Historical documents. What clues can you gather about Henry David Thoreau, the time, place, players, and culture?
Walden
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Thoreau's classic about life on the Pond.
"Civil Disobedience"
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The essay Thoreau wrote about his experience in jail for refusing to pay his taxes.
The Maine Woods
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Thoreau's 1864 book on his sojourns in, um, the Maine woods.
"Slavery in Massachusetts"
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Thoreau's abolitionist essay.
Thoreau
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Emerson's 1862 essay in The Atlantic eulogizing his late friend.
Ellery Channing on Thoreau
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The author's contemporary remembers his friend.
Updike on Thoreau
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An essay by writer John Updike on Thoreau and his Walden.
Henry Thoreau: Transcendental Economist
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An excerpt from a book by Vernon L. Parrington that won the 1928 Pulitzer Prize.
Ten Volumes of Thoreau
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An 1891 essay by Thoreau-hater Joshua Caldwell.
19th Century Outsider
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A 1958 essay in Time Magazine about Thoreau.