Henry David Thoreau was an American writer, poet, thinker, historian, civic activist, and slavery abolitionist. He was a prominent representative of the philosophical and literary trend called transcendentalism. This movement originated in the middle of the 19th century in the United States among the progressive intelligentsia.
Henry David Thoreau's most famous work is "Walden", which is a reflection on the theme of the rejection of the benefits of modern civilization and a simple way of life in a natural environment. Another notable book of the writer is called "Civil Disobedience" (in the original version - "Resistance to the Authorities"). In it, the author defends the right of the individual to disobey an unjust state.
In total, Henry David Thoreau's books, articles, essays and poetry comprise over 20 volumes. His literary style interweaves observations of nature, personal experience, biting rhetoric, symbolism, and a typically American attention to practical detail. Sometimes Henry David Thoreau is called an anarchist, althoughthe writer called not for the abolition, but for the improvement of state power.
Early years and education
The writer and philosopher was born in Concord, Massachusetts in 1817. The house in which Henry David Thoreau was born has been preserved and is now a museum. The writer's father owned a small pencil factory. Thoreau was educated at Harvard College from 1833 to 1837. He studied rhetoric, classical literature, philosophy and mathematics. According to legend, after graduating from college, the writer refused to pay five dollars for a diploma. The explanation for this act became one of the famous phrases of Henry David Thoreau: "Let every sheep keep its own skin." The writer hinted at the tradition of using parchment for making diplomas that existed at that time.
Return to Concord
Thoreau was not interested in careers available to college graduates related to law, church, business and medicine. After returning from Harvard to his hometown, he tried to work as a school teacher, but quit after a few weeks due to his unwillingness to use corporal punishment generally accepted in that era.
A fateful meeting took place in Concord, which opened a new page in the biography of Henry David Thoreau. The writer, through a mutual friend, met Ralph Emerson, a famous Protestant priest, poet and supporter of the philosophy of transcendentalism. This eminent spiritual leader gave lectures and sermons onthroughout the United States. He became Toro's mentor.
First publications
Through Emerson, the writer met such progressive thinkers of the time as the poet Ellery Channing, the journalist Margaret Fuller, the educator Bronson Alcott and the novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne. In America at that time, the main printed publication devoted to the philosophy of transcendentalism was the quarterly magazine The Dial. The duties of the editor in it were performed by Margaret Fuller. Emerson inspired Thoreau to write essays and poems for this magazine. The main idea of the philosophy of transcendentalism was that a person achieves spiritual perfection not with the help of religious doctrine, but through unity with nature and inner intuitive insight.
Thoreau worked for three years as Emerson's children's home tutor, as well as acting as his secretary and gardener. At the same time, the writer made acquaintances with journalists and publishers who could help with the publication of his writings. It was during this period that Thoreau met Horace Greeley, who later became his literary agent. Then the writer returned to his native Concord in order to combine creative activity with work in the family pencil factory. Being a multi-talented person, he was able to improve the technology of manufacturing graphite rods and increase the profitability of the enterprise.
Seclusion
Book "Lifein the forest "Henry David Thoreau created during a two-year voluntary hermitage in a small hut located on the banks of Walden Pond. Imbued with the ideas of transcendentalism, he decided to experiment on the independent existence of a person in complete isolation from society.
The writer built a hut with his own hands. He provided himself with everything he needed without outside help, doing fishing and gardening. Thoreau did not just seek solitude in order to be able to concentrate on literary work. With his experiment, he sought to demonstrate the benefits of living in harmony with nature.
Struggle against state power
During the retreat in the forest, the writer committed the first act of civil disobedience. After meeting with the local financial inspector, he refused to pay taxes accumulated over the past six years. Thoreau argued this decision by his disagreement with the policies of the United States government, in particular, with legal slavery. The writer stated that a citizen is not obliged to pay taxes to an immoral state. As a result of this protest, Toro spent the night in prison. He was released after the tax arrears were paid by the writer's relatives. Three years after this incident, one of the most significant books by Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience, was published, in which he explained in detail his idea of \u200b\u200bresisting state power.
Edition of the book "Life inforest"
After leaving the hut on the bank of the pond, the author for several years revised and finalized the manuscript containing the story of this unusual experiment. The work is a mixture of memoirs and spiritual reflections. Henry David Thoreau's Life in the Woods was first published in 1854. The work did not arouse much admiration among contemporaries, but literary critics of subsequent generations ranked it among the classics.
Political activity
The writer was a fierce opponent of slavery. He took part in the work of the so-called "Underground Railroad". Under this code designation was hidden a secret organization that provided assistance to runaway slaves. The activists who were part of it smuggled blacks from the United States to Canada, despite the law prohibiting the promotion of the release of slaves. In accordance with this rule, blacks were caught and returned to their owners, even if they managed to get to the territory of the northern states that abolished slavery. Government officials and private individuals who failed to comply with this order could be punished with imprisonment and a fine. Thoreau has repeatedly criticized this law.
The writer openly defended John Brown, who tried to organize an armed uprising of slaves in West Virginia, and was sentenced to hang for it. In his public speeches, he compared the execution of the leader of a failed rebellion to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
The admiration for the heroism of John Brown showed thatthat the writer was a supporter of not only passive resistance to unjust state power, but also an active struggle with the use of violence, if circumstances so required. The proof that Thoreau was not a pacifist is his words: "May peace not be proclaimed by the rust on our swords or our inability to draw them from their scabbards."
Late period
Throughout his life, the writer's interest in natural science has steadily increased. He voraciously read books on botany, as well as stories about travels and expeditions. Thoreau studied the nature of Concord and carefully recorded the results of his observations of the ripening of the fruits of plants, the migration of birds, and changes in the water level in Walden Pond. His diaries devoted to natural science are striking in their volume. They contain several million words written by the author during many years of observing the nature surrounding his hometown. Thoreau never left the American continent, but he read almost all the descriptions of travels to different parts of the world that existed at that time. He sought to satisfy his endless curiosity related to the peoples, cultures, religions and natural conditions of other countries. One of Henry David Thoreau's famous quotes is: "Live at home like a traveller."
Death
For many years the writer suffered from tuberculosis. Once, during a night walk, he fell under a torrentialrain and got sick with bronchitis. Since then, his he alth has gradually deteriorated. In the end, Toro was bedridden. Realizing the hopelessness of his situation, the writer devoted his last years to the revision and editing of unpublished works. To the question of whether he managed to reconcile with God at the end of his life, Thoreau replied: "I do not remember that we ever quarreled." The writer died in May 1862 at the age of 44. He was buried in the cemetery of his hometown.
