The political Thoreau

Abstract This chapter explores Henry David Thoreau’s evolution as a political thinker and activist. It underscores the tension between Thoreau’s solitary life in nature and his increasingly outspoken political involvement, particularly in the antislavery cause. Thoreau’s historical impact as a political thinker and activist rests especially on “Civil Disobedience,” the lecture-essay inspired by his arrest and imprisonment for tax refusal, which lays out a philosophy of individual moral responsibility and nonviolent resistance to unjust laws. As abolitionist opposition to the increasing power of proslavery interests intensified, however, Thoreau’s stance became more aggressive; and his passionate late life defenses of guerilla chief John Brown’s violent tactics runs counter to his earlier nonviolence. Ultimately, the chapter suggests, Thoreau's activism remains a sporadic but crucial dimension of his life and work, deeply rooted in personal conscience, reflecting an evolving but consistently principled resistance to injustice.