Henry David Thoreau

1

• Best known for Walden, a reflection upon simple
  living in natural surroundings, and his essay,
  Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual
  resistance to the government in moral opposition
  to an unjust state.

Henry David Thoreau
2

• Born in Concord, MA to John Thoreau and Cynthia
  Dunbar in1817
• Father, John, was a pencil maker
• His maternal grandfather, Asa Dunbar, was known
  for leading Harvard's 1766 student Bread and
  Butter Rebellion, the first recorded student
  protest in the United States
• Classically educated at Harvard

3
Operated a school with his brother, John, until
Johns death from lockjawThoreau returned home
to Concord, where he became friends with Emerson
who took a paternal and at times patronizing
interest in ThoreauOf the many prominent
authors who lived in Concord, Thoreau was the
only town native.
4

• From 1841-1844, Thoreau joined the Emerson
  household to serve as the childrens tutor,
  editorial assistant, and repair man/gardener.
• For a few months in 1843, he moved to the home of
  William Emerson in New York, tutoring the family
  sons while writing
• Thoreau returned to Concord and worked in his
  family's pencil factory, which he would continue
  to do for most of his adult life

5

• Thoreau embarked on a two-year experiment in
  simple living on July 4, 1845
• The house was not in wilderness but at the edge
  of town, 1.5 miles from his family home
• Thoreau refused to pay taxes because of his
  opposition to the Mexican-American War and
  slavery, and he spent a night in jail because of
  this refusal

6

• Left Walden Pond on September 6, 1847
• 2 years, 2 months, 2 days
• Over several years, he worked to pay off his
  debts revised his manuscript
• In 1854, he published Walden, or Life in the
  Woods, the time he had spent at Walden Pond. The
  book compresses that time into a single calendar
  year, using the passage of four seasons to
  symbolize human development.
• Walden at first won few admirers, but today it is
  regarded as a classic that explores natural
  simplicity, harmony, and beauty as models for
  just social and cultural conditions.

7

• He died on May 6, 1862 at the age of 44.
• Originally buried in the Dunbar family plot, he
  and members of his immediate family were
  eventually moved to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in
  Concord

Quotes -Be not simply good be good for
something.
-If you would convince a man that he does wrong,
do rightMen will believe what they see. Let them
see.
-Thank God men cannot as yet fly and lay waste
the sky as well as the earth! (seen as first
environmentalist) -If a man does not keep pace
with his companions, perhaps it is because he
hears a different drummer. Let him step to the
music which he hears, however measured or far
away. (individuality)
8
Ralph Waldo Emerson
9

• Born in Boston
• Son of the a Unitarian minister in a famous line
  of ministers
• Emerson's father died less than two weeks before
  his 8th birthday
• At fourteen, Emerson went to Harvard College
  where waited tables at Commons, a dining hall at
  Harvard and supplemented complement by teaching
  during the winter vacation

10

• After graduation, Emerson made his living as a
  schoolmaster
• Went back to Harvard Divinity School, became
  Unitarian minister in 1829
• A dispute with church officials led to his
  resignation in 1832
• Formulated and first expressed the philosophy of
  Transcendentalism in his 1836 essay
• His first wife, Ellen Louisa Tucker, died of
  tuberculosis at 19

11

• In 1835, Emerson bought a house in Concord
• Married his second wife Lydia Jackson
• Children were Waldo, Ellen, Edith, and Edward
  Waldo Emerson
• Ellen was named for his first wife, at the
  suggestion of Lydia

12

• In 1838 he was invited back to Harvard for the
  graduation address
• His remarks outraged and shocked the whole
  Protestant community at the time because he
  proclaimed that Jesus was a great man, but not
  God
• He was denounced as an atheist
• By the mid-1880s his position had become standard
  Unitarian doctrine
• Emerson made a living as a popular lecturer in
  the country outside of the South because of his
  anti-slavery position

13

• Emerson associated with Nathaniel Hawthorne and
  Henry David Thoreau
• The land on which Thoreau built his cabin on
  Walden Pond belonged to Emerson and he provided
  food and hired Thoreau to perform odd jobs
• Their close relationship fractured after Emerson
  gave Thoreau the poor advice to publish his first
  book
• Eventually the two would reconcile some of their
  differences, although Thoreau privately accused
  Emerson of having drifted from his original
  philosophy
• Emerson began to view Thoreau as a misanthrope
  Emerson's eulogy to Thoreau is largely credited
  with the latter's negative reputation during the
  19th century.

.
14

• Emerson is buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in
  Concord

Quotes -A hero is no braver than an ordinary
man, but he is braver five minutes longer.
-The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we
counted our spoons.
-I hate quotations. Tell me what you know. (think
for yourself)