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Thoreau Begins to Work with the Underground Railroad

Season 1 Episode 3 | 5m 03s

In 1850, the U.S. Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Act, makes it legal for slave owners to reclaim any runaways, even those who had escaped to free states. The women of the Thoreau household had already been active in the Underground Railroad, but this new law spurs Thoreau into action, too. Thoreau gives an impassioned speech about the freedoms that all human beings deserve titled "Walking."

Episodes presented in 4K UHD on supported devices. Major funding for HENRY DAVID THOREAU was provided by The Better Angels Society and its members: The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment and Mark A. Tracy. Major funding was also provided by Jeff Skoll, the Mansueto Foundation, Tyson Foods, Inc., and The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations. Additional funding was provided by the Tyson Family Foundation Inc, The Neil and Anna Rasmussen Foundation, Roxanne Quimby Foundation Inc, Jim and Mona Mylen through The HeartSpace Fund, and Elizabeth Kenny.
Extras
Henry David Thoreau dies at 44, but his message lives on and encourages us to read.
On an excursion, a Penobscot leader teaches Thoreau about the Penobscot culture and language.
Thoreau moves in with Ralph Waldo Emerson's family, but personal tragedy strikes both families.
Thoreau is introduced to Ralph Waldo Emerson and the radical ideas of transcendentalism.
While slavery is illegal in Massachusetts, Black communities are forced to the margins of society.
Leaving Walden Pond, Thoreau joins his cousin on an excursion to Mount Katahdin in Maine.
Henry David Thoreau spent his life experimenting and contemplating on how to live a good life.
On July 4th, 1845, Henry David Thoreau moves into a 10x15-foot house on Walden Pond.
Thoreau's refusal to support what he saw as injustice culminates in his essay "Civil Disobedience."
Filmmakers Erik Ewers and Christopher Loren Ewers discuss the making of 'Henry David Thoreau'.
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Thoreau lives at Walden Pond where he writes, while exploring nature — and himself.
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After Walden, Thoreau takes on new roles and adventures as an illness catches up with him.