Henry David Thoreau

For over a year, Henry David Thoreau lived in a small bare cabin near Walden Pond, Massachusetts. In stark contrast to the Industrial Revolution going on around him, he wanted to live by Transcendentalist principles: simplicity, economy, and moderation.

Thoreau always tried to live with such integrity. It was the mid-1800s, and he opposed the United States’ war with Mexico. He believed that the war would lead to slavery’s expansion in the West. He did not want his tax money to support the war or slavery. When the Massachusetts government required that citizens pay a poll tax to vote, Thoreau refused.

As a result, Thoreau was arrested. He spent a night in jail and wrote about it. “Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is in prison,” he argued. He believed he alone had acted responsibly as a citizen. He believed that one person, firm in his or her beliefs, can change the world. Thoreau’s words and actions inspired generations of Americans.