2. Table of Contents
Early life and education
Jobs and hobbies
Personal beliefs
Social/Political influence
Writings
Death
3. Early life and education
Born in Concord, Massachusetts on July 12, 1817
Thoreau was named after a deceased uncle, named David Henry.
He was more David Henry did not become Henry David until after
college.
Henry never petitioned to make a legal name change.
2 older siblings, Helen and John Jr. and a younger sister, Sophia.
Henry attended the public school in Concord and the private Concord
Academy.
Unlike his brother, John, Henry was proven a better scholar and
attended Harvard University. He did well but had to drop out later due
to financial and healthy reasons. He graduated at the top of his class in
1837.
4. Jobs and Hobbies
When Thoreau left Harvard, he taught at a school in Canton,
Massachusetts
Joined the faculty of the Concord public school.
Started a grammar school with the help of his brother, John.
After John died, Thoreau met up with Ralph Waldo Emerson and
got advice from him. He was then influenced to contribute essays
and poems to “The Dial”, a quarterly periodical.
After moving into the Emerson house, he began tutoring children,
assisting editors and was a repair man/gardener.
While returning to Concord, he worked in his family’s pencil
factory where he remained for most of his adult life.
5. Jobs and Hobbies continued…
Henry invented a process to make a better pencil
out of interior graphite using clay as the binder.
Later in 1851, Henry became interested in natural
history and travel narratives.
He kept a series of notebooks and observed nature.
Henry did several travels which influenced a lot of
his writings.
6. “I went to the woods because I wished to live
deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life,
and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and
not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
7. Personal Beliefs
Henry was one of the first supporters of Darwin’s theory.
Loves wilderness and nature. He believes that people should
conserve natural resources on private land while preserving
wilderness on public land.
Preferred being a vegetarian.
He liked balance of civilization and wilderness. He was a
“middle ground” believer.
Hiked and canoed.
Did not believe in slavery.
He tried to find joy, creativeness, and happiness each day of
his life.
8. Social/Political Influence
Writings influenced many political leaders.
Ex. “Civil Disobedience”
Martin Luther King Jr. got the idea of non-
violent resistance by reading “Civil
Disobedience”.
Also influenced authors and artists such as
B.F. Skinner who kept a copy of “Walden”
with him for ideas and inspiration.
9. Henry has several famous quotes and
some of them are posted in previous and
upcoming slides.
He used a lot of his nature studies and
personal beliefs in his writings.
He was a very influential person.
10.
11. Death
Henry David Thoreau died on May 6, 1862 at the age of 44.
He was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1835 and continued to
suffer from it until his death. In 1858, Henry became ill with
bronchitis. He soon was bedridden and died of bad health.
He knew he was dying and had time to warn his friends and
family and accept it for himself. His last words were “Now
comes good sailing” and then pronounced “moose” and
“Indian”.
12. Writings
Henry David Thoreau wrote several books, poetry, and essays.
Some of his most famous works include:
Walden
Civil Disobedience
Herald of Freedom
Summer
Winter
Autumn
Sir Walter Raleigh
Conscience
Slavery in Massachusetts
Walking
13. Walden 1854
Based off of Henry’s hometown, Concord,
Massachusetts.
Henry had a lot of imagination and made everyday
a good day, or tried to. In Walden, Thoreau devotes
a lot of his time to nature and survives by using
any material he can that he is surrounded by.
Walden is a pond and he gets creative by trying to
find a way to leave after being there for 2 years.
Henry is basically giving a message to the
audience saying that we should live our lives to the
fullest.
14. Civil Disobedience 1849
Civil Disobedience is an essay in which Henry is
arguing about the government. He is opposed to
them and is explaining that people should do what
they think is right and not be obligated to because
someone of higher authority is telling them to.
Henry covers several topics but it makes people
see government and how it actually is, in his point
of view.
15. Conscience
This poem is basically saying that people should
have backbones and to take up where God left off.
A conscience can be sorrowful or joyful and it is
up to humans to ignore bad consciences and to
move on with our lives.
