Under Emerson's influence, Thoreau developed reformist ideas. On July 4, 1845, Independence Day , Thoreau moved into a self-built log cabin (Walden Hut) near Concord on Lake Walden on a property in Emerson. Here he lived alone and independently for about two years, but not isolated. In his work Walden . Or Life in the Woods - he described his simple lifeat the lake and its nature and also integrated topics such as economy and society. The "Walden" experiment made it clear to Thoreau that six weeks of wage labor a year is enough to make a living.

Thoreau was born on July 12, 1817, the son of pencil manufacturer John Thoreau and Cynthia Dunbar. The father was an immigrant with French-speaking ancestors from the island of Guernsey . The house where he was born, known as Wheeler-Minot Farmhouse after previous owners , still exists and is on the National Register of Historic Places in Concord . Thoreau studied at Harvard University from 1833 to 1837 .