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Henry David Thoreau leaves Walden and moves in with the Emersons

Published: November 13, 2009Last Updated: January 31, 2025

On September 6, 1847, writer Henry David Thoreau moves in with Ralph Waldo Emerson and his family in Concord, Massachusetts, after living for two years in a shack he built himself on Walden Pond.

Thoreau graduated from Harvard and started a school with his brother. But in 1839, he decided while on a canoe trip that he wasn’t cut out for teaching. Instead, he decided to devote himself to nature and poetry. Deeply influenced by his friend Emerson’s poetry and essays, Thoreau started a journal and began publishing essays in the Transcendentalist journal The Dial. At age 25, Thoreau left Concord for New York, but detested city life and returned after a year. Two years later, at age 27, he decided to live by Transcendentalist principles, spending time alone with nature and supporting himself with his own work. He built his home and lived off his garden for two years while reading and writing. In 1854, his collection of essays, Walden, or Life in the Woods, was published.

Transcendentalism

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During his time at Walden, Thoreau spent a brief time in jail for refusing to pay taxes to support the war with Mexico. He later wrote Civil Disobedience, one of his most famous essays, based on the experience. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi would later be inspired by his writings. After Thoreau’s time at Walden, he wrote magazine articles and became an avid abolitionist, working to smuggle escaped enslaved people to freedom through the Underground Railroad. He died in 1862.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on September 6th

1522

Magellan’s expedition circumnavigates globe

One of Ferdinand Magellan’s five ships—the Victoria—arrives at Sanlúcar de Barrameda in Spain, thus completing the first circumnavigation of the world. The Victoria was commanded by Basque navigator Juan Sebastian de Elcano, who took charge of the vessel after Magellan was killed in the Philippines in April 1521. During a long, hard journey home, the people on […]

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1781

Benedict Arnold orders burning of New London

On September 6, 1781, British Brigadier General Benedict Arnold, a former Patriot officer already infamous and much maligned for betraying the United States the previous year, adds to his notoriety by ordering his British command to burn New London, Connecticut. The Continental Army had been using New London to store a large stash of military […]

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1901

President William McKinley is shot

On September 6, 1901, President William McKinley is shaking hands at the Pan-American Exhibition in Buffalo, New York, when a 28-year-old anarchist named Leon Czolgosz approaches him and fires two shots into his chest. The president rose slightly on his toes before collapsing forward, saying “be careful how you tell my wife.” Czolgosz moved over […]

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1914

First Battle of the Marne begins

On September 6, 1914, some 30 miles northeast of Paris, the French 6th Army under the command of General Michel-Joseph Manoury attacks the right flank of the German 1st Army, beginning the decisive First Battle of the Marne at the end of the first month of World War I. After invading neutral Belgium and advancing […]

1966

South African prime minister and architect of apartheid assassinated

South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd is stabbed to death by a messenger during a parliamentary meeting in Cape Town. The assailant, Demetrio Tsafendas, was a Mozambique immigrant of mixed racial descent—part Greek and part Swazi. As minister of native affairs and later as South African leader, Verwoerd oversaw the introduction and application of South […]

1:22m read

1972

More Israeli hostages killed in Munich

At Furstenfeldbruck air base near Munich, an attempt by West German police to rescue nine Israeli Olympic team members held hostage by Palestinian terrorists ends in disaster. In an extended firefight that began at 11 p.m. September 5 and lasted until 1:30 a.m. on September 6, all nine Israeli hostages were killed, as were five […]

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1975

Teen tennis star Navratilova seeks political asylum in U.S.

On September 6, 1975, 18-year-old rising tennis star Martina Navratilova—who would become one of the greatest players of all time—asks for political asylum in the United States after defecting from communist Czechoslovakia. Navratilova flourished on the court between May and September 1975, finishing runner-up in the Australian and French Open. At the U.S. Open, Navratilova […]

1:12m read

1995

Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. breaks record for consecutive games played

On September 6, 1995, Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. plays in his 2,131st consecutive game, breaking “Iron Horse” Lou Gehrig’s record for most consecutive games played. “The Iron Man” was credited with reviving interest in baseball after a 1994 work stoppage forced the cancellation of the World Series and soured fans on the national […]

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1997

Some 2.5 billion TV viewers watch Princess Diana’s funeral

On September 6, 1997, an estimated 2.5 billion people around the globe tune in to television broadcasts of the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, who died at the age of 36 in a car crash in Paris the week before. During her 15-year marriage to Prince Charles, the son of Queen Elizabeth II and […]

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2018

Off-duty police officer mistakenly enters neighbor’s apartment and shoots its owner to death

On September 6, 2018, off-duty Dallas police officer Amber Guyger fatally shoots Botham Jean in his own apartment. Guyer was the first Dallas cop to be convicted of murder since 1973.

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Arts & Entertainment

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