Emerson was an eager academic who ultimately became a rebel. Thoreau was a nature lover who despised his fellow humans. They became gods to one other through the thick and thin of their thorny, passionate friendship. The Emerson-Thoreau legacy in The Connection's first hour. The show begins in 1837 with the publication of Thoreau's essay "Resistance to Civil Government." This controversial piece calls for individuals to live according to their own conscience even if this means suffering punishment from society. Two years later, "Civil Disobedience" is published, arguing that individual moral action is essential for changing unjust laws. In 1840, at age 23, Thoreau travels to Europe, where he meets such people as Dickens, Goethe, and Marx. Back in America, Thoreau builds himself a cabin on Walden Pond and lives there for two months alone with his thoughts. In 1845, he publishes "Walden," a book that tells of his experience and argues that true freedom can only be found in isolation from others. In 1847, at age 26, Thoreau joins a group of men to explore Massachusetts' Maine Woods. He returns home three months later with first-hand information about forest destruction caused by logging companies. That same year, he publishes A Week on the Concord & Merrimack Rivers, which becomes a popular success.