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Thoreau Essay on Civil Disobedience
Henry David Thoreau thoughts on justification of civil disobedience
Thoreau Essay on Civil Disobedience
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One of the many foundations in American politics is civil disobedience. To this day many issues, not only in America but all over the world have been solved with civil disobedience. Many influential men and women in America have voiced their personal version of civil disobedience.
Henry David Thoreau wrote his essay “Civil Disobedience”. In his essay Thoreau discussed the issues that were plaguing the world around. During the time when Thoreau wrote his essay, the Mexican-American war was in full effect. From 1846 to 1848 the United States military invaded Mexico under the instruction of President James Polk and the idea of Manifest Destiny. In the territories won in the Mexican-American war, slavery was practiced in all of those areas. Thoreau was heavily opposed to the institution of slavery and upset with the American government for supporting this legislation. As a form of protest of the Mexican-American war, Thoreau refused to pay his taxes. His actions landing him in jail, and in his jail cell, Henry David Thoreau wrote his motivational essay, “Civil Disobedience”. In his essay Thoreau feels that “The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as
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machines, with their bodies” (Thoreau) is fundamentally wrong. In the United States the use of peaceful protest has a positive impact on American citizens and society.
Throughout the history of the United States, there have been many influential people who have lead the rebellion against the lawmakers of their time. One of the inspiring people is Rosa Parks. During Parks’ time of civil disobedience, the civil rights movement was at its height. Rosa “Parks was arrested for her act of civil disobedience and convicted of violating the Jim Crow laws that enforced racial segregation in the South” (Korpe), for refusing to give up her seat in a bus for a white man. Just one person, Parks, refusing to give up her seat on a bus lead to a bus boycott headed by Martin Luther King Jr.. Her actions gave her the title of “‘ the mother of the civil rights movement’”
(Korpe). Today the civil disobedience is in full swing. Many Americans are outraged with the relationship that the police have with African Americans. In many cities across the United States there has been a dramatic increase of police brutality.These attacks are driven by the violent actions of typically white policeman against mainly African Americans, which sometimes end in death of both parties. Many people have practice civil disobedience through peaceful protests and organizations and campaigns like Blue Lives matter or Black Lives matter, while others use violent tactics to get their views and ideas across. These movements are making slow progress to help people learn how and what to do when someone gets pulled over by the police, In this case, along with many others, education is the best was to achieve peaceful civil disobedience. Many acts of civil disobedience in the past and today prove that civil disobedience has a positive effect on society. With help from all people issues can be solved by a peaceful demonstration of civil disobedience.
Henry David Thoreau was a poet, social philosopher, and educator in the early to mid- 1800s (Hampton). He graduated from Harvard University in 1837 and, upon his return to his hometown of Concord, Massachusetts, befriended Ralph Waldo Emerson, also a philosopher and poet (Hampton, “Ralph Waldo Emerson”). Emerson was also the leader of the Transcendentalist movement which was based on the idea that people should lead by example -- social reform begins with the individual, not the government -- and that the movement should be peaceful (Woodlief, Ruehl). Thoreau agreed with this approach until the United States invaded Mexico in May, 1846 (Brown, Witherell). Opposed to slavery, Thoreau saw the invasion of Mexico as an attempt by the government to extend slavery westward. In his essay “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience,” published in 1849 with the original title, “Resistance to Civil Government,” Thoreau protests against the government and states that is a man’s duty to rise up against the government when the government commits a wrong (Thoreau). In his writings, Thoreau uses the three rhetorical approaches of Pathos, Ethos, and Logos in his attempts to persuade his readers to his point of view (Heinrichs).
“All machines have their friction―and possibly this does enough good to counterbalance the evil… But when the friction comes to have its machine… I say, let us not have such a machine any longer” (Thoreau 8). In Henry David Thoreau’s essay “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience,” the author compares government to a machine, and its friction to inequity. He believes that when injustice overcomes a nation, it is time for that nation’s government to end. Thoreau is ashamed of his government, and says that civil disobedience can fight the system that is bringing his country down. Alas, his philosophy is defective: he does not identify the benefits of organized government, and fails to recognize the danger of a country without it. When looked into, Thoreau’s contempt for the government does not justify his argument against organized democracy.
Thoreau refused to pay the poll tax because the money was being used to finance the Mexican War. Not only was Thoreau against the war itself but the war was over Texas which was to be used as a slave state. His friend Staples offered to pay the tax for him, but to Thoreau it wasn't the tax he was objected to, it was how the money would be used. He believed strongly against paying money to a war he did not support, and would rather end up in jail than go against his will. A certain passage shows how strong he felt when he said "Your money is your life, why should I haste to give it my money?" (Thoreau 538). It was important to Thoreau to get the public informed about the War, and make people think why it was wrong to support it. Thoreau didn't rally hundreds and thousands of people together to get reactions. Instead he went to jail to protest and wrote his essay "Civil Disobedience". His statements were to get people to think and take their own approach to the situation.
On December 1, 1955, Parks was taking the bus home from work. Before she reached her destination, she silently set off a revolution when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white man. As a black violating the laws of racial segregation, she was arrested. Her arrest inspired blacks in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to organize a bus boycott to protest the discrimination they had endured for decades. After filing her notice of appeal, a panel of judges in the District Court ruled that racial segregation of public buses was unconstitutional. It was through her silent act of defiance that people began to protest racial discrimination, and where she earned the name “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement” (Bredhoff et
In his essay, “Resistance to Civil Government,” often times dubbed, “Civil Disobedience,” Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) argues against abiding by one’s State, in protest to the unjust laws within its government. Among many things, Thoreau was an American author, poet, and philosopher. He was a firm believer in the idea of civil disobedience, the act of refusing to obey certain laws of a government that are felt to be unjust. He opposed the laws regarding slavery, and did not support the Mexican-American war, believing it to be a tactic by the Southerners to spread slavery to the Southwest. To show his lack of support for the American government, he refused to pay his taxes.
Would everyone like to see how the community is affected ? The community and neighborhood is facing some major consequences. According to “Excerpts Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau described how this one person refused to pay the taxes to the government he decides to say something but his saying resulted to him being sent to prison for trying to stand up to the government. The government has not been telling us the actual issues . Based on the excerpt from the “Civil Disobedience” there are exactly three main points to the story. The first main idea is the people have been using their own ideas to try to get a way to end the government way for all of us to live because we need to see the point for all of us to live a life in
Rosa Parks was a member of the NAACP, lived in Montgomery Alabama, and rode the public bus system. In the south, during this time the buses were segregated which meant that black people had to ride in the back of the bus behind a painted line. White people entered the front of the bus and were compelled to sit in front of the painted line. Most buses at the time had more room for white riders who used the service less than the black ridership. Yet, they could not cross the line even if the seats in the front were empty (Brown-Rose, 2008). Rosa Parks made a bold statement when she sat in the “white section” of a Montgomery bus. She was asked to surrender her seat to a white man, but she did not move and was soon arrested. Her brave action started the Montgomery bus Boycott, with the help of the NAACP, none other than Dr. Martin Luther King’s leadership as part of the Montgomery Improvement Association. As its President, he was able spread the word quickly which brought national attention to the small town of Montgomery’s bus Boycott. The boycott was televised and brought so much attention that the United States Supreme Court ruled that segregation on public transportation was unconstitutional; a success spurring a more
Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were two of many transcendental authors from the 1800’s, firmly believing in finding self-definition through experiences than through societal views. In Emerson's, “Self-Reliance,” and Thoreau's “Civil Disobedience,” the need to enjoin the audience to action is evident throughout each piece by using specific literary techniques to help convey their message. Through the use of specific sentence structure, diction, and figurative language, Emerson and Thoreau enjoin their readers in understanding that conformity halts growth and progress as an individual as well as understanding the notion of challenging the government for the greater good of oneself and society as a whole.
Throughout the essay "Civil Disobedience" by Henry Thoreau, Thoreau gives multiple examples of how the government serves itself and not the individuals living in the country. The ethics of the country are poor, which is weakening the relationship in between the individuals and the state. The government exercises its power to get benefits themselves and the people don't exercise size their power to speak out. Henry Thoreau points out multiple flaws in society and gives his idea of a better government. The state needs to appreciate the individual more, they also need to govern less. Nothing will change though unless individuals act upon their principles.
Thoreau fails to consider that not everyone was afforded the opportunity to attend a top tier college such as Harvard. He frequently compares his life and educational level to those less fortunate than him. The audience may ask why Thoreau, with such a great education, believes his tax protest will help stop the Mexican-American War. Logically, the minuscule amount of money he owes the government is likely to do nothing to help the American campaign. If no one in the country paid taxes, how could the United States support and defend itself? Thoreau does not consider alternatives such as voting and an active protest demonstration; these could allow his voice to be heard by the public. Because he is not logically sound, Thoreau is not successful in capturing the audience’s
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
Thoreau believed that taxes shouldn’t be paid because they were specifically aiding the Mexican-American War, which he deeply opposed as well as slavery. Because of his actions, he was sent to jail to face his consequences. While in jail, Thoreau wrote a famous essay known as, “Civil Disobedience." Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience," expresses the need to emphasize conscience over law. It criticizes American institutions and policies, and mostly focuses on slavery and the Mexican-American
“Civil Disobedience” was written during a time when slavery was prevalent in society. The government provides services such as employment which allows people to contribute and gain self-dependence.
Throughout Thoreau’s essay, he expressed his opinions and beliefs on the importance of civil disobedience in a society. He talked about how one must use his or her moral sense, conscience, to decide what is just and unjust. From here, Thoreau urged his readers to take action, to stop the machine from continuing its lifeless duty. His call to action is if a system is prone to corruption, the people must disobey it. This means that personal endangerment may be needed to do what is right. Going against the status quo to uphold justice and ethics is the basic message behind Thoreau’s essay.
The pursuit of happiness may sometimes require a person to oppose laws that they find to be unjust. Freedom of speech is a protected right of all citizens of the United States, but there are times when people also have to take action to make their voices heard. As long as doing so does not encroach upon the legal rights of others, peaceful resistance to laws positively impacts a free society. As Henry David Thoreau states in his essay, Civil Disobedience,"There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly." If a democracy is a government created by the people and for the people, when it fails to do this well, the people have a responsibility to point it out.