Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau
\”Mostoftheluxuriesandmanyoftheso-calledcomfortsoflifearenotonlynotindispensable,butpositivehindrancestotheelevationofmankind.\”
—Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau(bornDavidHenryThoreau;July12,1817–May6,1862wasanAmericanauthor,poet,abolitionist,naturalist,taxresister,developmentcritic,surveyor,historian,philosopher,andleadingtranscendentalist.HeisbestknownforhisbookWalden,areflectionuponsimplelivinginnaturalsurroundings,andhisessay,CivilDisobedience,anargumentforindividualresistancetocivilgovernmentinmoraloppositiontoanunjuststate.

Thoreau\’sbooks,articles,essays,journals,andpoetrytotalover20volumes.Amonghislastingcontributionswerehiswritingsonnaturalhistoryandphilosophy,whereheanticipatedthemethodsandfindingsofecologyandenvironmentalhistory,twosourcesofmoderndayenvironmentalism.Hisliterarystyleinterweavesclosenaturalobservation,personalexperience,pointedrhetoric,symbolicmeanings,andhistoricallore;whiledisplayingapoeticsensibility,philosophicalausterity,and\”Yankee\”loveofpracticaldetail.Hewasalsodeeplyinterestedintheideaofsurvivalinthefaceofhostileelements,historicalchange,andnaturaldecay;atthesametimeimploringonetoabandonwasteandillusioninordertodiscoverlife\’strueessentialneeds.

Hewasalifelongabolitionist,deliveringlecturesthatattackedtheFugitiveSlaveLawwhilepraisingthewritingsofWendellPhillipsanddefendingabolitionistJohnBrown.Thoreau\’sphilosophyofcivildisobedienceinfluencedthepoliticalthoughtsandactionsofsuchlaterfiguresasLeoTolstoy,MahatmaGandhi,andMartinLutherKing,Jr.

Thoreauissometimescitedasanindividualistanarchist.ThoughCivilDisobedienceseemstocallforimprovingratherthanabolishinggovernment–\”Iaskfor,notatoncenogovernment,butatonceabettergovernment\”–thedirectionofthisimprovementaimsatanarchism:\”\’Thatgovernmentisbestwhichgovernsnotatall;\’andwhenmenarepreparedforit,thatwillbethekindofgovernmentwhichtheywillhave.\”CharlesMadisondescribeshisseeminglyanarchistcommentsas\”obviouslythehyperboleoftheadvocate\”andopinesthatThoreauwastoowiseaphilosophertocondoneanarchy.RichardDrinnonpartlyblamesThoreaufortheambiguity,notingthatThoreau\’s\”slysatire,hislikingforwidemarginsforhiswriting,andhisfondnessforparadoxprovidedammunitionforwidelydivergentinterpretationsof\’CivilDisobedience.\’\”HefurtherpointsoutthatalthoughThoreauwritesthatheonlywants\”atonce\”abettergovernment,thatdoesnotruleoutthepossibilitythatalittlelaterhemightfavornogovernment.

Return to Concord: 1837–1841Thetraditionalprofessionsopentocollegegraduates—law,thechurch,business,medicine—failedtointerestThoreau,soin1835hetookaleaveofabsencefromHarvard,duringwhichhetaughtschoolinCanton,Massachusetts.Afterhegraduatedin1837,hejoinedthefacultyoftheConcordpublicschool,butresignedafterafewweeksratherthanadministercorporalpunishment.[HeandhisbrotherJohnthenopenedagrammarschoolinConcordin1838calledConcordAcademy.Theyintroducedseveralprogressiveconcepts,includingnaturewalksandvisitstolocalshopsandbusinesses.TheschoolendedwhenJohnbecamefatallyillfromtetanusin1842]aftercuttinghimselfwhileshaving.HediedinhisbrotherHenry\’sarms.

UpongraduationThoreaureturnedhometoConcord,wherehemetRalphWaldoEmerson.EmersontookapaternalandattimespatronizinginterestinThoreau,advisingtheyoungmanandintroducinghimtoacircleoflocalwritersandthinkers,includingElleryChanning,MargaretFuller,BronsonAlcott,andNathanielHawthorneandhissonJulianHawthorne,whowasaboyatthetime.

EmersonurgedThoreautocontributeessaysandpoemstoaquarterlyperiodical,TheDial,andEmersonlobbiededitorMargaretFullertopublishthosewritings.Thoreau\’sfirstessaypublishedtherewasAulusPersiusFlaccus,anessayontheplaywrightofthesamename,publishedinTheDialinJuly1840.[23]Itconsistedofrevisedpassagesfromhisjournal,whichhehadbegunkeepingatEmerson\’ssuggestion.ThefirstjournalentryonOctober22,1837,reads,\”\’Whatareyoudoingnow?\’heasked.\’Doyoukeepajournal?\’SoImakemyfirstentryto-day.\”

Thoreauwasaphilosopherofnatureanditsrelationtothehumancondition.InhisearlyyearshefollowedTranscendentalism,alooseandeclecticidealistphilosophyadvocatedbyEmerson,Fuller,andAlcott.Theyheldthatanidealspiritualstatetranscends,orgoesbeyond,thephysicalandempirical,andthatoneachievesthatinsightviapersonalintuitionratherthanreligiousdoctrine.Intheirview,Natureistheoutwardsignofinwardspirit,expressingthe\”radicalcorrespondenceofvisiblethingsandhumanthoughts,\”asEmersonwroteinNature(1836).

OnApril18,1841,ThoreaumovedintotheEmersonhouse.There,from1841–1844,heservedasthechildren\’stutor,editorialassistant,andrepairman/gardener.Forafewmonthsin1843,hemovedtothehomeofWilliamEmersononStatenIsland,andtutoredthefamilysonswhileseekingcontactsamongliterarymenandjournalistsinthecitywhomighthelppublishhiswritings,includinghisfutureliteraryrepresentativeHoraceGreeley.

ThoreaureturnedtoConcordandworkedinhisfamily\’spencilfactory,whichhecontinuedtodoformostofhisadultlife.Herediscoveredtheprocesstomakeagoodpenciloutofinferiorgraphitebyusingclayasthebinder;thisinventionimprovedupongraphitefoundinNewHampshireandboughtin1821byrelativeCharlesDunbar.HisothersourcehadbeenTantiusques,anIndianoperatedmineinSturbridge,Massachusetts.Later,Thoreauconvertedthefactorytoproduceplumbago(graphite),whichwasusedtoinktypesettingmachines.

OncebackinConcord,Thoreauwentthrougharestlessperiod.InApril1844heandhisfriendEdwardHoaraccidentallysetafirethatconsumed300acres(1.2km2)ofWaldenWoods.Hespokeoftenoffindingafarmtobuyorlease,whichhefeltwouldgivehimameanstosupporthimselfwhilealsoprovidingenoughsolitudetowritehisfirstbook.

Civil Disobedience and the Walden years
Thoreauembarkedonatwo-yearexperimentinsimplelivingonJuly4,1845,whenhemovedtoasmall,self-builthouseonlandownedbyEmersoninasecondgrowthforestaroundtheshoresofWaldenPond.Thehousewasnotinwildernessbutattheedgeoftown,1.5miles(2.4km)fromhisfamilyhome.

OnJuly24orJuly25,1846,Thoreauranintothelocaltaxcollector,SamStaples,whoaskedhimtopaysixyearsofdelinquentpolltaxes.ThoreaurefusedbecauseofhisoppositiontotheMexican-AmericanWarandslavery,andhespentanightinjailbecauseofthisrefusal.(ThenextdayThoreauwasfreed,againsthiswishes,whenhisauntpaidhistaxes.TheexperiencehadastrongimpactonThoreau.InJanuaryandFebruary1848,hedeliveredlectureson\”TheRightsandDutiesoftheIndividualinrelationtoGovernment\”]explaininghistaxresistanceattheConcordLyceum.BronsonAlcottattendedthelecture,writinginhisjournalonJanuary26:

HeardThoreau\’slecturebeforetheLyceumontherelationoftheindividualtotheState–anadmirablestatementoftherightsoftheindividualtoself-government,andanattentiveaudience.HisallusionstotheMexicanWar,toMr.Hoar\’sexpulsionfromCarolina,hisownimprisonmentinConcordJailforrefusaltopayhistax,Mr.Hoar\’spaymentofminewhentakentoprisonforasimilarrefusal,wereallpertinent,wellconsidered,andreasoned.ItookgreatpleasureinthisdeedofThoreau\’s.
—BronsonAlcott,Journals(1938)

ThoreaurevisedthelectureintoanessayentitledResistancetoCivilGovernment(alsoknownasCivilDisobedience).InMay1849itwaspublishedbyElizabethPeabodyintheAestheticPapers.ThoreauhadtakenupaversionofPercyShelley\’sprincipleinthepoliticalpoemTheMaskofAnarchy(1819),thatShelleybeginswiththepowerfulimagesoftheunjustformsofauthorityofhistime–andthenimaginesthestirringsofaradicallynewformofsocialaction.

AtWaldenPond,hecompletedafirstdraftofAWeekontheConcordandMerrimackRivers,anelegytohisbrother,John,thatdescribedtheir1839triptotheWhiteMountains.Thoreaudidnotfindapublisherforthisbookandinsteadprinted1,000copiesathisownexpense,thoughfewerthan300weresold.Thoreauself-publishedontheadviceofEmerson,usingEmerson\’sownpublisher,Munroe,whodidlittletopublicizethebook.ItsfailureputThoreauintodebtthattookyearstopayoff,andEmerson\’sflawedadvicecausedaschismbetweenthefriendsthatneverentirelyhealed.InAugust1846,ThoreaubrieflyleftWaldentomakeatriptoMountKatahdininMaine,ajourneylaterrecordedin\”Ktaadn,\”thefirstpartofTheMaineWoods.

ThoreauleftWaldenPondonSeptember6,1847.Overseveralyears,heworkedtopayoffhisdebtsandalsocontinuouslyrevisedhismanuscriptforwhat,in1854,hewouldpublishasWalden,orLifeintheWoods,recountingthetwoyears,twomonths,andtwodayshehadspentatWaldenPond.Thebookcompressesthattimeintoasinglecalendaryear,usingthepassageoffourseasonstosymbolizehumandevelopment.Partmemoirandpartspiritualquest,Waldenatfirstwonfewadmirers,buttodaycritics[who?]regarditasaclassicAmericanworkthatexploresnaturalsimplicity,harmony,andbeautyasmodelsforjustsocialandculturalconditions.

Works
•[删除]AulusPersiusFlaccus(1840))
•[删除]TheService(1840)
•[删除]AWalktoWachusett(1842)
•[删除]Paradise(tobe)Regained(1843)
•[删除]TheLandlord(1843)
•[删除]SirWalterRaleigh(1844)
•[删除]HeraldofFreedom(1844)
•[删除]WendellPhillipsBeforetheConcordLyceum(1845)
•[删除]ReformandtheReformers(1846–48)
•[删除]ThomasCarlyleandHisWorks(1847)
•[删除]AWeekontheConcordandMerrimackRivers(1849)
•[删除]ResistancetoCivilGovernment,orCivilDisobedience(1849)
•[删除]AnExcursiontoCanada(1853)
•[删除]SlaveryinMassachusetts(1854)
•[删除]Walden(1854)
•[删除]APleaforCaptainJohnBrown(1859)
•[删除]RemarksAftertheHangingofJohnBrown(1859)
•[删除]TheLastDaysofJohnBrown(1860)
•[删除]Walking(1861)
•[删除]AutumnalTints(1862)
•[删除]WildApples:TheHistoryoftheAppleTree(1862)
•[删除]Excursions(1863)[89]
•[删除]LifeWithoutPrinciple(1863)
•[删除]NightandMoonlight(1863)
•[删除]TheHighlandLight(1864)
•[删除]TheMaineWoods(1864)
•[删除]CapeCod(1865)
•[删除]LetterstoVariousPersons(1865)
•[删除]AYankeeinCanada,withAnti-SlaveryandReformPapers(1866)
•[删除]EarlySpringinMassachusetts(1881)
•[删除]Summer(1884)
•[删除]Winter(1888)
•[删除]Autumn(1892)
•[删除]Miscellanies(1894)
•[删除]FamiliarLettersofHenryDavidThoreau(1894)
•[删除]PoemsofNature(1895)
•[删除]SomeUnpublishedLettersofHenryD.andSophiaE.Thoreau(1898)
•[删除]TheFirstandLastJourneysofThoreau(1905)
•[删除]JournalofHenryDavidThoreau(1906)