1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,080 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:09,520 Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:12,680 Speaker 1: show that flips through the pages of history to deliver 4 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:16,759 Speaker 1: old news in a new way. I'm Gabe Lusier, and 5 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 1: in this episode, we're talking about how one man's extended 6 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:23,160 Speaker 1: walk in the woods led to what might be the 7 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:33,120 Speaker 1: most influential piece of nature writing of all time. The 8 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:38,919 Speaker 1: day was August ninth, eighteen fifty four, Henry David Thoreau's 9 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: classic book Walden, or A Life in the Woods was 10 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:47,519 Speaker 1: published for the first time. The collection of eighteen essays 11 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:51,440 Speaker 1: gives a first person account of Thereau's experiment and simple 12 00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:57,320 Speaker 1: living on the shore of Walden Pond, just outside Conquered Massachusetts. 13 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: Often described as a philosophical memoir, the book recounts the 14 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 1: author's day to day activities at Walden, while also exploring 15 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:11,000 Speaker 1: his views on a host of subjects, including nature, politics, labor, leisure, 16 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 1: and self reliance. In eighteen thirty seven, Throw graduated from 17 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: Harvard College and returned to his hometown of Concord. He 18 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:24,640 Speaker 1: befriended a like minded writer named Ralph Waldo Emerson and 19 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:29,120 Speaker 1: tried out a wide range of careers, including school teacher, gardener, 20 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:33,760 Speaker 1: repair man, and even pencil maker. In his spare time, 21 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:38,120 Speaker 1: he explored the woods around conquerd hiking, camping, and observing 22 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: the wildlife. Then he channeled those experiences into poetry and 23 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: essays about transcendentalism, the human condition, and man's connection to 24 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:52,440 Speaker 1: the natural world. As the years went by, Threw began 25 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:56,680 Speaker 1: to feel increasingly restless in his daily life. He wanted 26 00:01:56,680 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 1: to devote more time to his writing, but there were 27 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:03,600 Speaker 1: too many des distractions competing for his attention. He eventually 28 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 1: grew so despondent that one of his friends and fellow writers, 29 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:12,880 Speaker 1: Ellery Channing, suggested he take drastic measures. Go out upon 30 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,840 Speaker 1: that land, he said, build yourself a hut, and there 31 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:22,360 Speaker 1: begin the grand process of devouring yourself alive. I see 32 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:27,320 Speaker 1: no other alternative, no other hope for you Thereau took 33 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:30,400 Speaker 1: that dire advice to heart, and in the summer of 34 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 1: eighteen forty five, at the age of twenty seven, he 35 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 1: moved to Walden in search of a simpler life. By 36 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:40,480 Speaker 1: that point, Ralph Waldo Emerson had already proven to be 37 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 1: the most helpful friend and aimless writer could possibly have. 38 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:47,639 Speaker 1: Over the years he had set Thereau up with jobs, 39 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,399 Speaker 1: publishing opportunities, and even a place to live. And when 40 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:55,200 Speaker 1: Thereau announced his plan to escape to nature, Emerson came 41 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:58,280 Speaker 1: to his aid once again. It turned out that he 42 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:02,040 Speaker 1: owned a secluded plot of land beside Walden Pond, and 43 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: he offered it to throw as a place to conduct 44 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: his experiment. This allowed the author to do as ellery 45 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 1: Channing had suggested and build himself a hut, or, as 46 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:15,960 Speaker 1: the case turned out to be a ten by fifteen 47 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:22,560 Speaker 1: foot cabin. Thereau constructed his home using borrowed tools, recycled boards, 48 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:25,880 Speaker 1: and nails in fresh cut timber which he gathered himself 49 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:29,400 Speaker 1: from a local pine grove. He then used the leftover 50 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:33,519 Speaker 1: materials to build an outhouse and a wood shed. There 51 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: was no bathtub, plumbing, or well on the property, so 52 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 1: Thereau simply bathed in the pond and gathered his drinking 53 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 1: water from a nearby spring. He was very nearly self sufficient. 54 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:48,400 Speaker 1: He farmed the land to feed himself and earn money, 55 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 1: growing beans, potatoes, corn, peas, and turnips. He sold most 56 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:55,840 Speaker 1: of his crops in town and then used the money 57 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: to buy supplies he couldn't scrounge up on his own. Contrary, 58 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,360 Speaker 1: Maria A. Popular belief Thererow didn't live like a hermit. 59 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:06,320 Speaker 1: At Walden, it was only about a mile from the 60 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:09,960 Speaker 1: nearest neighbor and less than two miles from conquered. He 61 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:13,320 Speaker 1: made frequent trips into town to visit friends and family 62 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:15,760 Speaker 1: and to give them updates about life at the pond. 63 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 1: He even hosted guests at his tiny cabin in the woods, 64 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:23,479 Speaker 1: A lot more of them than you might expect. It 65 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:27,360 Speaker 1: is surprising, he wrote, how many great men and women 66 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:30,880 Speaker 1: a small house will contain. I have had twenty five 67 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:37,160 Speaker 1: or thirty souls with their bodies at once under my roof. Clearly, 68 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:41,080 Speaker 1: Threau's goal wasn't to drop out of society. He just 69 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:44,120 Speaker 1: wanted a little bit of distance from it, space to 70 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:48,040 Speaker 1: gather his thoughts and commune with nature. As he explained 71 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:50,800 Speaker 1: it himself, quote, I went to the woods because I 72 00:04:50,839 --> 00:04:55,040 Speaker 1: wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts 73 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:57,359 Speaker 1: of life, and see if I could not learn what 74 00:04:57,440 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 1: it had to teach, and not when I came to die, 75 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:04,640 Speaker 1: I discover that I had not lived. He also sought 76 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:07,560 Speaker 1: seclusion to work on a book that was intended as 77 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:10,559 Speaker 1: a memorial to his late brother John, who had died 78 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:14,960 Speaker 1: three years earlier of Lockjaw. The narrative frame of that 79 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:17,640 Speaker 1: story was a boat trip the brothers had taken in 80 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:22,479 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty nine along the Conquered and Merrimack Rivers. In 81 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:25,240 Speaker 1: addition to that piece of writing, which would later become 82 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:30,440 Speaker 1: Thoreau's first published book, he also wrote detailed observations on nature, 83 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:34,440 Speaker 1: as well as essays on the benefits of reading, mindfulness, 84 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:39,160 Speaker 1: and solitude. After two years and two months of living 85 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:42,400 Speaker 1: the spartan life at Walden, Thoreau walked out of the 86 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 1: woods in eighteen forty seven and returned to his old life. 87 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:50,360 Speaker 1: By that time, he had fashioned his meditations on life 88 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:53,160 Speaker 1: at Walden and the other notes from his journal into 89 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:55,680 Speaker 1: the first draft of a book, which he hoped to 90 00:05:55,680 --> 00:06:00,320 Speaker 1: publish shortly after the tribute to his brother. Unfortunately, that 91 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:04,400 Speaker 1: first book, published in eighteen forty nine, wasn't well received 92 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:08,000 Speaker 1: by the public. It only sold two hundred copies over 93 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:11,560 Speaker 1: the course of several years, which didn't give publishers high 94 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:16,560 Speaker 1: hopes for Thererow's follow up. That lack of enthusiasm delayed 95 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:20,440 Speaker 1: publication of Walden for several years, but the Row didn't 96 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 1: sit around idly. He evolved the work through seven drafts, 97 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:29,280 Speaker 1: making it deeper and more personal with each iteration. The 98 00:06:29,279 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 1: book finally hit shelves on August ninth, eighteen fifty four, 99 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:37,160 Speaker 1: with a cover price of one dollar. Sales were strong 100 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:40,720 Speaker 1: at first. The initial print run was two thousand copies, 101 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 1: and one thousand, seven hundred and forty four of them 102 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:48,279 Speaker 1: sold within a year. However, the remaining two hundred and 103 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:53,200 Speaker 1: fifty six copies didn't sell out completely until eighteen fifty nine, 104 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:58,760 Speaker 1: and then Throw passed away just three years later. Although 105 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 1: Walden had been over looked in the author's lifetime, it 106 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:05,760 Speaker 1: was quickly reappraised after his death and is now considered 107 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:09,520 Speaker 1: to be his masterpiece. For the past fifty years or so, 108 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:13,480 Speaker 1: it's been required reading in many American classrooms, where it 109 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:17,440 Speaker 1: served as a generational touchstone for anyone who's ever felt 110 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:21,320 Speaker 1: the call to live a simpler life. Of course, roughing 111 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:24,119 Speaker 1: it in the woods isn't everyone's idea of a good time, 112 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 1: and reading Walden probably isn't either. But if nothing else, 113 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: there's experience reminds us that there are many ways to live, 114 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:36,240 Speaker 1: and despite what society may tell us, it's okay to 115 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:40,840 Speaker 1: experiment with different ones. As the author famously put it quote. 116 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:44,040 Speaker 1: If a man does not keep pace with his companions, 117 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:48,040 Speaker 1: perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let 118 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:51,720 Speaker 1: him step to the music which he hears, however measured 119 00:07:52,200 --> 00:08:00,560 Speaker 1: or far away. I'm gay, Blues, gay, and hopeful you 120 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:03,720 Speaker 1: now know a little more about history today than you 121 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:06,920 Speaker 1: did yesterday. If you'd like to keep up with the show, 122 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 1: you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at 123 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:15,040 Speaker 1: TDI HC Show, and if you have any comments or suggestions, 124 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:17,560 Speaker 1: feel free to send them my way by writing to 125 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 1: this Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to kazb Bias 126 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:25,160 Speaker 1: for producing the show, and thanks to you for listening. 127 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,480 Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again tomorrow for another day 128 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:29,840 Speaker 1: in History class.