Civil Disobedience Rhetorical Analysis

The Injustice of Government

Government's abuse their power through the law. Slavery and the freedom of individuals are denied because government finds it necessary to revoke the rights of people. Henry Thoreau, a philosopher and recognized transcendentalist, discusses in his essay “Civil Disobedience” that those in power enforce injustice. He argues that the government “does not keep the country free...It does not educate” (146), it is easy for the government to subject its citizens to slavery. Likewise, Martin Luther King, an activist and civil rights leader for African American Rights, reasons in his notable piece, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” that “injustice anywhere is threat to injustice everywhere” (182). As people, we fail to recognize

the effect that one unjust law can have on the rest of the nation. He uses that statement to explain that “we” are all affected “indirectly” by the laws that the government creates. Both writers argue that every human is capable of his own conscience but never “demand [it from] the oppressor” (185). An African American former slave and social reformer, Fredrick Douglas, encompassed similar ideas and motives about the effect of unjust laws throughout his Narrative. Therefore, government is useless, since it does not create change, it allows for slavery, and the only means to escape this injustice is through education and peaceful resistance. Douglas understood that education was the greatest weapon against his slave masters and used it to achieve his freedom.
Government systems are ineffective, as they create unjust laws and violate the rights of individuals.

Thoreau debates that it is almost pointless to petition the government if its “very constitution is the evil” (153). There is no need to vote if the “majority” will always outweigh the minority and will never be protected by the constitution. He claims that, “under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also prison” (154). In context, Thoreau claims that to be free, a just man will eventually have to face prison in order to stand up to the evil of the government. Additionally, Mr. King agrees “that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor” (183). Meaning, governments create unjust laws in order to feel powerful. Therefore, they will take any means necessary to enforce consequences, even if it is the cost of an individual’s freedom. As a slave, Fredrick Douglas was obligated to obey his mistress when she implemented “her husband’s percepts.” Similar to Thoreau and Mr. King, the mistress represents the injustice of those in power because slavery was the norm and the law. Due to slavery, Douglas witnessed “the tender heart became stone… (and) gave way to one of tigerlike fierceness” (428). Simply stated, the unjust laws of slavery and “irresponsible power” imprisoned Douglas and forced him to feel as an object, rather than an individual. Those in the position of power enforce the unjust law, which does not protect the rights of

individuals. Obeying the law and government only subjects one to be a slave; in order to change that, one must disobey.
Slavery is an institution supported by the immoral laws of the government. Its purpose is to degrade the individual. Even though these essays are written throughout different time periods, they all deal with the injustice that slavery poses. Thoreau asserts that there does not seem to be virtue in powerful men, “when the majority shall at length vote for the abolition of slavery, it will because they are indifferent to slavery…they will then be the only slaves” (150). In other words, the government can easily bend laws to suit their desire. Essentially men in power were aware of their own conscience when they were abusing slaves but to choose to allow slavery to continue. As a black man, Mr. King noted how obvious it was walking down the street in 1963 and witnessing the labels for “whites” or “colored.” Mr. King declares, “Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statuses are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality” (187). Similar to Thoreau’s claim, King expands on the idea that segregation and slavery leads to a psychological damage for the oppressed. It makes the enslaved recognize he is less of a human. Fredrick Douglas, was an example of how slavery could dehumanize an individual. Douglas’s slave masters attempted to brainwash him because they feared the day that he would become educated. Therefore, he disobeyed his masters only to discover that “learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing” (430). This was a curse, since he realized that he will always be a slave under the law. Therefore, the government is responsible for allowing slavery and protecting unjust laws.
It is crucial for individuals to escape injustice through education and peaceful resistance.

Thoreau exposes the non- violent method of protesting evil, “if a thousand men were not to pay their tax bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure” (135). Even though this is a form of protesting, it displays peaceful resistance and allows for action. However, even if non- violence was the answer, Thoreau mentions that the government would find a way “to commit violence and shed innocent blood” (135). It is essential to take responsibility of your actions and Thoreau stresses that it is the only way for change to happen. Mr. King also believes that “one who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty” (188). According to Dr. King, the individual who breaks the law “that conscience tells him is unjust,” has a higher respect for the law because he is willing to accept the consequence. Fredrick Douglas form of peaceful resistance was through educating himself. Slavery demanded that slaves would not be educated for fear that they may escape. Douglas proclaims, “During this time, I succeeded in learning to read and write” (428). Simply, Douglas resisted his slave masters by finding a way to educate himself. After becoming educated, Douglas realized that he was consumed in the idea of wanting to be free which had begun to curse

him.
Throughout Thoreau’s essay, Dr. King’s letter and Douglas’s Narrative, the relevant themes was that those in power created injustice. However, these writers expanded on reasoning to comprehend the impact of corrupt government on individuals and their conscience. All of these writers do not value people in power who abuse minority groups. They all state that each human is capable of escaping their own slavery, by choosing to disobey the law or the master. Thoreau concludes, “they have not considered wisely how far they let their private feelings interfere with the public good” (161). The state expects its citizens to give allegiance, when it does not respect the individual. All in all, governments do not create change based on the legal rights of individuals.