Henry David Thoreau: A transcendentalist

1. Henry David Thoreau: A transcendentalist

2. Transcendentalism means someone who believes that reality is discovered by the study of the process of thought. Most transcendentalists believe in the idea of reality over ideals. Henry David Thoreau was famous for introducing this way of thinking

3. Henry’s beginnings • He was born on July 12 1817, in Concord, Massachusetts. • He was the third of four children. • His two oldest siblings became school teachers to help pay for Henry's Harvard tuition.

4. School life of Henry Thoreau • He took classes pertaining to language, grammar, mathematics, and philosophy. • Henry learned that he no longer felt accomplished as a teacher and that he would feel more fulfilled if he pursued a poet's life. • He soon left his life as a school teacher and lived like a hermit in a self-made cabin in the middle of a heavily wooded area.

5. Life after school • He graduated from Harvard at age twenty. • He taught school with his older brother, John, with whom he was extremely close. • In 1842, tragedy struck. His brother was shaving and accidentally cut himself and died of lockjaw in Henry's arms. Henry was traumatized. • Henry later on to make a living worked in his families lead and pencil business later on teaching again

6. Henry’s Final days • Henry traveled into town one morning to have a pair of shoes repaired, when he to his surprise was arrested. The reason for this arrest was that he had refused to pay the poll tax. • This tax was ordered to help fund the ongoing war between America and Mexico. His most famous essay, "Civil Disobedience" was written while staying overnight in a jail cell. • After he was released he returned to his friend's home and spent the rest of his days there.

7. After learning that he was going to die of tuberculosis, Henry limited his expeditions and excursions to none. He died at the age of 44, and is currently resting in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery for writers in Concord, Massachusetts. R.I.P 