Thoreau

What it is

This is Chapter X of Book II of The Cambridge History of American Literature, published in 1918. The chapter, written by Archibald MacMechan, opens with a portrait of Thoreau as a rebel in the village of Concord, Massachusetts, where he was born on 12 July 1817. It discusses his youth, education and wider literary reputation. The text is available on Wikisource.

Why it matters

MacMechan wrote about Thoreau nearly sixty years after his death, so the chapter reflects how American critics were judging him in the early twentieth century. It places him in the context of Concord and the Transcendental movement, which included Emerson. Reading a later critic's view helps students separate what Thoreau wrote from how others have interpreted him.

Look closer

• How does MacMechan describe Thoreau as a "village rebel," and what evidence does he use?
• Why might a 1918 historian judge Thoreau differently from his own contemporaries?
• What parts of Thoreau's life or work might this chapter leave out?