Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau in June 1856

Henry David Thoreau was an American writer, philosopher and ecologist. His work on environmental history and ecology formed much of the early framework for modern environmentalism. He spent two years at Walden Pond as an experiment in simple living, and refused to pay taxes as a protest against the Mexican-American War, which he viewed as an attempt to add more slave states to the Union. In the process, he coined the term "Civil Disobedience".

He was a friend of Ralph Waldo Emerson.

His most famous works include:

• Walden, a reflection on simple living in natural surroundings
• Civil Disobedience, an essay on... well, you know.