These two pieces are an account of Thoreau's two-year stay at Walden Pond
near Concord in Massachusetts. The first piece concerns the developing and
testing of his transcendental philosophy of personal freedom, individuality,
self reliance and material economy, for the sake of spiritual wealth."Walden" was the fruit of Thoreau's two-year stay on the Walden Pond. He
carefully shaped the book to follow the natural cycle of the seasons, yet it is
more than an account of life in the woods, it is a quest for personal freedom
and individuality that evokes nature without being sentimental or distorting
the natural world. Though widely reviewed at the time of publication, sales did
not reflect the attention the book received. It has now become an American
classic.; "Civil Disobedience", was also based on Thoreau's experiences during the
period he lived on the pond. In 1846, he was arrested for not having paid his
poll tax, as a way of demonstrating that he did not recognize the authority of
a government that "buys and sells men, women, and children." It is a treatise
against slavery and a government that wages war to support injustice.
