Andrew Coddington - Henry David Thoreau: Writer of the Transcendentalist Movement

Published in 2017 by Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Coddington, Andrew, author. Title: Henry David Thoreau : writer of the transcendentalist movement / Andrew Coddington. Description: New York : Cavendish Square Publishing, 2017. | Series: Great American thinkers | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed. Identifiers: LCCN 2016001589 (print) | LCCN 2016000634 (ebook) |

ISBN 9781502619297 (ebook) | ISBN 9781502619280 (library bound) Subjects: CSH: Thoreau, Henry David, 1817-1862--Juvenile literature. | Philosophers--United States--Biography--Juvenile literature. | Transcendentalists (New England)--Biography--Juvenile literature.Classification: LCC B931.T44 (print) | LCC B931.T44 C63 2016 (ebook) |

DDC 818/.309--dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016001589

Editorial Director: David McNamara Editor: Elizabeth Schmermund Copy Editor: Rebecca Rohan Art Director: Jeffrey Talbot Designer: Amy Greenan Production Assistant: Karol Szymczuk Photo Research: J8 Media

The photographs in this book are used by permission and through the courtesy of:

Benjamin D. Maxham/File:Benjamin D. Maxham - Henry David Thoreau -Restoredjpg/Wikimedia Commons, cover; liz west ( http://www.flickr.com/ people/53133240@N00)/File: Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge 2011-06-21 bjpg/Wikimedia Commons, 4; Andrea Westmoreland ( http://www.flickr .

com/people/81104336 N00) from eLand, United States/File: Bald Eagle at Tomoka Landfill/Flickr/Andrea Westmorelandjpg/Wikimedia Commons, 6;

John Phelan, own work/File: Wheeler-Minot Farmhouse, Concord MA.jpg/Wikimedia Commons, 8; J.W. Barber & J. Downes/Harvard University, Houghton Library, Amos Bronson Alcott papers, 1799-1888: Guide. (MS Am 1130.9-1130.12) ( http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/findingAidDisplay ? collection=oasis&inoid=2619&histno=0)/ File: Central part of Concord, Mass.jpg/Wikimedia Commons, 10-11; Jim Lozouski/Shutterstock.com, 13; victorgrigas, own work/File: Thoreau pencils.jpg/Wikimedia Commons, 17; Eliza Susan Quincy/ http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/chistory/section8.htm/File : HarvardElizaSusanQuincy1836.jpg/Wikimedia Commons, 19; Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828)/Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA/Gift of Miss Eliza Susan Quincy/Bridgeman Images, 23; Culture Club/Getty Images, 27; Samuel Worcester Rouse/wwwwalden.org/ Institute/Images/VII.%20Rowsejpg/File: VII. Rowsejpg/Wikimedia Commons, 28; Queensland Figaro/File: StateLibQld 1 113036 Cartoon of students receiving the cane, 1888. jpg/Wikimedia Commons, 32; Schoff, Stephen Alonzo, 1818-1904, engraver. Rowse, Samuel Worcester, 1822-1901, artist/Library of Congress[1] ( http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ ppmsca.07398)/File: Emerson3 croppedjpg/Wikimedia Commons, 36; Andrew Mayovskyy/Shutterstock.com, 39; Cybershot800i, Own work/File: Carl Spitzweg (1808-1885)/ Der arme Poet (Neue Pinakothek).jpg/Wikimedia Commons, 41; John Phelan, own work/File: Concord Academy, MA.jpg/Wikimedia Commons, 42-43; John Plumbe (1809-1857)/ Metropolitan Museum, New York/File: FullerDaguerreotype.jpg/Wikimedia Commons, 46; ptwo ( http://www.flickr.com/people/31902638@N06 ) Allahabad, India/File: Walden Pond, 2010jpg/Wikimedia Commons, 48; North Wind Picture Archives, 51; Zack Frank/Shutterstock.com, 56-57; Namlhots/File: Thoreau's cabin inside.jpg/Wikimedia Commons, 58-59; Thoreau, Henry David (1817-62)/New York Public Library, USA/Bridgeman Images, 61; Alex ( http://www.flickr.com/people/23094783@N03 ) Ithaca, NY/File: Thoreaus quote near his cabin site, Walden Pond.jpg/Wikimedia Commons, 65; Hulton Archive/Getty Images, 68; Adolphe Jean-Baptiste Bayot (1810-1866) after a drawing by Carl Nebel/ File: Nebel Mexican War 10 Chapultepec Pillow.jpg/Wikimedia Commons, 72; Internet Archive Book Images ( https://www.flickr.com/people/126377022@N07)/File : The life, trial, and execution of Captain John Brown, known as Old Brown of Ossawatomie with a full account of the attempted insurrection at Harper's Ferry (14763843505).jpg/Wikimedia Commons, 77; CAEJqAvJrxLqFg at Google Cultural Institute/Museum of Fine Arts, Houston/File: Unknown American/Am I Not a Man and a Brother?/Google Art Project. jpg/Wikimedia Commons, 78; Internet Archive Book Images ( https://www.flickr.com/people/126377022@N07)/File : Through the year with Thoreau (1917) (14765050334).jpg/ Wikimedia Commons, 86; London News/Hulton Archive/Getty Images, 92-93; Watts, George Frederick (1817-1904)/Watts Gallery, Compton, Surrey, UK/ Trustees of Watts Gallery/Bridgeman Images, 95; File: Table of Surveying, Cyclopaedia, Volume 2jpg/Wikimedia Commons, 97; Geo. F. Parlow, 1879/Library of Congress, 98; Charles Leander Weed Publisher: Lawrence & Houseworth, 317 & 319 Montgomery Street, San Francisco/Sotheby's ( http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2012/ photographs-n08885/lot.25.html)/File: Yo-Semite Valley, from the Mariposa Trail by Charles L Weed, 1864,jpg/Wikimedia Commons, 102.

INTRODUCTION

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

Henry David Thoreaus work has always been firmly rooted in the natural world.

M odern life, especially in the United States, is characterized in many ways by extravagance. Access to information is at an all-time high with the ubiquity of the Internet. Smartphones containing endless streams of up-to-the-second statuses and news updates have found a spot in the pockets of most Americans. As a result, the ways in which people work have fundamentally changed, with employees expected to maintain constant communication with their employers at all hours of the day.

American extravagance, however, is not limited to hours worked. Production has exploded as people buy more material goods, including the latest technology and fashions. In order to house more things, Americans buy increasingly larger houses. Today, the average home in the United States is 2,400 square feet (223 square meters), a size that rivals some of the most opulent palaces of the ancient world. Throughout this process of accumulation, Americans have racked up an extraordinary amount of debt. In 2013, the average American household owed nearly one-quarter of a million dollars in credit card, student loan, car loan, and mortgage debt.