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What was happening at the time that Thoreau wrote walking? Well:

Manifest Destiny was the policy of the day

The Fugitive Slave Act had just been renewed,

John Brown was soon to lead an armed revolt on behalf of the abolitionist movement,

The Underground Railroad was at peak operation (Thoreau was a conducter!) and

The American Civil War was soon to get started...

How do you think these things influenced Thoreau's writing? How did they shape him as a person, and where do we see evidence of this in "Walking"?