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Henry David Thoreau
the Basis for Preservation in America
By Ian Morgan
English 297A
June 6, 2010
Wilderness Paper
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The preservationist movement in the United States has featured numerous schools of
thought and opinion that have framed the issue in time. At least since the introduction of
Europeans to the New World, the subject of wilderness has been a source of intrigue and
controversy, constantly being redefined by both pioneers and intellectuals alike. Among the
most prominent voices on the subject came from the Transcendentalists of the mid-nineteenth
century; moreover, the preeminent Transcendentalist, Henry David Thoreau, provided a
perspective unlike any before on the burgeoning issue of wilderness appreciation and
preservation. Roderick Nash’s book Wilderness and the American Mind analyzes the
progression of the conservation movement in America, paying particular attention to leaders
such as Thoreau, John Muir, and Aldo Leopold. Among these men, Thoreau stands out.
Thoreau created a basis for intellectual thought about wilderness by expanding the typical
romantic appreciation into the spiritual medium of Transcendentalism; furthermore, Thoreau’s
focus on the value of nature, instead of simply the beauty, provided an intellectual platform for
later arguments in defense of preservation; finally, Thoreau’s writings have proven timeless as
his ideas persist as thoughtful insights on subjects ranging from ecology to the importance of
balance.
Thoreau’s conservationist legacy is foremost tied to his transcendental beliefs. Following
the guidance of his mentor, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Thoreau embraced the New England
wilderness utterly unlike his Puritan predecessors. Whereas early Puritan settlers feared the
forest as a place of inherent evil, as shown by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “Young
Goodman Brown,” Transcendentalists viewed the wild as a direct connection to the divine.
Transcendentalism is the belief that while man may be “rooted… to the material portion” of the
world, “his soul gave him potential to transcend this condition” (Nash 85). This fresh
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perspective implied that man had the capacity to achieve divinity through wilderness. Just as, to
a Catholic, a cathedral represents god’s awe-inspiring capacity, so did wilderness to the
Transcendentalist.
However, this viewpoint was in direct contrast to the belief held widely by the Puritans
and their descendants. Represented in the works of Cotton Mather and John Bunyan, among
others, wilderness to the American Pilgrim was “the symbol of anarchy and evil to which the
Christian was unalterably opposed” (Nash 34). The wilderness represented savagery, “wildmen”, and the “absence of restraint” that could spoil the souls of men (Nash 29). The
sensibilities of the Puritans were ultimately passed down to the next generation of wildernessopposed New Englanders. Hawthorne was a contemporary of Thoreau, writing almost two
hundred years after the initial Puritan colonies at Plymouth Rock, yet his works depict distinctly
Puritan themes of the inherent evilness of the forest (Nash 40).
It was in this environment that Thoreau and other Transcendentalists introduced an
alternate understanding of wilderness. They posited that wilderness was not a place of moral
failure, but actually that “one’s chances of attaining moral perfection and knowing God were
maximized by entering wilderness” (Nash 86). Untouched by the hands of men, wilderness
represented God’s unaltered work. The effect of this shift in thought was monumental in the
plight of conservationism. Previously, the most flattering accounts of wilderness had been lofty
Romantic praise of beauty and of man’s ability to conquer those unchartered lands. However,
Thoreau provided a basis for spiritual value rather than simply appreciation. By literally putting
his faith in nature, Thoreau turned wilderness from a boundary for humanity to a realm. Unlike
ever before, Americans were beginning to view the great western wilderness as an asset in and of
itself worth holding on to.
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Indeed, beyond his spiritual guidance, Thoreau provided applicable insight into the value
of wilderness. As a writer and philosopher, he never underestimated the inspiring power of
nature as a release from civilization. His stay at Walden Pond outside of Concord is among the
most famous such excursion in American literature. Intent to “live deliberately”, Thoreau used
his time in a wilderness induced isolation to “play life” (Nash 90). On his own he found the
familiar Romantic inspiration that allured so many of his contemporaries. However, Thoreau
was always one step ahead. He recognized the wilderness as a finite place that not only had
revitalizing powers, but sustaining effects as well. The natural world contained the “rawmaterial for life” (Nash 88). He lamented the destruction of forests, going so far as to present an
initial plea for “national preserves… for inspiration and our own true recreation” (Nash 102).
Always concerned with the soul, Thoreau constantly reminded us to “be the Lewis and Clark…
of your own streams and oceans; explore your own latitudes” (Nash 88). Without wilderness,
however, none of this can be attained. Man, according to Thoreau, could not afford to lose the
wilderness because it kept “the spark of the wild alive” (Nash 88).
Unfortunately, Thoreau’s ideas were largely ignored during his time. Although well
regarded in small circles, Thoreau’s works did not receive the publicity afforded to other
naturalists until long after his death (Nash 160). Thoreau is typically credited with shaping the
initial ideas of influential conservationists like John Muir, Aldo Leopold, and Theodore
Roosevelt. It is this high level of dissemination that sets Thoreau apart from his contemporaries.
Each new generation of conservationists has reverted back to his works to find inspiration for the
latest cause. For example, John Muir is credited as the ultimate advocate for pure wilderness;
however, many of his works were “near plagiarism of Thoreau,” as Nash puts it (Nash 128).
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Presented with a more embracing public, Muir was able to convey Thoreau’s message to a mass
audience.
The trend of Thoreau-based-arguments continued throughout the twentieth century as
wilderness preservation assumed a more prominent role in American politics and lifestyle. By
the 1950’s, a bill declaring vast amounts of land be kept wild was being laboriously argued in
Congress, with Thoreau’s philosophy playing a vital role. The idea that “man’s happiness and
strength depend” on the presence of wilderness was used to convince representatives and
senators that protected wild nature was necessary (Nash 225). Thoreau’s ideas found their way
into virtually all debates regarding the value of nature. By the 1960’s the countercultural
revolution was ready for Thoreau and he consequently became an intellectual superstar. The
1970 play The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail used the philosopher as the protagonist for a
politically minded commentary on war and nature. Over one hundred years after his death,
Thoreau’s actual persona was still inspiring action. The 1970’s also saw the flourishing of the
ecological movement, spurred by Aldo Leopold. Again Thoreau’s claim that wilderness was the
“raw-material of life” served as a major influence on Leopold, who provided scientific credibility
to Thoreau’s spiritual insight (Nash 88).
Nash does not go so far as to say that Thoreau was one hundred percent wild. In fact, this
point is perhaps Thoreau’s most original and enduring philosophy. When faced with pure
wilderness, Thoreau valued civilization; when faced with pure society, Thoreau valued the wild.
Neither realm was perfect, he realized, and thus for true spiritual completion one must maintain a
balance. Thoreau searched for a way to “secure all the advantage of civilization without
suffering any of the disadvantage” (Nash 92). It seems that Thoreau himself found this balance
in his life by constantly reverting to either his civilized or wild state. However, this philosophy
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provided future preservationists with the idea that a balance must be maintained; as a result,
wilderness must always be present to complete the equation. As time progressed and civilization
assumed the dominant role in America, conservationists were quick to remind the nation of the
delicate balance about which Thoreau had theorized.
The wide scope of Henry David Thoreau’s influence on American conservationism can
be realized simply by turning to the end of Nash’s book. The index shows the occurrence of
Thoreau’s name and ideas throughout a century and a half of American preservationists. No
single figure preceded Thoreau as a driving force in the name of wilderness and all that followed
used his philosophies as a jumping off point. Thoreau gave substance to the lofty Romantic
Sublime while simultaneously embracing it. His Transcendentalists ideas served as new way of
framing the wilderness in a spiritual light. Indeed, the sheer breadth of work that Thoreau
completed provides for a continuing insight to which American conservationists can and have
always turned.
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Works Cited
Nash, Roderick. Wilderness and the American Mind. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001.
Print.