Beginning of Essay
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 th ....

Middle of Essay
.... in 1841. He lived with his friend and fellow scholar Ralph Waldo Emerson, keeping house and doing chores in exchange for rent and board. In 1843, he journeyed to the home of Emerson’s brother William to tutor. Soon after the death of John in 1842, Thoreau went to live at Walden Pond, partially as a tribute to his beloved brother. When he returned from Walden in September of 1847, he again performed an assortment of jobs. He hired himself out as a painter, carpenter, mason, or a day-laborer believing "the occupation of a day-laborer to be the most independent of any," he also became interested in surveying land and w ....