Page "Amos Bronson Alcott" Paragraph 18

With financial support from Emerson, Alcott left Concord on May 8, 1842, to a visit to England, leaving his brother Junius with his family.

He met two admirers, Charles Lane and Henry C. Wright.

The two men were leaders of Alcott House, an experimental school based on Alcott's methods from the Temple School located about ten miles outside of London.

The school's founder, James Pierpont Greaves, had only recently died but Alcott was invited to stay there for a week.

Alcott persuaded them to come to the United States with him ; Lane and his son moved into the Alcott house and helped with family chores.

Persuaded in part by Lane's abolitionist views, Alcott took a stand against the John Tyler administration's plan to annex Texas as a slave territory and refused to pay his poll tax.

Abby May wrote in her journal on January 17, 1843, " A day of some excitement, as Mr. Alcott refused to pay his town tax ... After waiting some time to be committed jail, he was told it was paid by a friend.

Thus we were spared the affliction of his absence and the triumph of suffering for his principles.

" The annual poll tax was only $ 1. 50.

The incident inspired Henry David Thoreau, whose similar protest led to a night in jail and his essay " Civil Disobedience ".

Around this time, the Alcott family set up a sort of domestic post office to curb potential domestic tension.

Abby May described her idea: " I thought it would afford a daily opportunity for the children, indeed all of us, to interchange thought and sentiment ".