Conscience And Beliefs In Henry David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience

Henry David Thoreau's essay Civil Disobedience expresses his beliefs that one needs to prioritize their conscience and morals before the laws of their country. He claims that if a government is unjust then their laws are not mandatory to be followed. He also clarifies that an unjust government is one which does not allow individual freedom and whose actions go against the morality of its followers. Thoreau doesn’t believe that a person should be obligated to devoting their lives to eradicating evils from the world, but he does believe that people are obligated not to participate in said evil, and participating in an unjust institution is doing just that.

Thoreau sees government as a means to an end. It continues to exist in our society because

He also states that it is not simply enough for one to against one evil in their government, but for the other aspects of their government. If you are for some of the aspects of your government then you are continuing to support even the unjust aspects which go against your morals. “In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense; but they [men] put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well.” Overall, men serve their state while putting themselves aside and forgetting the core of their morality. Instead of focusing on their own morality and conscience they participate in the evils of government with a high lack of judgement and lack of morality. Thoreau is saying that since these men are not following their true beliefs as man, and only following what they're told, a wooden man could do the job as well as them. For example, if you abhor slavery but continue to support a government which allows it to exist then you are supporting the existence and continuation of slavery. Although you do not own slaves yourself, you are financially and mentally supporting those who do, and in the process you are one of many who are forcing it to be continued. One’s opposition to slavery means nothing if they are not willing

It is not your responsibility to eradicate the wrongs done in your institution, but it is your responsibility to not take part of it so that it loses the following of many and so that your conscience may be clear. There are ways in which you can go about no longer supporting an unjust institution but violence is not one of them. Thoreau wants a rebellion against the government. He wants reform, and by following this institution you are opposing this reform. If you do not support the unjust actions within your institution then you must not support the government overall, act with your own principles, and break the law if they go against said principles. In order to withdraw support from government you can simply no longer pay your taxes. Thoreau himself has not “paid no poll tax for six years.” and states that ““It is for no particular item in the tax bill that I refuse to pay it. I simply wish to refuse allegiance to the State, to withdraw and stand aloof from it effectually.” By ending your financial support to the government you are no longer supporting anything they do which goes against your conscience, and they also lose funds in order to continue their actions. Wars and evil are expensive, and without the general populations funds to carry them out, the government doesn’t have many other places to turn for this