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In the young United States, the voices of frugality and anti-materialism were drowned out by the sound of money being made in this new land of opportunity. By 1845, some were already feeling that materialism was beginning to destroy the American spirit. One such person was Henry David Thoreau, whose famous book Walden relates his two-year experiment in simple living on the shores of Walden Pond, near Concord, Mass. The book appealed to Americans to "simplify, simplify, simplify," with the rewards of living in harmony with nature and living more fully. Thoreau's writing sparked a movement of progressive thought that helped keep the spirit of American frugality alive at a time when such was greatly needed. Walden has become a classic that continues to inspire Americans more than 150 years later.
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