Thoreau's Walden Pond Rebellion Ignites Social Change
Published on 7.4.25
Henry David Thoreau was born in 1817 and became a writer, influenced by Ralph Waldo Emerson. He moved to Emerson's family home and later built his own hut by Walden pond. Thoreau opposed the US War of 1846, which he believed would expand slavery, and refused to pay taxes funding the war effort, leading to his imprisonment. In "Civil Disobedience," Thoreau argued that breaking unjust laws is morally necessary for protest. He posited that a minority's influence can be powerful when it resists the majority, and that non-violent illegal protest can be justified in response to slavery. Thoreau gave speeches to Abolitionists advocating for "civil disobedience" before his death.