Henry Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts, on July 12, 1817. He was born to parents that were very intelligent, yet poor and undistinguished. Despite their struggle with poverty, "their home was a center of affection and vivacity." Thoreau was the third of four children and he showed an early love of nature and was the "scholar" of the family, going on to learn many languages. Because Henry showed so much promise as a student, his …

…he imagined that the masses would eventually begin passive resistance against the government. In the century that has passed, the state has grown larger and the individual smaller than he ever could of imagined as he penned: There will never be a really free and enlightened state, until the state comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly.