Thoreau begins Civil Disobedience with the quote "That government is best which governs least," and he says he'd want a government that wouldn't interfere with people's lives. It survives because the people have chosen it to lose their free will, but it is easy to abuse. He says that The Mexican War is an instance of a few people using the government for their own gain. Thoreau says that government as an organization prevents the success of the job that it was created for. The reason it was first created for was to securing individual freedom and independence. Yet, allowing slavery does the exact opposite. He says he simply just wants a better more justified government but not to destroy or completely get rid of it. Using the majority to rule government is …show more content…
Thoreau says that they have a right to revolt. Having said the government as an organization does not do enough good to balance out the evil it performs. The enemies of change, he realizes, are everyday people who support the government. The feeling of resistance to slavery is meaningless and doesn't cause change. Only doing something about your opposition makes a difference to the world around you. Wrongdoing can only be corrected by the individual, not through the tool of government. Still, Thoreau states that a man has better things to be doing than exterminating institutional evil, he cannot be guilty through agreement and compliance. An individual must break the law if needed overlooking the consequences. He says the destruction of government can be accomplished by eliminating support, which can be achieved effectively and realistically through the resisting to pay taxes. If incarceration is the result, there is no embarrassment in it prison can be the best place for a righteous man in an unfair nation. Rebelling creates a "peaceable revolution." Thoreau again pushes a simplistic, self-reliant lifestyle as a way of preserving personal
Thoreau's Civil Disobedience talks about politics, government and the issues concerning these areas today. "Government is best which governs least." This motto means that the government should not have complete power over the people. The people's opinion is what matters the most. Individualism is stressed throughout his writing. To stand up for what you believe in and not bend backwards for the government is necessary. He speaks of Slavery and the war in Mexico and how is must be put to a stop. The people are responsible for this happening. Many people opposed these things yet did nothing to change it. Allowing yourself to be a part of injustice makes you a part of the negativity. Paying taxes to a corrupt government makes you
In Thoreau's Civil Disobedience, he argues that when civil laws conflict with an individual's morality, the individual should follows his conscience. Thoreau like many Transcendentalists felt a less involved government was best. Thoreau wrote, "That government is best which governs not at all." Obviously, Thoreau realized that he could afford to take this open opinion on government because of the American government. But he felt that government's authority should be limited to physical matters of the country, such as infrastructure and orderliness. He felt a government that become involved in moral matters such as sobriety and slavery was a government over-stepping its boundaries. Ultimately, Thoreau and other transcendentalists felt a utopian society would be the best.
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 believed that individual integrity had the ability to triumph the government. Thoreau went to jail because he refused to pay his poll taxes for the past six years. Also, he protested against the Mexican war, and slavery, which also contributed to him going to jail and his views on the government. During his short period in jail he clarified that he did not dread it, and portrayed it as “Traveling into a far country” (964).
Thoreau believes that, “ That government is best which governs not at all” stating that the government should not only represent the people but should be run by them as well (Thoreau 940). Thoreau’s beliefs explain his position on civil disobedience, stating that civil disobedience is needed when the government implements policies that are against the individual's conscience and beliefs. Thoreau gives an example of when civil disobedience is needed by expressing his objections towards the American government's involvement in the Mexican war, “file of soldiers ...marching in admirable order over the hill and dale to wars, against their wills”(Thoreau 941). While the soldier's duty is to serve their country, if their country is asking them to disregard their own judgement to become useful for their benefit, the individual must refuse allegiance and become useful as a person and not a machine the government can use at their own will. The people that the government uses, are used to invade other countries and are enforcing their policies, making them become a popular vote government as well, “we are all made at last to pay homage to and support our own meanness” ( Thoreau 945). Thoreau is implying that civil disobedience is required in order to follow one’s own voice, to follow through to their morals, even if it means not being included in the popular vote. Thoreau states that civil disobedience is a duty that is required to indicate the necessity for change in the government, “whole country is unjustly overrun...not too soon for honest men to rebel
From the start of man fighting for freedom or his beliefs, the question has consistently been whether a person can wage a battle using words rather than actions. The notion of civil disobedience would seem to be an inept weapon against political inequity; history, however, has persistently proven it to be the most dynamic weapon of the individual. By refusing to pay his taxes and subsequently being imprisoned, Henry David Thoreau demonstrated this very defiance. Thoreau’s Resistance to Civil Government conveys the effectiveness of the individual conscience, renounces hypocrisy, and cultivates a sense of urgency where inaction creates a moral conflict. This path of responsibility paved by Thoreau gave our leaders of today the means they
In paragraph 10 Thoreau writes “In a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also prison.” With this quote he states that in a terrible government the jail, meant for criminals, has become a place for the righteous. This shows that since the government is untrustworthy then if there is a law that is unfair and feels like it's meant to incarcerate the person then it’s correct to try and go against it. Thoreau uses this oxymoron to appeal to the readers logic by giving an example of when the government is bad and should be
In Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience, he is writing to the American people. He is trying to spark a desire for change, for people to oppose their government without actions. He uses this work to criticize the American institution of slavery as well as the Mexican-American War. Thoreau is attempting to convey the importance of listening to one’s conscience over the laws, believing that it is more important to do what they feel is right rather than listen to the laws given by the majority. Thoreau feels that people should protest against their government, but not using violent actions. He is trying to persuade the people to voice their opinions and break the chain of majority rule. Thoreau is writing during the time of the war between the United States and Mexico, which took place between 1846 and 1848. He writes to oppose the government’s actions and policies during this time period. He refused to pay a tax that would support the war and was imprisoned for a day. Thoreau uses ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade his audience to agree with his view of the American government and to voice their oppositions.
"That government is best which governs least." Or is it? Should the American people be free to rebel against laws they consider unjust? Henry David Thoreau addresses these issues in his essay, Civil Disobedience. Thoreau wholeheartedly accepts the declaration that the government is best which governs least, and would like to see it acted upon. One day, he hopes, we will be able to carry it out to the point where men can have a government that does not govern at all. Government "never of itself furthered any enterprise". He claims that the character of the American people, rather than the government, has kept the country free, settled the west and educated the people. If the government had not interfered, the people would have
Resistance to Civil Government (Civil Disobedience) is an essay written based on his disproval’s and arguments about mistreatment from the government. Within Henry David Thoreau essay, he points out his views on how he sees people getting treated for being different. Henry David Thoreau believed that people should fight for their rights like everyone other citizens has. Henry David Thoreau illustrates in his essay, “But a government in which the majority rule in all cases cannot be based on justice, even as far as men understand it” . Henry David Thoreau sees and knows that the government has no justice towards the people, those who get their rights see it as
Henry David Thoreau, author of “Civil Disobedience” and Walden, has become one of the most influential authors of all time in the eyes of many. Though some might be led to believe his essays and writings, including “Where I Lived, and What I lived For”, make him a down to earth and even rugged author, as he spent some of his life in the forest. However, his life in the woods was not one of heavy duty work and he often was supported with objects and material possessions, contrary to what many of his essays describe. Although some might think of him as a cheater or a liar, Thoreau’s conflicting lifestyles prove him to be a literary genius as he successfully dictates a lifestyle he himself does not take part in throughout paragraphs one
After reading “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau, I believe that this historic piece of literature can still have a substantial impact upon the current beliefs of the American people. The reason that this essay has such significance to America is because this essay addresses the proper way to go about civil disobedience in addition to providing education about the nature of civil disobedience. I believe the most significant message that this essay could teach Americans is expressed in this quote, “A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority.” This quote expresses the need to not just believe in a cause but to actively support it. This is in contrast to a wide spread phenomenon called false activism that is prominent in society. We all know someone who is, and for the most part all of us are guilty of seeing a cause online, claiming to support it, and then not doing a single thing to progress the cause. For example, most everyone you talk to would claim to strongly support more environmentally friendly methods of gathering energy yet the majority of us have not done anything to progress the cause of green energy.
Thoreau makes that evident in the following quote from his essay: “There are thousands who are in opinion opposed to slavery… who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to [it]; who, esteeming themselves children of Washington and Franklin, sit down with their hands in their pockets, and say that they know not what to do, and do nothing; and even postpone the question of freedom to the question of free-trade…” (Thoreau, 270).
Thoreau fixates on the idea that people should fight the government to allow themselves to be free and rule on their own thoughts. He clearly states his view in his piece “Resistance to the Civil Government,” when he writes, “‘That government is best which governs not at all;’ and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have” (852). He does not want the government to have control over the people, and so he believes that it is best if the government does not govern at all. This allows individuals to think for themselves and to follow what they believe to be correct, and not what someone tells them is correct.
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.