- Born in Concord, Massachusetts in 1817.
- Many people would describe Thoreau as a complex man.
- His father worked as a successful manufacturer or pencils.
- Henry grew up very close with his older brother, John.
- John taught school to help pay for Henry's tuition @ Harvard.
- Throreau entered Harvard in 1833 and graduated in 1837.
- He always went again the rules. He would attend chapel in a
green coat because the rules required a black coat.
- He was never ranked higher than the middle class.
- He was very familiar with English literature and with the German philosophers.
- Thoreau returned to Concord and teached school.
- In 1843 he went to New York but he greatly missed his
hometown.
- After 6 months of struggles he returned to Concord.
- Thoreau ended up in staying with a friend for three years.
- After he moved out he moved to a cabin on the shores of
Walden Pond in Massachusetts.
- He was almost twenty-eight when he left and to all appearances,
a failure.
- He then taught at a Center school.
- He only lasted as a teacher at the Center school for two weeks
because he refused to whip a child, a mandatory punishment.
- After teaching at the Center school his life quickly went
downhill.
- His lectures were said to be uninspiring, the women to whom
he proposed to turned him down, and he had no interest in the
family business.