Democracy in Civil Disobedience, Slavery in Massachusetts, Benito Cereno and Bartleby the Scrivener

Thoreau painstakingly reminds the individual of the universal principle that is all people, regardless of race, color or beliefs, deserve to live lives free from the tyranny of oppression and he who does not help grant this freedom to those oppressed, is equally as damned as he who enforced it. Thoreau expanded on this idea, “There are thousands who are in opinion opposed to slavery and to the war, who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to them…they hesitate, and they regret, and sometimes they petition; but they do nothing in earnest, and with effect.” Clearly, Thoreau’s insistence is that rebuking evil is a much a moral obligation as is praising the good. In fact, he insisted, “If one honest man, ceasing to hold slaves, were actually to withdraw from this copartnership, and be locked up in the country jail therefore, it would be the abolition of slavery in America.” Such a drastic and frank statement from Thoreau only proves how steadfast he was in his beliefs that the individual could bring forth great change. Every functioning member of society deserves the chance to make a compelling difference in the lives of those around them, regardless of factors such as race. For it is those who do not protest who aid in the condemnation.

In Thoreau’s continuing effort to describe the context for citizen rebellion, he beseeches how irrelevant public opinion is if it is not acted on. “How can a man be satisfied to entertain an opinion merely, and enjoy it? Is there any enjoyment in it, if his opinion is that he is aggrieved?” (Thoreau). This question develops a sense of urgency that unless an opinion is acted on, first, there will be a complete absence of realistic results, but second, it simply exacerbates the issue that citizen opinion is against. To an extent, opinions are worthless if there is no motivation behind them, and Thoreau makes this very clear within his essay to assist the exigence behind his straightforward tone.

(Emerson 367). However, Thoreau believes that in a democracy the voice of the people as whole should be followed. Thoreau desires a “better government”, not anarchy devoid of the law where every individual follows his own set of rules (Thoreau 381). Although assuredly in favor of individuality, Thoreau recognizes that a democracy requires public consensus and popular support.

When writing the Constitution, one of the most prominent arguments focused on whether America should be considered a Democracy. A large percentage of the founding fathers feared the term “Democracy” because they strongly believed that if the people had control, then there would be disorder and violence. As James Madison stated in Federalist No. 10,

According Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience, he mentions that to require civil disobedience, the circumstances must be like America’s. Circumstances like practicing war, deriving power from the people, having unjust laws, and supporting slavery. Thoreau writes, “must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislation?” (Thoreau ). He mentions how no man should be subdued to any government or institution, especially if it portrays unjust. Therefore he also implies that if a law exhibits unjust, the population should not follow the law with the knowledge of the consequence. Similarly, Thoreau establishes, “when . . . a whole country is unjustly overrun and conquered by a foreign army, and subjected to military law, I think that it is not too soon for honest men to rebel and revolutionize,” (Thoreau ). He explains how it expresses the duty of Americans to rebel and use civil disobedience, it is not just a right, but it drives Americans to be aware of and completely use for the advantage of society. Thoreau further explains the unlawful government by stating, “I cannot for an instant recognize that political organization as my government which the slave's government also,” (Thoreau ). He describes the circumstance of America as a prejudiced institution, which rightfully allows citizens to use their duty of civil disobedience. A government should require unjust laws, slavery, aggressive law, and strength over intelligence to cause civil disobedience. However, civil disobedience a citizen’s duty and they must maintain it.

Thoreau and Paine are both suggesting that the United States citizens should disobey their government, but the ways in which these authors are suggesting are in

Henry David Thoreau, born in 1817, is the author of Civil Disobedience, an essay the highlights the importance of individualism and maintaining autonomy within a society that strongly favor majority rule. In 2017, especially within the past election, this is of major significance. In his essay, Thoreau focusses on many ideas, some of the most prevalent being, standing up for what one believes is wrong, no matter the consequences, along with the idea that with the right leaders government can work.

Being an abolitionist was not a popular stance in pre-civil war America. Levi Coffin and his wife were abolitionists who assisted thousands of slaves make their way to freedom threw the Underground Railroad. The Coffins were radical, they risked their own freedom to help strangers have theirs. Levi was middle class white business owner, he had no incentive to speak out against slavery. In contrast to society the Coffins not only opposed slavery, but they took action against it. They begin housing run a way slaves in their own home. This was extremely risky because if they were caught they would be imprisoned and lose all they owned. Once they had a very close encounter with law. When questioned they refused to deny that they had slaves hidden,

A man once said "That government is best that governs least," that man is John L. O'Sullivan who argues that government is "evil". Thoreau takes this quote as a motto and centers his work, "Civil Disobedience" around this opening quote. The quote itself is self-explanatory and the fact that Thoreau "heartily accepts" this motto, tells us that he disapproves of government and its interference in our affairs. Thoreau would like to have no government at all but as he speaks as a practical citizen, he is asking not to get rid of government entirely, but to get a better one [724]. He wants the people in government to focus on what is right instead of what the law says is "just." If there's laws that our conscience tells us, is wrong, then we should rebel against them because if we have knowledge on the issue, and don’t do anything to prevent it, then in a way we are supporting it. Thoreau says "Cast your whole vote, not a strip of paper merely, but your whole influence.” He persuades his readers of his ideas through classical argument. Thoreau uses logos, pathos, and repetition, as well as analogies and metaphors to clearly present his reasons on why its better to have a government that governs least or have no government at all.

The history of abolition directly relates to the many obstacles Americans faced when trying to change

Henry David Thoreau, an American essayist, philosopher, and historian around the 1800s, composed “Civil Disobedience” to uncover the rapid downfall of the American Government. Thoreau highlights “That Government does best when it does not govern at all”; and when the men are most ready for It, that will be the type of Government they will have, a Government-free one (Thoreau 1). Thoreau expresses his bravery in his writing to bear his nationalistic attitude, showing his hostility towards the American Government during that time; he asserts that the Government, in it’s present state is sinister and corrupted because the Government favors slavery and the Mexican war. Throughout his explanations, Thoreau argues that the American citizens should take complete control by being the true leaders of the government and not allow the Government to rescind or decay their consciences. To grab the reader’s attention and to lead them to a new kind of nationalism and it’s circumstance, Thoreau exquisitely makes use of the rhetorical elements of ethos, logos, and pathos.

Thoreau begins his lesson with telling us that "That government is best which governs least" (Thoreau). He believes that a government, specifically the United States government, is only really needed because we think that it is. The government does not serve the purpose that we believe it does and it actually serves the majority of the population. Even if the thought and ideas of the minority is pure and morally just, they negate it. The majority of the population does not always choose to do the most

Thoreau believed that the government should not be ruled by the minority just because “they are physically the strongest,” instead, we should be ruled by conscience. Furthermore, Thoreau stated that “…a corporation has no conscience,” because the corporation only cared about money, without caring about the multitude. This is still happening even nowadays. For instance, the cigarette companies are still selling cigarettes to the multitude even though they know that there are some carcinogenic materials in cigarettes that smoking cigarettes can cause cancers. They only care about money, without caring about the people who buy their products. As a result, most of the corporations had no conscience. Besides, people should also be conscientious. We should use our brains to think before we act. For example, the soldiers of the army had no conscience because they act like machines without thinking what they were doing. “The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as machines.” In brief, Thoreau believed that we should be ruled by conscience instead of the inexpedient government which had no conscience. Besides, we should do something to stop the “machine.”

The political concepts of justice and how a society should be governed have dominated literature through out human history. The concept of peacefully resisting laws set by a governing force can be first be depicted in the world of the Ancient Greeks in the works of Sophocles and actions of Socrates. This popular idea has developed over the centuries and is commonly known today as civil disobedience. Due to the works of Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. civil disobedience is a well-known political action to Americans; first in the application against slavery and second in the application against segregation. Thoreau’s essay “Civil Disobedience” and King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” are the leading arguments in defining