Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts, on July 12, 1817, and died on May 6, 1862. He was a philosopher, tax servant, poet, naturalist, surveyor, development critic, and historian from the United States. Thoreau wrote the famous book, Walden, a reflection on simple life in the natural environment, and his essay, Civil Dissent. This book contains an argument for disobedience to an unjust state.
Thoreau’s collection of books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry has more than 20 volumes. Among his classic contributions are his writings on history and natural philosophy, where he anticipates ecological and historical methods and findings of the environment.
His literary style establishes observation to be close to nature, personal experience, sharp rhetoric, symbolic meaning, and historical knowledge. Besides that, it has poetic and philosophical sensitivity.
He was also very interested in the idea of historical change and at the same time, he advocated abandoning waste and illusion so that he could find basic needs in real life.
The story of a childhood from Henry David Thoreau
David Henry Thoreau was a modest New England family and he was born from the father, John Thoreau, who worked as a pencil maker, and Cynthia Dunbar. His grandfather was born in Jersey. His maternal grandfather, Asa Dunbar, led Harvard students in 1766 “Butter Rebellion” at that time.
David Henry was named after the name of the uncle of his recently deceased father, David Thoreau. He began calling himself Henry David after he finished his studies. Henry has two older siblings, Helen and John Jr., and a younger sister named Sophia.
Thoreau’s birthplace is still on Virginia Road in Concord. The house has been restored by the Thoreau Farm Trust, a non-profit organization, and now the house can be visited because it is open to the public.
Henry David Thoreau and his Love to the Environment
Thoreau studied at Harvard College in 1833 and lived at Hollis Hall. He took courses in rhetoric, classics, philosophy, mathematics, and science. Henry is also a member of the Institute of 1770 which has now changed its name to Hasty Club Pudding.
According to legend, Thoreau refused to pay a five-dollar fee for a diploma when he was studying at Harvard University.
Thoreau became increasingly fascinated by narratives of travel, natural history, and expeditions in 1851. He is passionately about botany and often wrote observations about this topic in his journal. He admired William Bartram and Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin. He continued to observe in detail in Concord’s natural knowledge, recording everything from how it ripened over time to the depths of the fluctuating Walden Pond and the days of certain birds migrating. The essence of this task is to “anticipate” the seasons that are in nature.
He became a land observer and write detailed observations of the natural history of the city, covering an area of 26 square miles. All of these observations were written in his journal, a two million word document that he kept for around 24 years.
He also writes about natural histories, such as The Succession of Trees”, “Autumnal Tints”, and “Wild Apples”. This is an essay that deplores the destruction of apple species. There are still many services from Henry David Thoreau that have been done and have a great impact on the environment. It’s worth the example.
