Henry David Thoreau Facts
Henry David Thoreau Facts
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| Interesting Henry David Thoreau Facts: |
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| Thoreau was born David Henry Thoreau in Concord, Massachusetts. |
| From 1833 to 1837 he was at Harvard where he studied rhetoric, philosophy, mathematics and science. |
| While there he joined the Institute of 1770, now known as the Hasty Pudding Club. |
| In 1837 he became a teacher in the Concord public school but resigned over the issue of corporal punishment. |
| In 1838 he and his brother, John, opened a grammar school named Concord Academy where they introduced innovative concepts like nature walks and field trips to local businesses. |
| In 1842 the school closed after John died of tetanus. |
| Ralph Waldo Emerson introduced Thoreau to the local circle of writers and urged him to contribute essays to a periodical named The Dial. |
| In 1851 he became interested in natural history and began keeping detailed records on natural phenomena including the botany of the area, the migration patterns of the birds and the seasonal depth of Walden Pond. |
| His series of notebooks provided information for his essays, "Autumnal Tints," "The Succession of Trees," and "Wild Apples." |
| Modern readings of his natural history works reveal him to have been an early environmentalist. |
| His essay "The Succession of Forest Trees" details his experiments and analysis of tree regeneration through seed-dispersion after fire or destruction by other means. |
| He traveled extensively in North America and wrote essays about geography, history, philosophy and natural history. |
| Thoreau pushed outdoor pursuits such as hiking and canoeing and preserving the wilderness for public use. |
| He was passionately against slavery and wrote many article in defense of the abolitionist movement. |
| He was infected with tuberculosis in 1835 and his health gradually declined and he died on May 6, 1862. |
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