The Accomplishments Of Henry David Thoreau

An American Author, Transcendentalist and tax resister, Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord Massachusetts, and lived there most of his life.  He was opposed to many of the things that went on in our society and debated many issues in his life. Two of these major issues are , the Mexican American War and the implement of Slavery in our society. This was the reason for many of his writings include “Slavery in Massachusetts” and “Civil Disobedience” where he wrote about his principles and views against the U.S government and their involvement in the Mexican American War and the evil of Slavery. Thoreau opposed to these because they promote unjust government practices which he was strongly against.

“What you get by achieving goals is not as important as what you become by achieving goals.” Quote, Henry David Thoreau. An accomplishment is just another definition of a goal. They may take a long time to complete; however, just have faith and great things can come from it. Just like how Columbus never gave up to find the new world, even though he always thought that the world was flat. The world has always been a place of innovation and discovery. One of the many personal accomplishments I would like to have is to travel and learn about the world.

Now, the question is, who is Henry David Thoreau? Henry David Thoreau was an author of natural history and philosophy, who lived from 1817 to 1862 in Concord, Massachusetts. He was incredibly intelligent, attending and graduating Harvard College. Thoreau was an anarchist, fairly similar to the ideas that Chris McCandless held. Henry Thoreau is known well for his nature based poetry, but Thoreau is even more greatly known for his master work, Walden. Thoreau wrote Walden as a reflection on simple living in the natural world away from society and as a type of self-reliant living manual. Chris McCandless had an annotated copy of Walden on him at his campsite in the Alaskan wilderness.

After reading Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “The American Scholar,” I can see many similarities between his ideas and the themes of Henry David Thoreau’s writings. Thoreau embodies Emerson’s idea of the American Scholar in several ways.

Although his actions were admirable and act as evidence to integrity, the writings of Henry David Thoreau and Emerson reveal a haughty and pretentious individual. Thoreau's courage was noble. He was quick to immerse himself in his beliefs

Henry David Thoreau, a name heard endlessly by American Literature students, has contributed his outrageous views to society even after his death. Lectures and texts let his perceptions live on through teachers and professors that are all agreed on the significance of his writing to the transcendentalistic period. Definitely worth the merit he receives for his contributions, Henry Thoreau's views are nonconformist and thought provoking. "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away" (Thoreau, 14). Thoreau himself marched to a different drummer, and it is this aspect of all great men that

"Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine. What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn," (Thoreau, 1849, Part 2, Section 5). Henry David Thoreau embodied the values he espoused in his essay "Civil Disobedience." One of the most meaningful ways Thoreau helped to promote the idea that being a counter friction can "stop the machine" was by his writing. Thoreau used his writing to promote social justice, thereby refusing to "lend himself to the wrong" he so disparages. Slavery was one of those wrongs: a facet of the system of government that was so corrupt and yet completely entrenched in American society. Thoreau also acted as a counter friction to the machine of mindless government by extricating himself from the situations he found most distasteful. His experiences living close to nature at Walden Pond prove that Thoreau was sincerely dedicated to being the change that he advocated in his life.

It was my high school teacher, Anna Shaughnessy, who introduced me to Henry David Thoreau. His Walden was not part of the course of study. She asked whether I knew of this Massachusetts writer. I didn't. Without scaring me off by proclaiming how great he was, she said he had lived and died in obscurity. But not like some romantic poet in a dusty garret. He had done all kinds of work for a living-been a schoolteacher, surveyor, pencil-maker, gardener, carpenter, mason, lecturer, naturalist, as well as keeper of a personal journal into which he wrote two million words.

Henry David Thoreau was a man of many things, a writer, philosopher, carpenter and a pencil maker. He left his home where he lived with his parent and siblings to live alone in a cabin he built near the Walden Pond. While living in the cabin he wrote the book The Walden and learned about life through nature. After leaving his cabin he stayed with his friend, mentor and at time enemy Ralph Emerson. While at the Emerson he tutored his children, worked in the garden and did carpentered work.

Henry D. Thoreau's book “Walden” or, “A Life in the Woods” Is a very well-written book about a reflection upon simple living in natural surrounding on the shore of Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts. It covered many of his accomplishments and struggles of living off the land in the woods or simple living. Some of his accomplishments were Building his own house from the ground up, cultivating and sustaining himself from off the land, and changing the lives of others through nature. But as previously stated he also had his struggles. One of his biggest troubles and the one I will be focusing on is not wanting to trade with others because of his goal of being self-sustaining off the

The world of Thoreau is the world of nature around us. Live around the trees, the clean fresh air, the sound of the river, and the birds singing. This is exactly what Thoreau talks in Walden Pond for example. Walden Pond is about nature, but it's not just about nature; it's also about man's relationship with nature as he saw in the world around him. In Walden, Thoreau wants to prove that anybody can live simple and easy and still enjoy life. Enjoy the nature around us without being consumed by things like debt and other problems that associate with life.

Henry David Thoreau was born in mid July of 1817, in Concord, Massachusetts. Henry’s family was rather modest and his father was employed as a pencil maker. Henry David Thoreau was born with a legal name David Henry Thoreau, in memory of his recently deceased uncle, David Thoreau. Although Henry never legally petitioned to change his name, he began referring to himself as Henry after he had finished college.

Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts on July 12, 1817. He lived in a farm house with his mother, Cynthia, his father , John and his three siblings, Helen, John and Sophia. Thoreau along with his brother John attended a grammar school in Concord before entering in concord academy in 1828. When he was not in school, Thoreau enjoyed being outside, taking long walks in the woods and exploring nature. Besides loving nature, he also had an aptitude for construction and mechanics. When Thoreau graduated at Concord Academy in 1833, He decided to attend Harvard University endorsed by his mom. With financial support of his entire family, including his ants and siblings they could afford the tuition which was $179 by the time with room

Henry David Thoreau was born July 1817 in Massachusetts. He grew up in Concord with two siblings and his parents; his father was a pencil maker. He began attending Harvard College in 1833 where he took courses in a wide range of subjects including math, French, and philosophy. He graduated from Harvard in the top half of his class in 1837. TEACHING YEARS

Recently my mother remarked that as humans, we are obsessed with having and are no longer content with just being. Her words struck me and I began to contemplate on their truth. Society places us on a never ending treadmill from birth. It seeks to rush us into what it calls success. No sooner have we started school that we are already in college and then working and reproducing and then suddenly we die. What does society gain from this? It gains our labor. We make our contribution according to what society considers “right” and proceed to go through life with the promise that with each new period we will find our true purpose, or that we will achieve something. We are taught to live anxiously awaiting whatever may come next. Never content with