Henry David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience

Henry David Thoreau wrote Civil Disobedience, which is about him trying to persuade citizens that their obligation is to contravene and correct the unfair laws of the government. Thoreau begins Civil Disobedience with the view point “That government is best which governs least”

The belief of civil disobedience that is evident in present day America was created by Henry Thoreau. In the history of mankind, Thoreau is most notably known for his creation of the ideology that encourages improvement of the government, but only for specific reasons. This belief created by Thoreau became known as civil disobedience through the publication of his essay titled “Civil Disobedience.” In the essay, Thoreau continuously advised for the improvement of a government and also the person in that society, which he also believed the government reflected the will of an individual. Thoreau believed that civil disobedience against the government was necessary, but only for specific reasons. In the reading, Thoreau stated many reasons why one should not conform to the government, such as “But when the friction comes to have its machine, and oppression and robbery are organized, I say, let us not have such a machine any longer” (Thoreau 3). Thoreau believed that one should change the government and not conform if that particular state has many injustices occurring against the masses in society. The metaphor in the quote establishes friction to resemble the government at work, such as laws passed and enforced on an individual. If the friction were to become unnecessary, harm the society, and benefit the government, Thoreau

“If you make laws to keep us suppressed in a wrongful manner and without taking us into confidence, these laws will merely adorn the statue books. We will never obey them”(1). Mohandas Gandhi expressed this in his writing “On Nonviolent Resistance”. “Civil disobedience” is when people use their voice by protesting, non-violently, to stick up against unjust laws and unjust movements. The truths and values are proven and brought to attention in the writings of Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, and Henry David Thoreau. Civil disobedience can be the solution to unjust laws and violence around the world.

The exercise of passive resistance is the basis of the title of Thoreau's work, and King presents several examples of "civil disobedience" in his letter, including the Boston Tea Party. King not only exercises passive resistance, he also provides the procedure to be followed for any nonviolent campaign. They are: collection of the facts to determine whether injustice exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action (2:471). He points out that he has gone through all the steps, and direct action is what brought him to the Birmingham Jail.Recognition of injustice and passive resistance described by both authors is to point out the need of government reformation.

These three writers have made a huge impact. They stood up for their beliefs even if it had to cost them their life. They all had different stories but one thing in common, they wanted the power to stand up for what they believe is right.

The United States was established as a government of the people with the essential purposes of establishing justice, promoting the general welfare and securing the Blessings of Liberty. Throughout time, however, the underlying nature and structure of our government have not been well adapted to promoting positive change, a proven limitation in a rapidly evolving society. Instead, essential change has come about only when people have been willing to stand against unjust laws, refusing to obey them and making their voices heard demanding justice for all. As Henry David Thoreau noted in his essay “Civil Disobedience”, “Yet this government never of itself furthered any enterprise… It does not keep the country free. …. The character inherent

Michaela Helms 1st period 3/16/15 Civil Disobedience Around The Globe “I was not designed to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest,” Is a quote from Thoreau's Civil Disobedience essay that over the years, many have been influenced by. American citizens were not that only followers that Thoreau has, many people around the world have also taken what Thoreau wrote about civil disobedience and followed his words of wisdom. Although some may disagree with Thoreau's opinion and say that breaking the law is bad and that it does not matter f it was for the best, because of Thoreau's Civil Disobedience essay people all around have fought for what they believed in even if it meant breaking the law.

3. How does Thoreau justify the moral need for civil disobedience? What principles does her rely on in his justification? Thoreau justifies the moral need for civil disobedience when the acts and actions of a government oppose the person's conscience. More specifically, he uses the example of the Mexican-American Revolution to describe this idea.

Civil disobedience is a peaceful form of political protest, it's based off of your opinion and your beliefs. People have used this method to protest for many years to change the government's laws and to bring attention to a situation that they feel is important. In modern time today there are acts of civil disobedience and let me bring your attention to some. After a school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, located in Florida. Over a dozen faculty and students were killed in this mass shooting Wednesday Feb. 21, 2018. Some of the surviving teens who survived the shooting mad a young movement of civil disobedience by traveling to Florida's state capitol for protest regarding gun control legislation, in Tallahassee, Fla.

When laws are unfair for the vast of people, then those laws must be challenged. Moral law deals with our relationship to God and to our fellow man, the set of principles that govern what a society considers right and wrong behaviour. It is based on the religion, culture and traditional. Civil law deals with things like establishment of guilt, proper punishment for offenses. It's easily recognizable as similar to our own civil laws. Sometimes those who laws may be clash and yes, we should teach children that sometimes we need to make a stand if those law are unjust for the majority of people.

“Civil Disobedience” was first published in 1849, Thoreau argued that governments shouldn’t be allowed to weaken the conscious of citizens. As slavery was during the Mexican- American was in 1846.Thoreau gave a lecture entitled “The Rights and Duties of the Individual relationship to the Government”. This lecture was the prelude to “Civil Disobedience” which was originally “Resistance to Civil Government” Thoreau changed the title so that his audience would know the difference between his views and the views of the anarcho-pacifists. Thoreau used the term ‘resistance’ to not only compare the government to a machine but to also influence his audience to put a stop to the machine. In his opinion the government was more damaging than supportive and that there wasn’t any justifying the Democracy was in place to give the people more of a voice wasn’t even justified.

It is a form of protest that substance in the negative, by peaceful means, to comply with a legal provision. Inspired by the action of HD Thoreau, who in 1846 refused to pay taxes to support the war and slavery, prominent activists, such as Gandhi, the philosopher Bertrand Russell and Martin Luther King, they practiced this form of protest.

“That government is best which governs least,” this is a quote from Henry David Thoreau from his well-known book called Civil Disobedience (Baym, Levine ,2012). His famous book was written after he was jailed for a night for refusing to pay a tax. However, the following day his relatives paid the tax without his knowledge and this inspired his book Civil Disobedience. Though Henry David Thoreau is also known for being a poet, practical philosopher and his two-year project at Walden pond near Concord, Massachusetts (“Henry David Thoreau,” 2014). His project consisted of him leaving behind the influence of society and living a minimalist lifestyle for two years. In his book, Walden, or Life in the Woods, in the economy portion he illustrates the benefits of living a simplified lifestyle. Thoreau also describes his project as an act of self-reliance and practicing his faith as a Transcendentalist. As well as, Thoreau believes in minimizing one’s needs to four necessities which is food, shelter, clothing and fuel, all four of these are readily found in nature. Furthermore, Thoreau argues his view on the benefits of a simplified lifestyle, self-reliance, and his necessities can be found in nature.

Thoreau's Civil Disobedience embraces the need to organize one's still, small voice over the directs of laws. It scrutinizes American social foundations and approaches, most noticeably bondage and the Mexican-American War. Legislature once in awhile substantiates itself valuable and that it gets its energy from the greater part since they are the most grounded gathering, not on the grounds that they hold the most realistic perspective. He fights that individuals' first commitment is to do what they accept is correct and not to take the law managed by the larger part. At the point when an administration is out of line, individuals should decline to take the law and separation themselves from the legislature by and large. A man isn't committed to giving his life to taking out indecencies from the world, yet he is committed not to partake in such shades of malice. This incorporates not being an individual from a treacherous foundation (like the legislature). Thoreau additionally contends that the United States fits his criteria for an out of line government, given its help of servitude and its routine with regards to forceful war.

Thoreau is not offering the idea of civil disobedience as an improvement to the government, but instead as a mere adjustment to policy. His notion of using civil disobedience lacks a sense of permanence, being that he requests “at once a better government”(276). It is not a thoughtful creation of a better state. It happens fast and tries to fix the problem in the easiest possible way. It does not take the time to go through the system and correct the underlying issues. Civil disobedience as an action is not a revolutionary force.