ipl-logo

Henry David Thoreau's Contributions To American Culture

320 Words2 Pages

Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, natural philosopher, and a leading figure in the Transcendentalist movement. One of his many contributions to American culture was his popular book Walden. Walden was based on his experiences in the woods on Walden Pond in Massachusetts where he lived a simple life with nature for nearly two years. In the book he explored the ideas about how a person should live, being consciously aware of his or her own nature and the natural world itself. However, Thoreau 's other contribution to American culture is his famous essay Civil Disobedience which later ended up inspiring world leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Henry wrote civil disobedience as a response to being jailed for

Show More
Related

  • Rhetorical Devices Used In Letter From Birmingham Jail

    1995 Words  | 8 Pages

    Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was placed in Birmingham Jail in the 1960’s. During his time there, King wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” after an open letter that was given to the public saying that the fellow clergymen were criticizing and saying that his present activities were “unwise and untimely.” King answers these charges in a careful crafted analysis by stating the opposing argument, and then contrasting it with his own argument. Henry David Thoreau wrote “Civil Disobedience” it exposes the mind to the idea of prioritizing laws. Refusing to obey the laws and demands of government, it criticizes the American institution of government at the time and is also defined as a text to live by.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Civil Disobedience And Martin Luther King

    986 Words  | 4 Pages

    Henry David Thoreau was an American author and philosopher during the Transcendental Era of the nineteenth century. Although his most influential writing, Civil Disobedience, did not obtain the credit it should have deserved when it was first published in 1849, Thoreau’s work has impacted many renowned leaders in America who made a difference in today’s society. Civil Disobedience was written after Thoreau was placed in jail for one night because he refused to pay poll tax which was in protest of slavery and the U.S. involvement of the Mexican-American War.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Civil Disobedience

    757 Words  | 4 Pages

    Henry David Thoreau: Urging the independent mind In “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau, his goal is to urge people to resist (in a non-violent manner) governmental policies with which they disagree. His essay radiated throughout that time, influencing people to change the way that they had first perceived government laws and ideas. This dissertation helped people to change perspective and to challenge what the government was making them do. Today we can use this same logic to question government officials, to know for ourselves what is best.

    Read More

  • Henry David Thoreau's Accomplishments

    567 Words  | 3 Pages

    Kaitlyn Rodriguez Mr. Cedeño U.S. History F Block 12/7/14 Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau was an america author and naturalist and is considered to be one of the most influential figures in American history and literature.

    Read More

  • Chris Mccandless Synthesis Essay

    1740 Words  | 7 Pages

    For one, according to Johnson, Thoreau was an abolitionist and refused to pay taxes to support what he considered to be an immoral war. Thoreau’s wilderness venture was not to cut off contact with humanity, but involved society by knowledgably standing up against it. But Johnson does report, that the closest thing to Thoreau’s Walden is Krakauer’s Into the Wild. Thoreau had conducted an experiment involving self-sufficiency in a one-room cabin in Massachusetts, while McCandless was experimenting with his life. Thoreau’s “wilderness” was anything but, with ample necessities and close region to civilization.

    Read More

  • Transcendentalism: Henry David Thoreau

    767 Words  | 4 Pages

    Transcendentalism Essay The ideals and structures of the society we live in today clearly contrast with the core ideals of Henry David Thoreau. We rely on seemingly everything but ourselves for information, and we have trampled upon the nature that was so valued by Thoreau.

    Read More

  • How Does Thoreau Use Anaphora In Civil Disobedience

    627 Words  | 3 Pages

    The essay Civil Disobedience, written by Henry David Thoreau has a history with Thoreau’s own experiences. Thoreau spent a night in prison for not paying his poll taxes where he was inspired to write the essay and with this essay Thoreau aspired to proclaim against the acts of slavery and the Mexican War. a.“It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate”().

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Henry David Thoreau

    1921 Words  | 8 Pages

    This captivity by the Government galvanized his motive for writing this well known essay, Civil Disobedience. In his essay, Thoreau

    Read More

  • Thoreau And Civil Disobedience

    1198 Words  | 5 Pages

    What Thoreau means by the Civil Disobedience is that every person should be govern more by his own moral compass that gives him much clearer answer to his deeds, rather than some laws of a government. “Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think we should be men first, and subjects afterward.” (1)

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Henry David Thoreau's Resistance To Civil Government

    2124 Words  | 9 Pages

    Resistance to Civil Government (Civil Disobedience) is a dissertation written by American abolitionist, author and philosopher Henry David Thoreau published by Elizabeth Peabody in the Aesthetic Papers in 1849. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was born and lived almost his life in Concord, Massachusetts. After finishing public and private school in Concord he attended the prestige Harvard University. He excelled at Harvard despite leaving school for several months due to health and financial setbacks. Mr. Thoreau graduated in the top half of his class in 1837.

    Read More

  • Henry David Thoreau And Transcendentalism

    783 Words  | 4 Pages

    Henry David Thoreau is one of the primary promoters of the transcendentalist movement and has been inspiring people to take on the transcendentalist lifestyle ever since the mid 1800’s. Mccandless was an admirer of Henry’s philosophy but he wasn’t as fully immersed in his work and ideals as Thoreau was to his own. His intentions were not as closely aligned to the movement as Thoreau’s and the difference between these icons are clearly visible. Self reliance is one of the most significant components of the transcendentalism movement that Henry David Thoreau contributed to in his literary career. “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.” - (taken from Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden”).

    Read More

  • Henry David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience

    1371 Words  | 6 Pages

    Individuals lay the foundation of America. The Founding Fathers of this unique nation broke their allegiance with Great Britain to create an improved governing body. They desired an individual-centered authority as opposed to Britain’s monarchy, which ruled with tyranny. These Founding Fathers experienced a neglectful democratic monarchy that cared little about the ethical treatment of its people. The domineering actions of Britain challenged these historic individuals to form a new cultural identity.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Why I Went To The Woods By Henry David Thoreau

    1285 Words  | 6 Pages

    Other works by Thoreau include Civil Disobedience, Poems of Nature, Life Without Principle and many more.

    Read More

  • Comparing Emerson And Henry David Thoreau

    1159 Words  | 5 Pages

    Consequently, what Thoreau proposed was simplicity rejecting modern civilization to return to nature and let the individual to develop his/her highest possibilities. Thoreau not only made a critique of the modern society as Emerson did, but also he practiced his ideology: he experienced that life is better without crowd, luxuries and complexity. The transcendentalist poet spent two year close to nature. He lived at Walden Pond where he wrote entire journals recounting his experience. Thoreau is well known for his book “Walden” (1854).

    Read More

  • Henry David Thoreau And Confucius Comparison

    470 Words  | 2 Pages

    Henry David Thoreau especially supported the interaction between man and nature. With his experiment at Walden, he addresses a modern concept known as minimalism, focusing on the way one must supply for himself with his basic necessities. His intentions were not to isolate himself, but moreso to separate himself from a life dependent upon others. Through his actions, he is able to criticise society and many of their needs.

    Read More

More about Henry David Thoreau's Contributions To American Culture

Open Document