Henry David Thoreau

1. Henry David Thoreau

2. Just the facts • Born July 12, 1817 • Died May 6, 1862 • Birthplace: Concord Massachusettes • Formal education: Harvard • Cause of death: Tuberculosis

3. Relationship with Emerson • Emerson • Is 14 years older than Thoreau • Encouraged Thoreau as a writer, steering him in the direction of topic of nature • Shared attitudes toward slavery with Emerson • Let Thoreau stay at his place, Walden

4. Everyone Experiments • Social experiments, like communes • Hawthorne- Brook Farm • Louisa and Bronson Alcott- Fruitlands • Solitary experience is offshoot of this social experimentation

5. Livin’ on the Edge • “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life….” 2 years, 2 months Self reliance or running away?

6. The Bare Neccessities • “Simplify, simplify” • Not a fan of the rise of industry • Specialization of labor and commerce rob us of command on our own lives

7. Self Reliance • Grew his own food • Built his own shelter • Freedom to think and write • Profound connection between self reliance, meaningful manual labor, and thought • “By working about six weeks in a year, I could meet all the expenses of living.”

8. Bad Boy • Thoreau didn’t pay his poll tax while living at Walden; got arrested • “Civil Disobedience” is based on the experience • Discusses what people should do when their government is acting immorally

9. “I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine.”

10. Future Influence • Mahatma Gandhi • Worked for India’s struggle for independence • Studied Thoreau’s writings on Civil Disobedience • Martin Luther King, Jr. • Leader for the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. • Looked to Thoreau for ideas on non-violent protest