Johns Hopkins history professor Charles A. Barker describes the characteristics and beliefs of Henry David Thoreau, one of the Transcendentalists in Concord, MA. The narrator enumerates Thoreau's life events, including his isolation at Walden Pond and Emerson's influence on him. Dr. Carl Bode, English professor at the University of Maryland, analyzes Thoreau's 26-month Walden venture and suggests that Thoreau was experiencing the cycle of withdrawal and return as described by Arnold Toynbee. Dr. Barker discusses Thoreau's animosity towards his peers and his polemic essays, such as the 1849 "Essay on Civil Disobedience" and the 1859 "A Plea for Captain John Brown," his last outburst of creative energy. Individualistic and dogmatic to the end, Thoreau died of tuberculosis in 1862. Actor Ed Golden portrays Thoreau and recites lines written by him to underscore the scholars' comments.

Lynn Poole sets the scene of Shays' Rebellion in 1787 Massachusetts, and American history professor Charles Barker, with the assistance of costumed actors, fills in the details. This first political protest after the American Revolution was a precursor of Jacksonian democracy and led to the creation of the U.S. Constitution. At issue were the farmers caught between mounting debts and insufficient gold-backed paper currency in circulation. In numerous towns in western Massachusetts, such as Northampton, Worcester, Great Barrington, armed mobs prevented the supreme judicial courts from sitting and sending debtors to prison. They were led by Capt. Daniel Shays, a veteran of the Revolution and farmer from Pelham, MA. Gen. Lincoln's army was sent to suppress the insurrections and protect the judicial courts. On January 25, 1787, Shays' rebels attacked the arsenal at Springfield, MA, but were rebuffed by Gen. Shepard's troops. With the exception of two, the rebels were pardoned after asking forgiveness, and the government made the reforms they sought. Dr. Barker recommends two books about the incident: George Richard Minot's famous "History of the Insurrections in Massachusetts" and the historical fiction "Duke of Stockbridge" by Edward Bellamy.