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Example research essay topic: Henry David Thoreau Walden Pond - 1,106 words

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... rd and Merrimack Rivers which would be a tribute to John Thoreau Jr. Henry stayed at Walden Pond for two years, two months and two days. Henry wanted to live deliberately and so he went and built a simple cabin at Walden Pond. Henry explains in Walden, "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. " Henry left his nearby town of Concord to live at Walden Pond on July 4, 1845, Independence Day. Some have speculated that this date represents Henry's personal declaration of independence from society.

Others have pointed out that July 4 th was the day before his brother's birthday. By leaving for Walden on July 4 th, Independence Day, Henry would have spent his first full day at Walden Pond on the anniversary of his brother's birthday. This idea is further supported in Walden, "When I first took up my abode in the woods, that is, began to spend my nights as well as days there, which, by accident, was on Independence day, or the fourth of July, 1845... " Ralph Waldo Emerson provided Thoreau with the opportunity to complete his first work, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers and the first draft of a Thoreau's uniquely American work, Walden; or Life in the Woods. Walden, as it is more commonly and popularly known, is Henry's response to a multitude of questions he received as a result of living two years, two months, and two days in his small cabin in the woods at Walden Pond. Although many believe Henry was a recluse, Henry was no stranger to society while he lived at the Pond. He had frequent dinners with family and friends.

Henry also had friends and the occasional curious neighbor visit him at his cabin. Henry explains, "I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society. " In late July of 1846, a little more than one year into Henry's excursion to Walden Pond, Henry needed to get his shoe repaired and as he was leaving the cobbler's store, Sam Staples, the town constable, asked Henry to pay his poll tax. Henry was intentionally several years behind in paying his tax. When asked to pay up, Henry flat out refused to pay the poll tax. Henry objected to the use of the revenues of this poll tax because it helped finance the United States' war with Mexico and supported the enforcement of slavery laws.

Henry refused to pay his taxes and refused the offers made by Sam Staples himself to pay the tax. Since Henry refused to have his tax paid, Sam Staples was required to take Henry to jail. Henry spent that night in jail. During that evening however, someone heard that Henry was in jail and paid Henry's taxes. No one really knows for sure who paid the tax, but most believe it was Henry's Aunt Maria Thoreau. When Sam Staples found out that Henry's taxes were paid it was after he had taken off his boots for the evening, so he decided to release Henry in the morning.

Henry should have never spent the night in jail have since the state no longer had a reason to hold Henry. When Henry found out that his tax had been paid he was outraged and wanted to remain in the jail. Henry argued that since he himself was not the one who paid the taxes that he still deserved to be in jail. The evening he spent in jail prompted Henry to write what became one of his most famous essays and one of the most important political essays ever, "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience. " It is in "Civil Disobedience" that Henry asks all of us to question our actions and the actions of our state. He writes, "Unjust laws exist; shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once? ... I do not hesitate to say, that those who call themselves abolitionists should at once effectively withdraw their support, both in person and property, from the government of Massachusetts, and not wait till they constitute a majority of one, before they suffer the right to prevail through them...

Moreover, any man more right than his neighbors, constitutes a majority of one already. "Civil Disobedience" and Henry David Thoreau have had great impacts one the lives of some of America's greatest leaders. President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr. , and Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglass were all influence by Henry David Thoreau's thoughts. Henry Thoreau left his cabin at Walden Pond on September 6, 1847.

Henry's book, Walden, was published several years and seven versions later in 1854. As Henry got older, his attentions turned more towards the observing and recording of natural history in Concord. Henry kept very thorough journals of natural history and the citizens of Concord regarded him as the town naturalist and would ask him many questions regarding nature and would ask him to identify interesting creatures and plants. Many scholars consider Henry David Thoreau to be the father of the American conservation and preservation movements. The essay heralding Thoreau's ideas of conservation and preservation is "Walking." In his essay "Walking" Henry claims, "To preserve wild animals implies generally the creation of a forest for them to dwell in or resort to" and .".. in Wildness is the preservation of the world. " Few dare to take what they really think and put out for all to see, but Henry David Thoreau did and we the world refuse to accept otherwise.

Henry David Thoreau died May 6 th 1862, after a suffering a prolonged case of tuberculosis, a disease which plagued Henry throughout most of his adult life. His physical being gave out but his spirit still and will forever thrive in the hearts of transcendentalists forever. His views revolutionized the people thought of he world and his radical actions instilled rebellion in the hearts of all. Bibliography: Works Cited 1. Harding, Walter. Henry David Thoreau.

Random House Inc. Toronto. 1962. 2. Richardson, Robert D. A Life of Mind. University of California Press. Los Angela's. 1986. 3.

Thoreau, Henry David. Cape Cod. The Heritage Press. New York. 1968. 4. "Life and Times of Henry David Thoreau, " Encarta Online 24 August 1999. 17 March 2000


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