Essay Biography of Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was born in Concord, Massachusetts, a small town about twenty miles west of Boston, and spent nearly his entire life there. He attended both the public Concord school and the private Concord Academy. Today, Henry is considered one of America's finest writers, as well as the intellectual forerunner of the conservation movement. People were inspired by Thoreau to break the rules when they didn't make sense, be distinctive, and fight for what they loved and believed in. That is his societal impact. Thoreau, a self-described Transcendentalist, believes in the individual's potential to live a meaningful everyday life, and he favors self-reliance to social institutions, concentrating instead on humanity's goodness and the deep lessons it can learn from nature.

From Descartes, Locke, and the Cambridge Platonists through Emerson, Coleridge, and the German Idealists, he was well-versed in contemporary philosophy, which inspired Thoreau's thinking. Thoreau became friends with fellow Concord resident and writer Ralph Waldo Emerson after college. He was introduced to Transcendentalism through Emerson who established a school of thought that prioritized factual reasoning and spiritual considerations over the physical world.

An example of Thoreau’s ideas is “Civil Disobedience.”

In Civil Disobedience, Thoreau's main thesis is that the individual's loyalty is required by a higher law than civil law. Human law and government are second-class citizens. The person must obey his conscience and, if necessary, disregard human law since the two contradict one other.

To gain the right to collect taxes from its inhabitants, Thoreau contended that the government must stop its unfair practices. Conscientious individuals must choose whether to pay their taxes or refuse to pay them and resist the government as long as it conducts unjust activities.

Another one of Thoreau's main philosophies being, “Transcendentalism”

Transcendentalism was a 19th-century New England movement of writers and thinkers that believed in the underlying unity of all creation, humanity's inherent goodness, and the supremacy of insight over reasoning and experience for the revelation of the ultimate truths.

Thoreau's ambition to write about the prospects of a perfect human existence was motivated by transcendentalism.

And finally, “Tax resistance,” Thoreau's third main philosophical belief, which he heavily contributed to the creation of.

Tax resistance is when a person refuses to pay a tax because they disagree with the government that is imposing it, or with government policies, or simply because they disagree with taxes. Tax resistance is a type of direct action that can also be classified as civil disobedience if it is done in violation of tax rules.

Tax evaders come from many walks of life, with different philosophies and goals. Henry David Thoreau and William Lloyd Garrison, for example, were inspired by the American Revolution. Some tax evaders refuse to pay tax because their conscience forbids them from funding war, while others oppose tax as part of a strategy to destroy the government.

Thoreau was set apart from others by his strong individualism, rejection of social standards, and intellectual idealism. He had no desire to conform to outward standards if they contradicted his own understanding of how to live. "Most men lead lives of silent despair and go to the cemetery with the song still in them," Henry David Thoreau once said. His comment is significant; while it may have been written during his time, it still remains true now. These are people who will never truly understand themselves until it is too late and their lives have come to an end. People wait until it is too late to speak up for a cause. Acts of civil disobedience are used by many individuals and organizations to address contemporary human rights issues such as student loan debt, racially motivated killings, and climate change. Both successful and unsuccessful civil disobedience activities serve as inspiration.

Henry David Thoreau is considered one of America's finest writers. He was inspired to break the rules when they didn't make sense, be distinctive, and fight for what they loved and believed in. Thoreau's ambition to write about the prospects of a perfect human existence was motivated by transcendentalism. He had no desire to conform to outward standards if they contradicted his own understanding of how to live. "Most men lead lives of silent despair and go to the cemetery with the song still in them," he said. He will forever be well known for his philosophical beliefs and theories.