In 1825, Dana enrolled in a private school overseen by Ralph Waldo Emerson, whom Dana later mildly praised as "a very pleasant instructor", though he lacked a "system or discipline enough to ensure regular and vigorous study."
In July 1831, Dana enrolled at Harvard College, where in his freshman year his support of a student protest cost him a six-month suspension.
In his junior year, he contracted measles, which in his case led to ophthalmia.

Fatefully, the worsening vision inspired him to take a sea voyage.
 But rather than going on a fashionable Grand Tour of Europe he decided, despite his social standing, to enlist as a merchant seaman.
On August 14, 1834 he departed Boston aboard the brig Pilgrim, captained by Frank Thompson, bound for Alta California, at that time still a part of Mexico.
This voyage would bring Dana to a number of settlements in California (including Monterey, San Buenaventura, San Pedro, San Juan Capistrano, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara and San Francisco).
After witnessing Thompson's sadistic practices, including a flogging on board the ship, he vowed that he would try to help improve the lot of the common seaman.
The Pilgrim collected hides for shipment to Boston, and Dana spent much of his time in California at San Diego's Point Loma curing hides and loading them onto the ship.

Dana's description of his time on Point Loma shows love and concern for the Hawaiians who also worked there.
He may have been predisposed to feel positively toward them by a previous stay in Andover, Massachusetts, among evangelicals who had embraced Hawaiians in New England and sent the first Protestant missionaries to Hawaii.

Wishing to return home sooner, Dana was reassigned by the ship's owners to a different ship: the Alert.
Dana gives the classic account of the return trip around Cape Horn in the middle of the Antarctic winter.
He describes terrifying storms and profound beauty, giving vivid descriptions of icebergs, which he calls incomparable.
 The most incredible part perhaps is the weeks and weeks it took to negotiate passage against winds and storms—all the while having to race up and down the ice-covered rigging to furl and unfurl sails.
 At one point he had an infected tooth, and his face swelled up so that he was unable to work for several days, despite the need for all hands.
 He also describes the scurvy that afflicts members of the crew after the rounding of the Horn.
 In White-Jacket, Herman Melville wrote, "But if you want the best idea of Cape Horn, get my friend Dana's unmatchable Two Years Before the Mast.
But you can read, and so you must have read it.
His chapters describing Cape Horn must have been written with an icicle."

On September 22, 1836, Dana arrived back in Massachusetts.
He thereupon enrolled at what is now Harvard Law School, then called the Dane Law School.
Graduated in 1837, he was admitted to the bar in 1840 and went on to specialize in maritime law.
In the October 1839 issue of a magazine, he took a local judge, one of his own instructors in law school, to task for letting off a ship's captain and mate with a slap on the wrist for murdering the ship's cook, beating him to death for not "laying hold" of a piece of equipment.
The judge had sentenced the captain to ninety days in jail and the mate to thirty days.

In 1841, Dana published The Seaman's Friend, which became a standard reference on the legal rights and responsibilities of sailors.
He defended many common seamen in court.

During his voyages he had kept a diary, and in 1840 (coinciding with his admission to the bar) he published a memoir, Two Years Before the Mast.
The term "before the mast" refers to sailors' quarters, which were located in the forecastle (the ship's bow), officers' quarters being near the stern.
His writing evinces his later sympathy for the oppressed.
 With the California Gold Rush later in the decade, Two Years Before the Mast would become highly sought after as one of the few sources of information on California.

Dana became a prominent abolitionist, helping to found the anti-slavery Free Soil P
In 1825, Dana enrolled in a private school overseen by Ralph Waldo Emerson, whom Dana later mildly praised as "a very pleasant instructor", though he lacked a "system or discipline enough to ensure regular and vigorous study." In July 1831, Dana enrolled at Harvard College, where in his freshman year his support of a student protest cost him a six-month suspension. In his junior year, he contracted measles, which in his case led to ophthalmia.
Fatefully, the worsening vision inspired him to take a sea voyage.  But rather than going on a fashionable Grand Tour of Europe he decided, despite his social standing, to enlist as a merchant seaman. On August 14, 1834 he departed Boston aboard the brig Pilgrim, captained by Frank Thompson, bound for Alta California, at that time still a part of Mexico. This voyage would bring Dana to a number of settlements in California (including Monterey, San Buenaventura, San Pedro, San Juan Capistrano, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara and San Francisco). After witnessing Thompson's sadistic practices, including a flogging on board the ship, he vowed that he would try to help improve the lot of the common seaman. The Pilgrim collected hides for shipment to Boston, and Dana spent much of his time in California at San Diego's Point Loma curing hides and loading them onto the ship.
Dana's description of his time on Point Loma shows love and concern for the Hawaiians who also worked there. He may have been predisposed to feel positively toward them by a previous stay in Andover, Massachusetts, among evangelicals who had embraced Hawaiians in New England and sent the first Protestant missionaries to Hawaii.
Wishing to return home sooner, Dana was reassigned by the ship's owners to a different ship: the Alert. Dana gives the classic account of the return trip around Cape Horn in the middle of the Antarctic winter. He describes terrifying storms and profound beauty, giving vivid descriptions of icebergs, which he calls incomparable.  The most incredible part perhaps is the weeks and weeks it took to negotiate passage against winds and storms—all the while having to race up and down the ice-covered rigging to furl and unfurl sails.  At one point he had an infected tooth, and his face swelled up so that he was unable to work for several days, despite the need for all hands.  He also describes the scurvy that afflicts members of the crew after the rounding of the Horn.  In White-Jacket, Herman Melville wrote, "But if you want the best idea of Cape Horn, get my friend Dana's unmatchable Two Years Before the Mast. But you can read, and so you must have read it. His chapters describing Cape Horn must have been written with an icicle."
On September 22, 1836, Dana arrived back in Massachusetts. He thereupon enrolled at what is now Harvard Law School, then called the Dane Law School. Graduated in 1837, he was admitted to the bar in 1840 and went on to specialize in maritime law. In the October 1839 issue of a magazine, he took a local judge, one of his own instructors in law school, to task for letting off a ship's captain and mate with a slap on the wrist for murdering the ship's cook, beating him to death for not "laying hold" of a piece of equipment. The judge had sentenced the captain to ninety days in jail and the mate to thirty days.
In 1841, Dana published The Seaman's Friend, which became a standard reference on the legal rights and responsibilities of sailors. He defended many common seamen in court.
During his voyages he had kept a diary, and in 1840 (coinciding with his admission to the bar) he published a memoir, Two Years Before the Mast. The term "before the mast" refers to sailors' quarters, which were located in the forecastle (the ship's bow), officers' quarters being near the stern. His writing evinces his later sympathy for the oppressed.  With the California Gold Rush later in the decade, Two Years Before the Mast would become highly sought after as one of the few sources of information on California.
Dana became a prominent abolitionist, helping to found the anti-slavery Free Soil P
Richard Henry Dana Jr.