Henry David Thoreau, an inspiring political philosopher!

Image via Wikipedia  :The statue of Henry David Thoreau

He was such a very unique personality in the annals of the history of US. He was a poet, a naturalist, a philosopher, a writer and above all an abolitionist.His writings, in particular, his essay ‘the duty of civil disobedience inspired great leaders like Leo Tolstoy, Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. The newly elected US President Barrack Obama has also been largely impressed and inspired by him.The very essence of the political philosophy of his famous essay ‘the duty of civil disobedience will loudly mention his name as ‘Henry David Thoreau.

Henry David Thoreau was born on July,12, 1817 at Concord Massachusetts and he died very early on May 6, 1862 in the same place where he was born.

Having completed his graduation in Harvard, Henry David Thoreau was doing all kinds of jobs.Another great political philosopher and his contemporary Emerson introduced him to the writing career.Henry’s early work, ‘the Natural History of Massachusetts showed his love and expertise on nature.

He lived a simple and secluded life, spending only for his barest necessities.

Image via Wikipedia  Henry David  Thoreau cabin near Walden Pond.

Henry David Thoreau being a staunch abolitionist, abhorred the then racial system prevailed in the US. Hence, he was even prepared to resist the government which permitted the existence of slavery. Hence he published his essay ‘the duty of civil disobedience in the year 1849, calling upon the people to resist the government which supported slavery. He even criticized the Government with a punch in his essay ‘the best government is the one which governs least or which do not governs at all.Hence, he refused to pay taxes to the government and so he was even imprisoned;he willingly accepted the punishment.

Image via Wikipedia : Portrait of Leo Tolstoy

Henry David Thoreau was a great inspiration to many leaders.The Russian writer Leo Tolstoy was greatly influenced by his political philosophy and he went on to become one of the architects of Russian Revolution through his writings,which had become the treasure of Russian literature. Leo Tolstoy’literary works included his master piece ‘War and Peace

Gandhi, considered as the father of India, was inspired by Henry David Thoreau.The agitations launched by him in South Africa against the racial discrimination was just a beginning of his political career.When he returned to India, he developed ‘the idea of passive resistance’largely influenced by Thoreau’s political philosophy and his book ‘the duty of Civil Disobedience.Gandhi also went on to write his own autobiography ‘My Experiments with Truth, that vividly explains how he developed his idea of passive resistance.

In the freedom struggle led by Gandhi as against the British colonial rule, he launched a series of political movements known as ‘Civil Disobedience Movement particularly by breaking the salt laws, ‘the Non-Co operation Movement and finally ‘the Quit India Movement etc.These movements finally resulted in the freedom for India in the year 1947.

In the US, Martin Luther King Jr, inspired by Henry David Thoreau, launched his series of political movements as against the Government to remove the inequalities and many of its discriminatory policies with a racial overtone directed against the black people even after the emancipation of slavery. King’s struggles as against the government helped to remove many discriminatory policies and to achieve parity for the black people.

Image via Wikipedia: Martin Luther King Jr

Image via Wikipedia resident Lyndon John and Rev.Martin Luther King Jr

Thus Henry David Thoreau, even though lived only for 45 years, has been a great source of inspiration to many great leaders of the world and changed the destiny of their own countries.