Henry David Thoreau

American literature during the first half of the nineteenth century

took many forms and ideas that still effect our ever so changing

society today. Henry David Thoreau was among the notable writers

during this time, and his impact of American literature will not soon

be forgotten. His perseverance, love for nature, and humanitarian

beliefs helped to mold the ideas and values of early American history.

He was born in Concord, Massachusetts on July 12 in 1817. His

parents, both abolitionists of slavery, were John and Cynthia

Thoreau. During his childhood years his parents, along with Henry’s

older siblings John Jr. and Helen, often took the family on long walks

though the valleys and hills of Concord. The seeds of Henry’s love

for nature were planted during this time.

As a young school boy, at the Concord public school and later at the

Concord Academy, many of his peers sought after him as loner who took

everything too serious. In 1833 Henry’s parents had saved enough money to

send him off to college at Harvard University. Even though he barely passed

the entrance exam, he would later become one of the top students in his

graduating class. In 1836 financial and health problems forced Thoreau to

postpone his studies at Harvard and seek a job. He taught school for a

semester in Canton, Massachusetts and returned to Harvard in the Spring of

1837. He took a full load of classes that Spring and Summer semesters and

graduated in August of 1837. After graduating Thoreau had no idea what he

wanted to do with his education. After debating over many different careers

he finally concluded that teaching would be his calling. He landed a position

at Center School in 1837 in Concord, however he resigned two weeks later

after many teachers and students complained of his teaching methods and strictness in the classroom. Over the

next year he worked many small jobs around Concord, and also

became friends with Ralph Waldo Emerson. The elder Emerson

influenced Thoreau in his belief in Transcendentalism. “Thoreau was

indelibly marked by his mentor’s philosophy” (Sanborn 122).

In 1838 Henry and his brother John started their own public school in

Concord. John taught English and math, while Henry taught science and

foreign languages. The brothers had completely different teaching methods

and often times came at odds with each other. Nevertheless, the school

brought in more and more enrollment every year. In 1841 John became

deathly ill and they were forced to close the school. It was during this time,

while watching his brother die, Henry began writing the Dial. The Dial was

mostly poetry and short essays written over the following four years.

Despite the prolong struggle with John health, he died in 1842. The death of

John stuck Henry severely. After his death Henry sought after his brother

through travels in nature in remembrance of his brother’s love for nature. In

1844 another unfortunate event happen when Thoreau and a friend, Edward

Hoar, where camping in the Concord woods. Thoreau accidentally started a

fire that would burn up a larough Thoreau could easily afford it he refuse and

was sent to jail. Thoreau believed that he would set an example for the

community in revolting against the tax. Eventually Thoreau’s sister would

pay the tax for Henry and get him out of jail. After living at Walden Pond

for a year he once again ran into financial difficulties. He moved in with the

Emersons, and later with his parents in 1947. “Once again he found

himself without a steady job” (Paul 25). In 1848 he became

somewhat of a professional in surveying and lecturing. Over the next

five years Thoreau worked diligently on revising Walden and later

wrote A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. The last

fifteen years of his life he traveled much of the upper United States

and Canada. It was also during this time that Thoreau became a

strong advocate of abolition. He was one of the few that supported

John Brown’s protests.Perhaps taxation and slavery were issues on which he felt

compelled to take a public stand precisely because they were

so clearly threats to the individual integrity and freedom of

every American, whether free or slave. (Schnieder 23)

In 1861 he became seriously ill with weak lungs. Doctors told him to

go to Minnesota where the air was drier and easier on easier on his lungs. When he was well enough, he moved their with a

friend named Horace Mann Jr. Shortly after he became homesick

and chose to move back to Concord to die in the place loved. On

May 6, 1862, at the age of 45, Henry David Thoreau died quietly in

the bed that he built. Thoreau’s idea and beliefs make him a

renowned author in American literature still today.

Works Cited

Paul, Sherman. Thoreau: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood

Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1962.

Sanborn, F.B. The Life of Henry David Thoreau. Boston and New

York: Houghton Mifflin, 1917.

Schneider, Richard. Henry David Thoreau. Boston: Twayne Up,

1987.

Bibliography

Works Cited

Paul, Sherman. Thoreau: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood

Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1962.

Sanborn, F.B. The Life of Henry David Thoreau. Boston and New

York: Houghton Mifflin, 1917.

Schneider, Richard. Henry David Thoreau. Boston: Twayne Up,

1987.

Word Count: 845