the first syllable. Among modern-day American English speakers, it is perhaps more commonly pronounced —with stress on the second syllable.


Physical appearance

Thoreau had a distinctive appearance, with a nose that he called his "most prominent feature". Of his appearance and disposition,
Ellery Channing William Ellery Channing II (November 29, 1817 – December 23, 1901) was an American Transcendentalist poet, nephew and namesake of the Unitarian preacher Dr. William Ellery Channing. His uncle was usually known as "Dr. Channing", while the ne ...
wrote:
His face, once seen, could not be forgotten. The features were quite marked: the nose aquiline or very Roman, like one of the portraits of
Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...
(more like a beak, as was said); large overhanging brows above the deepest set blue eyes that could be seen, in certain lights, and in others gray,—eyes expressive of all shades of feeling, but never weak or near-sighted; the forehead not unusually broad or high, full of concentrated energy and purpose; the mouth with prominent lips, pursed up with meaning and thought when silent, and giving out when open with the most varied and unusual instructive sayings.


Life


Early life and education, 1817–1837

Henry David Thoreau was born David Henry Thoreau in Concord, Massachusetts, into the "modest New England family" McElroy, Wendy (July 30, 2005
"Henry David Thoreau and 'Civil Disobedience'"
. LewRockwell.com.
of John Thoreau, a pencil maker, and Cynthia Dunbar. His father was of French Protestant descent. His paternal grandfather had been born on the UK crown dependency island of Jersey. His maternal grandfather, Asa Dunbar, led Harvard's 1766 student "
Butter Rebellion The Butter Rebellion, which took place at Harvard University in 1766, was the first recorded Harvard student protest in what is now the United States. In the decade preceding the American Revolution, economic difficulties made the acquisition of fr ...
", the first recorded student protest in the American colonies. David Henry was named after his recently deceased paternal uncle, David Thoreau. He began to call himself Henry David after he finished college; he never petitioned to make a legal name change. He had two older siblings, Helen and John Jr., and a younger sister, Sophia Thoreau. None of the children married. Helen (1812–1849) died at age 37 years, from tuberculosis. John Jr. (1814–1842) died at age 27, of tetanus after cutting himself while shaving. Henry David (1817–1862) died at age 44, of tuberculosis. Sophia (1819–1876) survived him by 14 years, dying at age 56 years, of tuberculosis. He studied at Harvard College between 1833 and 1837. He lived in
Hollis Hall This is a list of dormitories at Harvard College. Only freshmen live in these dormitories, which are located in and around Harvard Yard. Sophomores, juniors and seniors live in the House system. Apley Court South of Harvard Yard on Holyoke Stre ...
and took courses in
rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...
, classics, philosophy, mathematics, and science. He was a member of the Institute of 1770 (now the Hasty Pudding Club). According to legend, Thoreau refused to pay the five-dollar fee (approximately ) for a Harvard diploma. In fact, the master's degree he declined to purchase had no academic merit: Harvard College offered it to graduates "who proved their physical worth by being alive three years after graduating, and their saving, earning, or inheriting quality or condition by having Five Dollars to give the college". He commented, "Let every sheep keep its own skin", a reference to the tradition of using sheepskin vellum for diplomas. Thoreau's birthplace still exists on Virginia Road in Concord. The house has been restored by the Thoreau Farm Trust, a nonprofit organization, and is now open to the public.


Return to Concord, 1837–1844

The traditional professions open to college graduates—law, the church, business, medicine—did not interest Thoreau,Sattelmeyer, Robert (1988). ''Thoreau's Reading: A Study in Intellectual History with Bibliographical Catalogue''
Chapter 2
. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
so in 1835 he took a leave of absence from Harvard, during which he taught at a school in
Canton, Massachusetts Canton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 24,370 at the 2020 census. Canton is part of Greater Boston, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) southwest of downtown Boston. Hist ...
, living for two years at an earlier version of today's Colonial Inn in Concord. His grandfather owned the earliest of the three buildings that were later combined.''The History of Concord, Massachusetts, Vol. I, Colonial Concord, Volume 1'', Alfred Sereno Hudson (1904), p. 311 After he graduated in 1837, Thoreau joined the faculty of the Concord public school, but he resigned after a few weeks rather than administer corporal punishment. He and his brother John then opened the Concord Academy, a grammar school in Concord, in 1838. They introduced several progressive concepts, including nature walks and visits to local shops and businesses. The school closed when John became fatally ill from tetanus in 1842 after cutting himself while shaving. He died in Henry's arms. Upon graduation Thoreau returned home to Concord, where he met Ralph Waldo Emerson through a mutual friend. Emerson, who was 14 years his senior, took a paternal and at times patron-like interest in Thoreau, advising the young man and introducing him to a circle of local writers and thinkers, including
Ellery Channing William Ellery Channing II (November 29, 1817 – December 23, 1901) was an American Transcendentalist poet, nephew and namesake of the Unitarian preacher Dr. William Ellery Channing. His uncle was usually known as "Dr. Channing", while the ne ...
,
Margaret Fuller Sarah Margaret Fuller (May 23, 1810 – July 19, 1850), sometimes referred to as Margaret Fuller Ossoli, was an American journalist, editor, critic, translator, and women's rights advocate associated with the American transcendentalism movemen ...
, Bronson Alcott, and Nathaniel Hawthorne and his son
Julian Hawthorne Julian Hawthorne (June 22, 1846 – July 14, 1934) was an American writer and journalist, the son of novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne and Sophia Peabody. He wrote numerous poems, novels, short stories, mysteries and detective fiction, essays, t ...
, who was a boy at the time. Emerson urged Thoreau to contribute essays and poems to a quarterly periodical, '' The Dial'', and lobbied the editor, Margaret Fuller, to publish those writings. Thoreau's first essay published in ''The Dial'' was "Aulus Persius Flaccus", an essay on the Roman poet and satirist, in July 1840. It consisted of revised passages from his journal, which he had begun keeping at Emerson's suggestion. The first journal entry, on October 22, 1837, reads, "'What are you doing now?' he asked. 'Do you keep a journal?' So I make my first entry to-day." Thoreau was a philosopher of nature and its relation to the human condition. In his early years he followed transcendentalism, a loose and eclectic
idealist In philosophy, the term idealism identifies and describes metaphysical perspectives which assert that reality is indistinguishable and inseparable from perception and understanding; that reality is a mental construct closely connected to ide ...
philosophy advocated by Emerson, Fuller, and Alcott. They held that an ideal spiritual state transcends, or goes beyond, the physical and empirical, and that one achieves that insight via personal intuition rather than religious doctrine. In their view, Nature is the outward sign of inward spirit, expressing the "radical correspondence of visible things and human thoughts", as Emerson wrote in ''Nature'' (1836). On April 18, 1841, Thoreau moved into the Emerson house.Cheever, Susan (2006). ''American Bloomsbury: Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau; Their Lives, Their Loves, Their Work''. Detroit: Thorndike Press. p. 90. . There, from 1841 to 1844, he served as the children's tutor; he was also an editorial assistant, repairman and gardener. For a few months in 1843, he moved to the home of William Emerson on
Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...
, and tutored the family's sons while seeking contacts among literary men and journalists in the city who might help publish his writings, including his future literary representative
Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and newspaper editor, editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congressm ...
. Thoreau returned to Concord and worked in his family's pencil factory, which he would continue to do alongside his writing and other work for most of his adult life. He rediscovered the process of making good pencils with inferior graphite by using clay as the binder. This invention allowed profitable use of a graphite source found in New Hampshire that had been purchased in 1821 by Thoreau's uncle, Charles Dunbar. The process of mixing graphite and clay, known as the Conté process, had been first patented by
Nicolas-Jacques Conté Nicolas-Jacques Conté (4 August 1755 – 6 December 1805) was a French painter, balloonist, army officer, and inventor of the modern pencil. He was born at Saint-Céneri-près-Sées (now Aunou-sur-Orne) in Normandy and distinguished himself for ...
in 1795. The company's other source of graphite had been
Tantiusques Tantiusques ("Tant-E-oos-kwiss") is a open space reservation and historic site registered with the National Register of Historic Places. The reservation is located in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, and is owned and managed by The Trustees of Rese ...
, a mine operated by Native Americans in
Sturbridge, Massachusetts Sturbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is home to Old Sturbridge Village living history museum and other sites of historical interest such as Tantiusques. The population was 9,867 at the 2020 census, with mo ...
. Later, Thoreau converted the pencil factory to produce plumbago, a name for graphite at the time, which was used in the
electrotyping Electrotyping (also galvanoplasty) is a chemical method for forming metal parts that exactly reproduce a model. The method was invented by Moritz von Jacobi Moritz Hermann or Boris Semyonovich (von) Jacobi (russian: Борис Семёнови ...
process. Once back in Concord, Thoreau went through a restless period. In April 1844 he and his friend Edward Hoar accidentally set a fire that consumed of Walden Woods.


"Civil Disobedience" and the Walden years, 1845–1850

Thoreau felt a need to concentrate and work more on his writing. In 1845, Ellery Channing told Thoreau, "Go out upon that, build yourself a hut, & there begin the grand process of devouring yourself alive. I see no other alternative, no other hope for you." Thus, on July 4, 1845, Thoreau embarked on a two-year experiment in
simple living Simple living refers to practices that promote simplicity in one's lifestyle. Common practices of simple living include reducing the number of possessions one owns, depending less on technology and services, and spending less money. Not only is ...
, moving to a small house he had built on land owned by Emerson in a second growth forest around the shores of Walden Pond. The house was in "a pretty pasture and woodlot" of that Emerson had bought, from his family home. Whilst there, he wrote his only extended piece of literary criticism, " Thomas Carlyle and His Works". On July 24 or July 25, 1846, Thoreau ran into the local tax collector, Sam Staples, who asked him to pay six years of delinquent poll taxes. Thoreau refused because of his opposition to the Mexican–American War and slavery, and he spent a night in jail because of this refusal. The next day Thoreau was freed when someone, likely to have been his aunt, paid the tax, against his wishes.Rosenwald, Lawrence.
The Theory, Practice and Influence of Thoreau's Civil Disobedience
. William Cain, ed. (2006). ''A Historical Guide to Henry David Thoreau''. Cambridge: Oxford University Press.
The experience had a strong impact on Thoreau. In January and February 1848, he delivered lectures on "The Rights and Duties of the Individual in relation to Government", explaining his tax resistance at the
Concord Lyceum Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...
. Bronson Alcott attended the lecture, writing in his journal on January 26: Thoreau revised the lecture into an essay titled " Resistance to Civil Government" (also known as "Civil Disobedience"). It was published by Elizabeth Peabody in the ''Aesthetic Papers'' in May 1849. Thoreau had taken up a version of
Percy Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( ; 4 August 17928 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achie ...
's principle in the political poem " The Mask of Anarchy" (1819), which begins with the powerful images of the unjust forms of authority of his time and then imagines the stirrings of a radically new form of social action. At Walden Pond, Thoreau completed a first draft of '' A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers'', an elegy to his brother John, describing their trip to the White Mountains in 1839. Thoreau did not find a publisher for the book and instead printed 1,000 copies at his own expense; fewer than 300 were sold. He self-published the book on the advice of Emerson, using Emerson's publisher, Munroe, who did little to publicize the book. In August 1846, Thoreau briefly left Walden to make a trip to Mount Katahdin in Maine, a journey later recorded in "Ktaadn", the first part of ''The Maine Woods''. Thoreau left Walden Pond on September 6, 1847. At Emerson's request, he immediately moved back to the Emerson house to help Emerson's wife, Lidian, manage the household while her husband was on an extended trip to Europe. Over several years, as he worked to pay off his debts, he continuously revised the manuscript of what he eventually published as '' Walden, or Life in the Woods'' in 1854, recounting the two years, two months, and two days he had spent at Walden Pond. The book compresses that time into a single calendar year, using the passage of the four seasons to symbolize human development. Part memoir and part spiritual quest, ''Walden'' at first won few admirers, but later critics have regarded it as a classic American work that explores natural simplicity, harmony, and beauty as models for just social and cultural conditions. The American poet
Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in the United States. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloq ...
wrote of Thoreau, "In one book ... he surpasses everything we have had in America." The American author
John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth ...
said of the book, "A century and a half after its publication, Walden has become such a totem of the back-to-nature, preservationist, anti-business, civil-disobedience mindset, and Thoreau so vivid a protester, so perfect a crank and hermit saint, that the book risks being as revered and unread as the Bible." Thoreau moved out of Emerson's house in July 1848 and stayed at a house on nearby Belknap Street. In 1850, he moved into a house at 255 Main Street, where he lived until his death. In the summer of 1850, Thoreau and Channing journeyed from Boston to Montreal and Quebec City. These would be Thoreau's only travels outside the United States. It is as a result of this trip that he developed lectures that eventually became ''A Yankee in Canada''. He jested that all he got from this adventure "was a cold". In fact, this proved an opportunity to contrast American civic spirit and democratic values with a colony apparently ruled by illegitimate religious and military power. Whereas his own country had had its revolution, in Canada history had failed to turn.


Later years, 1851–1862

In 1851, Thoreau became increasingly fascinated with natural history and narratives of travel and expedition. He read avidly on botany and often wrote observations on this topic into his journal. He admired
William Bartram William Bartram (April 20, 1739 – July 22, 1823) was an American botanist, ornithologist, natural historian and explorer. Bartram was the author of an acclaimed book, now known by the shortened title ''Bartram's Travels'', which chronicled ...
and Charles Darwin's ''
Voyage of the Beagle The second voyage of HMS ''Beagle'', from 27 December 1831 to 2 October 1836, was the second survey expedition of HMS ''Beagle'', under captain Robert FitzRoy who had taken over command of the ship on its first voyage after the previous capt ...
''. He kept detailed observations on Concord's nature lore, recording everything from how the fruit ripened over time to the fluctuating depths of Walden Pond and the days certain birds migrated. The point of this task was to "anticipate" the seasons of nature, in his word. He became a
land surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...
and continued to write increasingly detailed observations on the natural history of the town, covering an area of , in his journal, a two-million-word document he kept for 24 years. He also kept a series of notebooks, and these observations became the source of his late writings on natural history, such as "Autumnal Tints", "The Succession of Trees", and "Wild Apples", an essay lamenting the destruction of the local
wild apple ''Malus sieversii'' is a wild apple native to the mountains of Central Asia in southern Kazakhstan. It has recently been shown to be the primary ancestor of most cultivars of the domesticated apple (''Malus domestica''). It was first described as ...
species. With the rise of environmental history and ecocriticism as academic disciplines, several new readings of Thoreau began to emerge, showing him to have been both a philosopher and an analyst of ecological patterns in fields and woodlots. For instance, "The Succession of Forest Trees", shows that he used experimentation and analysis to explain how forests regenerate after fire or human destruction, through the dispersal of seeds by winds or animals. In this lecture, first presented to a cattle show in Concord, and considered his greatest contribution to ecology, Thoreau explained why one species of tree can grow in a place where a different tree did previously. He observed that
squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...
s often carry nuts far from the tree from which they fell to create stashes. These seeds are likely to germinate and grow should the squirrel die or abandon the stash. He credited the squirrel for performing a "great service ... in the economy of the universe." He traveled to
Canada East Canada East (french: links=no, Canada-Est) was the northeastern portion of the United Province of Canada. Lord Durham's Report investigating the causes of the Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions recommended merging those two colonies. The new ...
once, Cape Cod four times, and Maine three times; these landscapes inspired his "excursion" books, ''
A Yankee in Canada ''A Yankee in Canada, with Anti-Slavery and Reform Papers'' is an anthology of works by Henry David Thoreau, edited by his sister Sophia Thoreau and his friends William Ellery Channing and Ralph Waldo Emerson. It was published in 1866, after Thore ...
'', ''Cape Cod'', and ''The Maine Woods'', in which travel itineraries frame his thoughts about geography, history and philosophy. Other travels took him southwest to Philadelphia and New York City in 1854 and west across the Great Lakes region in 1861, when he visited Niagara Falls, Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and
Mackinac Island Mackinac Island ( ; french: Île Mackinac; oj, Mishimikinaak ᒥᔑᒥᑭᓈᒃ; otw, Michilimackinac) is an island and resort area, covering in land area, in the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the island in Odawa is Michilimackinac an ...
. He was provincial in his own travels, but he read widely about travel in other lands. He devoured all the first-hand travel accounts available in his day, at a time when the last unmapped regions of the earth were being explored. He read Magellan and
James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...
; the
arctic explorer Arctic exploration is the physical exploration of the Arctic region of the Earth. It refers to the historical period during which mankind has explored the region north of the Arctic Circle. Historical records suggest that humankind have explored ...
s John Franklin, Alexander Mackenzie and William Parry; David Livingstone and Richard Francis Burton on Africa;
Lewis and Clark Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
; and hundreds of lesser-known works by explorers and literate travelers. Astonishing amounts of reading fed his endless curiosity about the peoples, cultures, religions and natural history of the world and left its traces as commentaries in his voluminous journals. He processed everything he read, in the local laboratory of his Concord experience. Among his famous aphorisms is his advice to "live at home like a traveler". After
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...
, many prominent voices in the abolitionist movement distanced themselves from Brown or damned him with faint praise. Thoreau was disgusted by this, and he composed a key speech, ''
A Plea for Captain John Brown "A Plea for Captain John Brown" is an essay by Henry David Thoreau. It is based on a speech Thoreau first delivered to an audience at Concord, Massachusetts, on October 30, 1859, two weeks after John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, and repeated ...
'', which was uncompromising in its defense of Brown and his actions. Thoreau's speech proved persuasive: the abolitionist movement began to accept Brown as a martyr, and by the time of the American Civil War entire armies of the North were literally singing Brown's praises. As a biographer of Brown put it, "If, as Alfred Kazin suggests, without John Brown there would have been no Civil War, we would add that without the Concord Transcendentalists, John Brown would have had little cultural impact."


Death

Thoreau contracted tuberculosis in 1835 and suffered from it sporadically afterwards. In 1860, following a late-night excursion to count the rings of tree stumps during a rainstorm, he became ill with bronchitis. His health declined, with brief periods of remission, and he eventually became bedridden. Recognizing the terminal nature of his disease, Thoreau spent his last years revising and editing his unpublished works, particularly ''The Maine Woods'' and ''Excursions'', and petitioning publishers to print revised editions of ''A Week'' and ''Walden''. He wrote letters and journal entries until he became too weak to continue. His friends were alarmed at his diminished appearance and were fascinated by his tranquil acceptance of death. When his aunt Louisa asked him in his last weeks if he had made his peace with God, Thoreau responded, "I did not know we had ever quarreled." Aware he was dying, Thoreau's last words were "Now comes good sailing", followed by two lone words, "moose" and "Indian". He died on May 6, 1862, at age 44.
Amos Bronson Alcott Amos Bronson Alcott (; November 29, 1799 – March 4, 1888) was an American teacher, writer, philosopher, and reformer. As an educator, Alcott pioneered new ways of interacting with young students, focusing on a conversational style, and av ...
planned the service and read selections from Thoreau's works, and Channing presented a hymn. Emerson wrote the eulogy spoken at the funeral. Thoreau was buried in the Dunbar family plot; his remains and those of members of his immediate family were eventually moved to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts.


Nature and human existence

Thoreau was an early advocate of recreational hiking and
canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...
, of conserving natural resources on private land, and of preserving wilderness as public land. He was himself a highly skilled canoeist; Nathaniel Hawthorne, after a ride with him, noted that "Mr. Thoreau managed the boat so perfectly, either with two paddles or with one, that it seemed instinct with his own will, and to require no physical effort to guide it." He was not a strict vegetarian, though he said he preferred that diet and advocated it as a means of self-improvement. He wrote in ''Walden'', "The practical objection to animal food in my case was its uncleanness; and besides, when I had caught and cleaned and cooked and eaten my fish, they seemed not to have fed me essentially. It was insignificant and unnecessary, and cost more than it came to. A little bread or a few potatoes would have done as well, with less trouble and filth."Cheever, Susan (2006). ''American Bloomsbury: Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau; Their Lives, Their Loves, Their Work''. Detroit: Thorndike Press. Large print edition. p. 241. . Thoreau neither rejected civilization nor fully embraced wilderness. Instead he sought a middle ground, the
pastoral A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...
realm that integrates nature and culture. His philosophy required that he be a didactic arbitrator between the wilderness he based so much on and the spreading mass of humanity in North America. He decried the latter endlessly but felt that a teacher needs to be close to those who needed to hear what he wanted to tell them. The wildness he enjoyed was the nearby swamp or forest, and he preferred "partially cultivated country". His idea of being "far in the recesses of the wilderness" of Maine was to "travel the logger's path and the Indian trail", but he also hiked on pristine land. In the essay "Henry David Thoreau, Philosopher" Roderick Nash wrote, "Thoreau left Concord in 1846 for the first of three trips to northern Maine. His expectations were high because he hoped to find genuine, primeval America. But contact with real wilderness in Maine affected him far differently than had the idea of wilderness in Concord. Instead of coming out of the woods with a deepened appreciation of the wilds, Thoreau felt a greater respect for civilization and realized the necessity of balance." Of alcohol, Thoreau wrote, "I would fain keep sober always. ... I believe that water is the only drink for a wise man; wine is not so noble a liquor. ... Of all ebriosity, who does not prefer to be intoxicated by the air he breathes?"


Sexuality

Thoreau never married and was childless. In 1840, when he was 23, he proposed to eighteen-year old Ellen Sewall, but she refused him, on the advice of her father. Thoreau's sexuality has long been the subject of speculation, including by his contemporaries. Critics have called him heterosexual,
homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
, or asexual. There is no evidence to suggest he had physical relations with anyone, man or woman. Some scholars have suggested that homoerotic sentiments run through his writings and concluded that he was homosexual.Harding, Walter (1991). "Thoreau's Sexuality". ''Journal of Homosexuality'' 21.3. pp. 23–45. The elegy "Sympathy" was inspired by the eleven-year-old Edmund Sewall, who had just spent five days in the Thoreau household in 1839. One scholar has suggested that he wrote the poem to Edmund because he could not bring himself to write it to Edmund's sister Anna, and another that Thoreau's "emotional experiences with women are memorialized under a camouflage of masculine pronouns", but other scholars dismiss this. It has been argued that the long paean in ''Walden'' to the French-Canadian woodchopper Alek Therien, which includes allusions to Achilles and Patroclus, is an expression of conflicted desire. In some of Thoreau's writing there is the sense of a secret self. In 1840 he writes in his journal: "My friend is the apology for my life. In him are the spaces which my orbit traverses". Thoreau was strongly influenced by the moral reformers of his time, and this may have instilled anxiety and guilt over sexual desire.


Politics

Thoreau was fervently against slavery and actively supported the abolitionist movement. He participated as a conductor in the Underground Railroad, delivered lectures that attacked the Fugitive Slave Law, and in opposition to the popular opinion of the time, supported radical abolitionist militia leader
John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...
and his party. Two weeks after the ill-fated
raid on Harpers Ferry Raid, RAID or Raids may refer to: Attack * Raid (military), a sudden attack behind the enemy's lines without the intention of holding ground * Corporate raid, a type of hostile takeover in business * Panty raid, a prankish raid by male college s ...
and in the weeks leading up to Brown's execution, Thoreau delivered a speech to the citizens of Concord, Massachusetts, in which he compared the American government to Pontius Pilate and likened Brown's execution to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ: In '' The Last Days of John Brown'', Thoreau described the words and deeds of John Brown as noble and an example of heroism.The Last Days of John Brown
from the Writings of Henry David Thoreau: The Digital Collection
In addition, he lamented the newspaper editors who dismissed Brown and his scheme as "crazy". Thoreau was a proponent of limited government and individualism. Although he was hopeful that mankind could potentially have, through self-betterment, the kind of government which "governs not at all", he distanced himself from contemporary "no-government men" ( anarchists), writing: "I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government." Thoreau deemed the evolution from absolute monarchy to
limited monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...
to democracy as "a progress toward true respect for the individual" and theorized about further improvements "towards recognizing and organizing the rights of man". Echoing this belief, he went on to write: "There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly." It is on this basis that Thoreau could so strongly inveigh against the British administration and Catholicism in ''A Yankee in Canada''. Despotic authority, Thoreau argued, had crushed the people's sense of ingenuity and enterprise; the Canadian ''habitants'' had been reduced, in his view, to a perpetual childlike state. Ignoring the recent rebellions, he argued that there would be no revolution in the St. Lawrence River valley. Although Thoreau believed resistance to unjustly exercised authority could be both violent (exemplified in his support for John Brown) and nonviolent (his own example of tax resistance displayed in ''Resistance to Civil Government''), he regarded
pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...
nonresistance as temptation to passivity,The Service
from the Writings of Henry David Thoreau: The Digital Collection
writing: "Let not our Peace be proclaimed by the rust on our swords, or our inability to draw them from their scabbards; but let her at least have so much work on her hands as to keep those swords bright and sharp." Furthermore, in a formal lyceum debate in 1841, he debated the subject "Is it ever proper to offer forcible resistance?", arguing the affirmative. Likewise, his condemnation of the Mexican–American War did not stem from pacifism, but rather because he considered Mexico "unjustly overrun and conquered by a foreign army" as a means to expand the slave territory. Thoreau was ambivalent towards
industrialization Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...
and capitalism. On one hand he regarded commerce as "unexpectedly confident and serene, adventurous, and unwearied" and expressed admiration for its associated
cosmopolitanism Cosmopolitanism is the idea that all human beings are members of a single community. Its adherents are known as cosmopolitan or cosmopolite. Cosmopolitanism is both prescriptive and aspirational, believing humans can and should be " world citizens ...
, writing: On the other hand, he wrote disparagingly of the factory system: Thoreau also favored bioregionalism, the protection of animals and wild areas, free trade, and taxation for schools and highways. He disapproved of the subjugation of Native Americans, slavery, technological utopianism, consumerism, philistinism, mass entertainment, and frivolous applications of technology.


Intellectual interests, influences, and affinities


Indian sacred texts and philosophy

Thoreau was influenced by Indian spiritual thought. In ''Walden'', there are many overt references to the sacred texts of India. For example, in the first chapter ("Economy"), he writes: "How much more admirable the
Bhagvat-Geeta The Bhagavad Gita (; sa, श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, lit=The Song by God, translit=śrīmadbhagavadgītā;), often referred to as the Gita (), is a 700- verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic ''Mahabharata'' (c ...
than all the ruins of the East!" ''American Philosophy: An Encyclopedia'' classes him as one of several figures who "took a more pantheist or
pandeist Pandeism (or pan-deism), is a theological doctrine that combines aspects of pantheism with aspects of deism. Unlike classical deism, which holds that God does not interfere with the universe after its creation, pandeism holds that a creator de ...
approach by rejecting views of God as separate from the world", also a characteristic of Hinduism. Furthermore, in "The Pond in Winter", he equates Walden Pond with the sacred
Ganges river The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
, writing: Thoreau was aware his Ganges imagery could have been factual. He wrote about ice harvesting at Walden Pond. And he knew that New England's
ice merchants Ice Merchants is a 2022 animated short film directed by João Gonzalez. The 14-minute short about family love is the first ever Portuguese animation to be awarded at the Cannes Film Festival, where it premiered as part of the 2022 Critics' Week ...
were shipping ice to foreign ports, including Calcutta. Additionally, Thoreau followed various
Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
customs, including a diet largely consisting of rice ("It was fit that I should live on rice, mainly, who loved so well the philosophy of India."),
flute playing The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
(reminiscent of the favorite musical pastime of Krishna), and yoga. In an 1849 letter to his friend H.G.O. Blake, he wrote about yoga and its meaning to him:


Biology

Thoreau read contemporary works in the new science of biology, including the works of Alexander von Humboldt, Charles Darwin, and
Asa Gray Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessarily mutually excl ...
(Charles Darwin's staunchest American ally). Thoreau was deeply influenced by Humboldt, especially his work ''Cosmos''. In 1859, Thoreau purchased and read Darwin's '' On the Origin of Species''. Unlike many natural historians at the time, including
Louis Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he rec ...
who publicly opposed Darwinism in favor of a static view of nature, Thoreau was immediately enthusiastic about the theory of
evolution by natural selection Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Charle ...
and endorsed it, stating:


Influence

Thoreau's political writings had little impact during his lifetime, as "his contemporaries did not see him as a theorist or as a radical", viewing him instead as a naturalist. They either dismissed or ignored his political essays, including ''Civil Disobedience''. The only two complete books (as opposed to essays) published in his lifetime, ''Walden'' and ''A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers'' (1849), both dealt with nature, in which he "loved to wander". His obituary was lumped in with others rather than as a separate article in an 1862 yearbook. Critics and the public continued either to disdain or to ignore Thoreau for years, but the publication of extracts from his journal in the 1880's by his friend H.G.O. Blake, and of a definitive set of Thoreau's works by the
Riverside Press Riverside Insights is a publisher of clinical and educational standardized tests in the United States; it is headquartered in Itasca, Illinois. It is also a charter member of the Association of Test Publishers. Riverside Insights was establish ...
between 1893 and 1906, led to the rise of what literary historian F. L. Pattee called a "Thoreau cult."Pattee, Fred Lewis, ''A History of American Literature Since 1870'', Ch.VII, pp.138-139 (Appleton: New York, London, 1915).
/ref> Thoreau's writings went on to influence many public figures. Political leaders and reformers like
Mohandas Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
, U.S. President John F. Kennedy, American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, and Russian author Leo Tolstoy all spoke of being strongly affected by Thoreau's work, particularly ''Civil Disobedience'', as did "
right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...
theorist Frank Chodorov hodevoted an entire issue of his monthly, ''Analysis'', to an appreciation of Thoreau".
Rothbard, Murray Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American economist of the Austrian School, economic historian, political theorist, and activist. Rothbard was a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian ...

Confessions of a Right-Wing Liberal
, '' Ramparts'', VI, 4, June 15, 1968
Thoreau also influenced many artists and authors including Edward Abbey, Willa Cather,
Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist who wrote the monumental novel ''In Search of Lost Time'' (''À la recherche du temps perdu''; with the previous Eng ...
, William Butler Yeats, Sinclair Lewis, Ernest Hemingway, Upton Sinclair, E. B. White, Lewis Mumford, Frank Lloyd Wright,
Alexander Posey Alexander Lawrence Posey (August 3, 1873 – May 27, 1908) was an American poet, humorist, journalist, and politician in the Creek Nation.Schneider 190 He founded the '' Eufaula Indian Journal'' in 1901, the first Native American daily newspaper ...
, and Gustav Stickley. Thoreau also influenced naturalists like
John Burroughs John Burroughs (April 3, 1837 – March 29, 1921) was an American naturalist and nature essayist, active in the conservation movement in the United States. The first of his essay collections was ''Wake-Robin'' in 1871. In the words of his bio ...
, John Muir, E. O. Wilson, Edwin Way Teale,
Joseph Wood Krutch Joseph Wood Krutch (; November 25, 1893 – May 22, 1970) was an American author, critic, and naturalist who wrote nature books on the American Southwest. He is known for developing a pantheistic philosophy. Biography Born in Knoxville, Tenne ...
,
B. F. Skinner Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 – August 18, 1990) was an American psychologist, behaviorist, author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was a professor of psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974. ...
, David Brower, and Loren Eiseley, whom ''Publishers Weekly'' called "the modern Thoreau". Thoreau's friend William Ellery Channing published his first biography, ''Thoreau the Poet-Naturalist'', in 1873. English writer
Henry Stephens Salt Henry Shakespear Stephens Salt (; 20 September 1851 – 19 April 1939) was an English writer and campaigner for social reform in the fields of prisons, schools, economic institutions, and the treatment of animals. He was a noted ethical vegeta ...
wrote a biography of Thoreau in 1890, which popularized Thoreau's ideas in Britain: George Bernard Shaw, Edward Carpenter, and Robert Blatchford were among those who became Thoreau enthusiasts as a result of Salt's advocacy. Mohandas Gandhi first read ''Walden'' in 1906 while working as a civil rights activist in Johannesburg, South Africa. He first read ''Civil Disobedience'' "while he sat in a South African prison for the crime of nonviolently protesting discrimination against the Indian population in the
Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...
. The essay galvanized Gandhi, who wrote and published a synopsis of Thoreau's argument, calling its 'incisive logic ... unanswerable' and referring to Thoreau as 'one of the greatest and most moral men America has produced'." He told American reporter Webb Miller, " horeau'sideas influenced me greatly. I adopted some of them and recommended the study of Thoreau to all of my friends who were helping me in the cause of Indian Independence. Why I actually took the name of my movement from Thoreau's essay 'On the Duty of Civil Disobedience', written about 80 years ago." Martin Luther King Jr. noted in his autobiography that his first encounter with the idea of nonviolent resistance was reading "On Civil Disobedience" in 1944 while attending
Morehouse College , mottoeng = And there was light (literal translation of Latin itself translated from Hebrew: "And light was made") , type = Private historically black men's liberal arts college , academic_affiliations ...
. He wrote in his autobiography that it was,
Here, in this courageous New Englander's refusal to pay his taxes and his choice of jail rather than support a war that would spread slavery's territory into Mexico, I made my first contact with the theory of nonviolent resistance. Fascinated by the idea of refusing to cooperate with an evil system, I was so deeply moved that I reread the work several times. I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. No other person has been more eloquent and passionate in getting this idea across than Henry David Thoreau. As a result of his writings and personal witness, we are the heirs of a legacy of creative protest. The teachings of Thoreau came alive in our civil rights movement; indeed, they are more alive than ever before. Whether expressed in a sit-in at lunch counters, a freedom ride into Mississippi, a peaceful protest in Albany, Georgia, a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, these are outgrowths of Thoreau's insistence that evil must be resisted and that no moral man can patiently adjust to injustice.
American psychologist B. F. Skinner wrote that he carried a copy of Thoreau's ''Walden'' with him in his youth. In 1945 he wrote ''
Walden Two ''Walden Two'' is a utopian novel written by behavioral psychologist B. F. Skinner, first published in 1948. In its time, it could have been considered science fiction, since science-based methods for altering people's behavior did not yet exis ...
'', a fictional utopia about 1,000 members of a community living together inspired by the life of Thoreau. Thoreau and his fellow
Transcendentalists Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that developed in the late 1820s and 1830s in New England. "Transcendentalism is an American literary, political, and philosophical movement of the early nineteenth century, centered around Ralph Wald ...
from Concord were a major inspiration of the composer
Charles Ives Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, one of the first American composers of international renown. His music was largely ignored during his early career, and many of his works went unperformed f ...
. The 4th movement of the
Concord Sonata The Piano Sonata No. 2, ''Concord, Mass., 1840–60'' (commonly known as the ''Concord Sonata'') is a piano sonata by Charles Ives. It is one of the composer's best-known and most highly regarded pieces. A typical performance of the piece lasts ar ...
for piano (with a part for flute, Thoreau's instrument) is a character picture, and he also set Thoreau's words. Actor Ron Thompson did a dramatic portrayal of Henry David Thoreau on the 1976 NBC television series '' The Rebels''. Thoreau's ideas have impacted and resonated with various strains in the
anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
movement, with
Emma Goldman Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born anarchist political activist and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the ...
referring to him as "the greatest American anarchist".
Green anarchism Green anarchism (or eco-anarchism"green anarchism (also called eco-anarchism)" in ''An Anarchist FAQ'' by various authors.) is an anarchist school of thought that puts a particular emphasis on ecology and environmental issues. A green anarchist ...
and anarcho-primitivism in particular have both derived inspiration and ecological points-of-view from the writings of Thoreau.
John Zerzan John Edward Zerzan ( ; born August 10, 1943) is an American anarchist and primitivist ecophilosopher and author. His works criticize agricultural civilization as inherently oppressive, and advocates drawing upon the ways of life of hunter-gathe ...
included Thoreau's text "Excursions" (1863) in his edited compilation of works in the anarcho-primitivist tradition titled ''Against civilization: Readings and reflections''. Additionally, Murray Rothbard, the founder of
anarcho-capitalism Anarcho-capitalism (or, colloquially, ancap) is an anti-statist, libertarian, and anti-political philosophy and economic theory that seeks to abolish centralized states in favor of stateless societies with systems of private property enforce ...
, has opined that Thoreau was one of the "great intellectual heroes" of his movement. Thoreau was also an important influence on late-19th-century
anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
naturism Naturism is a lifestyle of practising non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms ar ...
. Globally, Thoreau's concepts also held importance within
individualist anarchist Individualist anarchism is the branch of anarchism that emphasizes the individual and their Will (philosophy), will over external determinants such as groups, society, traditions and ideological systems."What do I mean by individualism? I mean ...
circles"Les anarchistes individualistes du début du siècle l'avaient bien compris, et intégraient le naturisme dans leurs préoccupations. Il est vraiment dommage que ce discours se soit peu à peu effacé, d'antan plus que nous assistons, en ce moment, à un retour en force du puritanisme (conservateur par essence)
"Anarchisme et naturisme, aujourd'hui." by Cathy Ytak
in Spain, France,
and Portugal.Freire, João. "Anarchisme et naturisme au Portugal, dans les années 1920" in ''Les anarchistes du Portugal''. ibliographic data necessary for this ref./ref> For the 200th anniversary of his birth, publishers released several new editions of his work: a recreation of ''Walden'' 1902 edition with illustrations, a picture book with excerpts from ''Walden'', and an annotated collection of Thoreau's essays on slavery. The United States Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp honoring Thoreau on May 23, 2017, in Concord, MA.


Adaptations

In 2017, '' Walden, a Game'' was released on itch.io. Created by Tracy Fullerton, it is an open world, first person videogame adaptation of Thoreau's '' Walden''. Players can build the protagonist's cabin, explore the environment, record flora and fauna, farm the land, visit Emerson's house and the town of Concord. At the end of each day players are invited to reflect on their journal which gradually fills up with reflections based on the player's journey and day-to-day experiences. The game also includes letters between Thoreau and his contemporaries, including Amos Bronson Alcott and Ralph Waldo Emerson. It also includes letters between his contemporaries to build a picture of Thoreau's reception as a writer and his connections in the literary and Transcendentalist scene in America at the time. The game was released for PlayStation 4 in 2018.


Criticism

Thoreau's work and career received little attention until 1865, when the '' North American Review'' published James Russell Lowell's review of various papers of Thoreau's that Emerson had collected and edited. Lowell's essay, ''Letters to Various Persons'',Lowell, James Russell, "Letters to Various Persons," in ''The North American Review'', Vol.CI, No.209, pp.597-608 (October 1865).
/ref> which Lowell republished as a chapter in his ''My Study Windows'',Lowell, James Russell, ''My Study Windows'', Ch.VII, pp.193-209 (Osgood: Boston 1871).
/ref> derided Thoreau as a humorless poseur trafficking in commonplaces, a sentimentalist lacking in imagination, a "Diogenes in his barrel," resentfully criticizing what he could not attain. Lowell's caustic analysis influenced Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, who criticized Thoreau as a "skulker," saying "He did not wish virtue to go out of him among his fellow-men, but slunk into a corner to hoard it for himself." Nathaniel Hawthorne had mixed feelings about Thoreau. He noted that "He is a keen and delicate observer of nature—a genuine observer—which, I suspect, is almost as rare a character as even an original poet; and Nature, in return for his love, seems to adopt him as her especial child, and shows him secrets which few others are allowed to witness." On the other hand, he also wrote that Thoreau "repudiated all regular modes of getting a living, and seems inclined to lead a sort of Indian life among civilized men". In a similar vein, poet
John Greenleaf Whittier John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Frequently listed as one of the fireside poets, he was influenced by the Scottish poet ...
detested what he deemed to be the "wicked" and "heathenish" message of ''Walden'', claiming that Thoreau wanted man to "lower himself to the level of a woodchuck and walk on four legs". In response to such criticisms, English novelist George Eliot, writing for the '' Westminster Review'', characterized such critics as uninspired and narrow-minded: Thoreau himself also responded to the criticism in a paragraph of his work ''Walden'' by illustrating the irrelevance of their inquiries: Recent criticism has accused Thoreau of hypocrisy, misanthropy, and being sanctimonious, based on his writings in ''Walden'', although this criticism has been perceived as highly selective.


Selected works

Many of Thoreau's works were not published during his lifetime, including his journals and numerous unfinished manuscripts. * ''Aulus Persius Flaccus'' (1840) * ''
The Service ''The Service'' is an essay written in 1840 by Henry David Thoreau. He submitted it to ''The Dial'' for publication, but they declined to print it. It was not published until after Thoreau's death. The essay uses war and military discipline ...
'' (1840) * ''
A Walk to Wachusett "A Walk to Wachusett" is an essay written by Henry David ThoreauHowe, Daniel Walker, ''What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848''. . recounting an excursion he took with a companion, Richard Fuller, from Concord, Massachuse ...
'' (1842) * '' Paradise (to be) Regained'' (1843) * ''The Landlord'' (1843) * ''
Sir Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion ...
'' (1844) * '' Herald of Freedom'' (1844) * '' Wendell Phillips Before the Concord Lyceum'' (1845) * ''
Reform and the Reformers ''Reform and the Reformers'' is an essay written by Henry David Thoreau. The essay was never published in his lifetime, and has been cobbled together from existing lecture notes that Thoreau himself picked over for his other writings, such as ' ...
'' (1846–48) * '' Thomas Carlyle and His Works'' (1847) * '' A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers'' (1849) * '' Resistance to Civil Government'', or ''Civil Disobedience'', or ''On the Duty of Civil Disobedience'' (1849) * ''An Excursion to Canada'' (1853) * ''
Slavery in Massachusetts ''Slavery in Massachusetts'' is an 1854 essay by Henry David Thoreau based on a speech he gave at an anti-slavery rally at Framingham, Massachusetts Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorpor ...
'' (1854) * '' Walden'' (1854) * ''
A Plea for Captain John Brown "A Plea for Captain John Brown" is an essay by Henry David Thoreau. It is based on a speech Thoreau first delivered to an audience at Concord, Massachusetts, on October 30, 1859, two weeks after John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, and repeated ...
'' (1859)A Plea for Captain John Brown
from the Writings of Henry David Thoreau: The Digital Collection
* '' Remarks After the Hanging of John Brown'' (1859) * '' The Last Days of John Brown'' (1860) * '' Walking'' (1862) * ''Autumnal Tints'' (1862) * ''Wild Apples: The History of the Apple Tree'' (1862) * ''The Fall of the Leaf'' (1863) * ''
Excursions An excursion is a trip by a group of people, usually made for leisure, education, or Physical exercise, physical purposes. It is often an adjunct to a longer journey or visit to a place, sometimes for other (typically work-related) purposes. Pu ...
'' (1863) * ''
Life Without Principle "Life Without Principle" is an essay by Henry David Thoreau that offers his program for a righteous livelihood. It was published in 1863. Overview In his essay, Thoreau questions whether working is the most important part of one's life, argu ...
'' (1863) * ''Night and Moonlight'' (1863) * ''The Highland Light'' (1864) * ''The Maine Woods'' (1864) Fully Annotated Edition.
Jeffrey S. Cramer Jeffrey S. Cramer (born 1955) is the Curator of Collections at the Walden Woods Project's Thoreau Institute Library, managing the collections of the Walden Woods Project, the Thoreau Society, thRalph Waldo Emerson Society the Margaret Fuller Societ ...
, ed., Yale University Press, 2009 * ''Cape Cod'' (1865) * ''Letters to Various Persons'' (1865) * '' A Yankee in Canada, with Anti-Slavery and Reform Papers'' (1866) * ''Early Spring in Massachusetts'' (1881) * ''Summer'' (1884) * ''Winter'' (1888) * ''Autumn'' (1892) * ''Miscellanies'' (1894) * ''Familiar Letters of Henry David Thoreau'' (1894) * ''Poems of Nature'' (1895) * ''Some Unpublished Letters of Henry D. and Sophia E. Thoreau'' (1898) * ''The First and Last Journeys of Thoreau'' (1905) * ''Journal of Henry David Thoreau'' (1906) * ''The Correspondence of Henry David Thoreau'' edited by Walter Harding and Carl Bode (Washington Square: New York University Press, 1958) * ''I Was Made Erect and Lone'' * ''The Bluebird Carries the Sky on His Back'' (Stanyan, 1970) * ''The Dispersion of Seeds'' published as ''Faith in a Seed'' (Island Press, 1993) * ''The Indian Notebooks'' (1847–1861
selections by Richard F. Fleck
* ''Wild Fruits'' (Unfinished at his death, W.W. Norton, 1999)


See also

*
American philosophy American philosophy is the activity, corpus, and tradition of philosophers affiliated with the United States. The ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' notes that while it lacks a "core of defining features, American Philosophy can nevert ...
* List of American philosophers * List of peace activists * Thoreau Society * Walden Woods Project


References


Further reading

* Balthrop‐Lewis, Alda. "Exemplarist Environmental Ethics: Thoreau's Political Ascetism against Solution Thinking." ''Journal of Religious Ethics'' 47.3 (2019): 525–550. * Bode, Carl. ''Best of Thoreau's Journals''. Southern Illinois University Press. 1967. * Botkin, Daniel. ''No Man's Garden'' * Buell, Lawrence. ''The Environmental Imagination: Thoreau, Nature Writing, and the Formation of American Culture'' (Harvard UP, 1995) * Cafaro, Philip. ''Thoreau's Living Ethics: "Walden" and the Pursuit of Virtue'' (U of Georgia Press, 2004) * Chodorov, Frank
''The Disarming Honesty of Henry David Thoreau''
* Conrad, Randall

* Cramer, Jeffrey S. ''Solid Seasons: The Friendship of Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson'' (Counterpoint Press, 2019). * Dean, Bradley P. ed., ''Letters to a Spiritual Seeker''. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2004. * Finley, James S., ed. ''Henry David Thoreau in Context'' (Cambridge UP, 2017). * Furtak, Rick, Ellsworth, Jonathan, and Reid, James D., eds. ''Thoreau's Importance for Philosophy''. New York: Fordham University Press, 2012. * Gionfriddo, Michael. "Thoreau, the Work of Breathing, and Building Castles in the Air: Reading Walden's 'Conclusion'." ''The Concord Saunterer'' 25 (2017): 49-90
online
. * Guhr, Sebastian. ''Mr. Lincoln & Mr. Thoreau''. S. Marix Verlag, Wiesbaden 2021. * Harding, Walter. ''The Days of Henry Thoreau''. Princeton University Press, 1982. * Hendrick, George. "The Influence of Thoreau's 'Civil Disobedience' on Gandhi's Satyagraha." ''The New England Quarterly'' 29, no. 4 (December 1956). 462–471. * * Howarth, William. ''The Book of Concord: Thoreau's Life as a Writer''. Viking Press, 1982 * Judd, Richard W. ''Finding Thoreau: The Meaning of Nature in the Making of an Environmental Icon'' (2018
excerpt
* McGregor, Robert Kuhn. ''A Wider View of the Universe: Henry Thoreau's Study of Nature'' (U of Illinois Press, 1997). * Marble, Annie Russell. ''Thoreau: His Home, Friends and Books''. New York: AMS Press. 1969
902 __NOTOC__ Year 902 (Roman numerals, CMII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Adalbert II, Margrave of Tuscany, Adalbert II, margr ...
* Myerson, Joel et al. ''The Cambridge Companion to Henry David Thoreau''. Cambridge University Press. 1995 * Nash, Roderick. ''Henry David Thoreau, Philosopher'' * Paolucci, Stefano
"The Foundations of Thoreau's 'Castles in the Air'"
, ''Thoreau Society Bulletin'', No. 290 (Summer 2015), 10. (See also th
Full Unedited Version
of the same article.) * Parrington, Vernon.

''. V 2 online. 1927 * Parrington, Vernon L

* Petroski, Henry. "H. D. Thoreau, Engineer." ''American Heritage of Invention and Technology'', Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 8–16 * Petrulionis, Sandra Harbert, ed., ''Thoreau in His Own Time: A Biographical Chronicle of His Life, Drawn From Recollections, Interviews, and Memoirs by Family, Friends, and Associates.'' Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2012. * Richardson, Robert D. ''Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind''. University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles. 1986. * * * Ridl, Jack.

" Scintilla (poem on Thoreau's last words) * Schneider, Richard ''Civilizing Thoreau: Human Ecology and the Emerging Social Sciences in the Major Works'' Rochester, New York. Camden House. 2016. * Smith, David C. "The Transcendental Saunterer: Thoreau and the Search for Self." Savannah, Georgia: Frederic C. Beil, 1997. * Sullivan, Mark W. "Henry David Thoreau in the American Art of the 1950s." ''The Concord Saunterer: A Journal of Thoreau Studies'', New Series, Vol. 18 (2010), pp. 68–89. * Sullivan, Mark W. ''Picturing Thoreau: Henry David Thoreau in American Visual Culture.''
Lanham, Maryland Lanham is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland. As of the 2020 United States Census it had a population of 11,282. The New Carrollton station (the terminus of the Washington Metro's Orange Li ...
: Lexington Books, 2015 * Tauber, Alfred I. ''Henry David Thoreau and the Moral Agency of Knowing''. University of California, Berkeley. 2001.
Henry David Thoreau
– ''
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy The ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (''IEP'') is a scholarly online encyclopedia, dealing with philosophy, philosophical topics, and philosophers. The IEP combines open access publication with peer reviewed publication of original pape ...
''
Henry David Thoreau
– ''
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy The ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (''SEP'') combines an online encyclopedia of philosophy with peer-reviewed publication of original papers in philosophy, freely accessible to Internet users. It is maintained by Stanford University. Eac ...
'' * Thorson, Robert M. ''The Boatman: Henry David Thoreau's River Years'' (Harvard UP, 2017), on his scientific study of the Concord River in the late 1850s. * Thorson, Robert M. ''Walden's Shore: Henry David Thoreau and Nineteenth-Century Science'' (2015). * Thorson, Robert M. ''The Guide to Walden Pond: An Exploration of the History, Nature, Landscape, and Literature of One of America's Most Iconic Places'' (2018). * * Walls, Laura Dassow. ''Seeing New Worlds: Henry David Thoreau and 19th Century Science''. University of Wisconsin. 1995. * Walls, Laura Dassow. ''Henry David Thoreau: A Life''. The University of Chicago Press. 2017. * Ward, John William. 1969 ''Red, White, and Blue: Men, Books, and Ideas in American Culture''. New York: Oxford University Press


External links


The Thoreau Society

The Thoreau Edition

"Writings of Emerson and Thoreau"
from
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's '' American Writers: A Journey Through History''


Texts

* * * * *
Works by Thoreau
at Open Library
Poems by Thoreau
at the Academy of American Poets
The Thoreau Reader
by ''
The Thoreau Society ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
''
The Writings of Henry David Thoreau
at ''The Walden Woods Project''

at the Concord Free Public Library
Henry David Thoreau Online
The Works and Life of Henry D. Thoreau {{DEFAULTSORT:Thoreau, Henry David 1817 births 1862 deaths 19th-century American philosophers 19th-century American poets 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis 19th-century diarists American abolitionists American anarchists American diarists American environmentalists American essayists American male essayists American male non-fiction writers American male poets American naturalists American nature writers American naturists American nomads American non-fiction environmental writers American opinion journalists American people of French descent American political philosophers American social commentators American spiritual writers American surveyors American tax resisters American travel writers Anarchism Anarchist writers Anti-consumerists Civil disobedience Critics of work and the work ethic American cultural critics Ecological succession Environmental writers Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees Harvard College alumni Hasty Pudding alumni Hikers Tuberculosis deaths in Massachusetts Lecturers Left-libertarians Pantheists People from Concord, Massachusetts Philosophers from Massachusetts Philosophers of culture Philosophers of history Philosophers of love Philosophers of mind Philosophers of science Poets from Massachusetts Simple living advocates Social critics Social philosophers Underground Railroad people