Analysis Of Henry David Thoreau's Resistance To Civil Government

What is Civil Disobedience exactly? Well in 1849, an American Author by the name of Henry David Thoreau wrote an inspiring piece of literature stating the injustice and unruliness of the governments ways and how America was being run. In the essay that he wrote, he states “I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government,” (Henry David Thoreau). What he means is that he’s not asking for there not to be a government, but for there to be a better one. “After all, the practical reason why, when the power is once in the hands of the people, a majority are permitted, and for a long period continue, to rule is not because they are most likely to be in the right, nor because this seems

Henry David Thoreau’s “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience” (first presented in 1848 and first published 1849) insists, — “That government is best which governs least”, or alternatively, — “That government is best which governs not at all.” Thoreau develops and supports his thesis statement by explaining what government is at best (an expedient) and usually is (inexpedient), and by giving a specific and current example to his readers. The author’s purpose was to educate the masses regarding civil disobedience, teaching them not only that it’s allowed, but that it’s a duty upon them in order to create an ideal government or even world. Thoreau’s intended audience is clearly the people who, as Thoreau himself said, “would not have consented to

The purpose of Thoreau's "Resistance to Civil Government" is to make an argument between what is right and what is convenient. He describes the dangers of listening and agreeing with everything a government says, or any large group of people, instead of paying attention to one's own conscience. Thoreau relates this idea to one personal experience he had when he was forced to spend a night in jail for refusing to pay a poll tax. He describes how the instance made him feel and how it differentiated from the way he saw his village. Before he understood how his everyday actions were similar to his knowledge of a larger democracy and government. His speech can be broken down into smaller parts that first emphasized the hard facts, then secondly,

Topic Sentence (Take Straight From Your Reason 1): Thoreau was extremely against the government being too involved in a person's life.

Henry David Thoreau 1817-1862 born and raised in Concord, was a popular student in Harvard. Despite his financial and health deformities he was able to graduate from the university. By 1837 America was facing an economic depression and jobs were not easily available. Thoreau began to write poems and essays of transcendentalism to escape from the development and also to emphasize on nature. Therefore, he spent two years in Walden Pond (Schneider, 2013).

Both Civil Disobedience and the Gandhi article are alike based on the fact they both discuss civil disobedience, attending prison, and standing for one’s beliefs. Civil disobedience can be seen as a good thing and a bad thing depending on to what extent one is breaking the laws. Some people may break the law because they feel that it is unfair to them but others break the for the simple fact of doing what they want in order for it to benefit themselves. Laws are meant for the majority which means even if they are not pertaining to certain citizens. Thoreau targeted laws that pertained to him, Gandhi went on strike for the better of his country and people. Gandhi and Thoreau had many similarities and differences about civil disobedience.

In Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience, he explains his beliefs, criticizes the issues he sees within the government, and proposes how we should handle these injustices especially after experiencing jail. Thoreau didn't pay poll taxes, which supported a war and slavery itself (Costly, n.d.). Thoreau regards that the government shouldn’t completely interfere with our lives, but should not be completely done away with. Also, that it is not used correctly and tends to only benefit the majority who may or may not have logical or just views. People are supposed to do what they think is right and not go against their conscience, but to follow it and not what is proposed by the majority. He also believes that a person should distance themselves from government, especially if it is unjust and should refuse to follow such institutions that go against one’s beliefs of doing wrong acts. Although Thoreau affirms we should rebel against what is wrong, we should also be peaceful when doing it like he does, for example, and not participate in passive waiting for something that may be deemed as unjust to change. Do what justice requires no matter what but always be aware of the consequences and do not do unjustly acts when refusing

He says that people have a duty to civil disobedience; however, civil disobedience is not always enough to change anything in the government. One of his claims of fact is that he describes the American government as expedient, convenient and practical, but improper or immoral. A government that is okay with slavery is not a government he wants to be a part of. These claims of value are what Thoreau believes are necessary to instill in the American people. In opposition to this Thoreau also claims that people are usually too slow in making changes to the government, they need to act faster before things get worse. He advises the reader to just go at it and try to change what they find corrupt about the government, whether that be slavery, or paying unjust

He objected the injustices of war and slavery, and practiced civil disobedience in his daily life. In the time of Thoreau writing Civil Disobedience, many people believed revolution against the government had not been necessary since the time of the American Revolution. However, Thoreau believes that resisting an abusive government is especially important at this point in time considering that, "a sixth of the population of a nation which has undertaken to be the refuge of liberty are slaves, and a whole country is unjustly overrun and conquered by a foreign army, and subjected to military law." According to Thoreau, it is the duty of American citizens to promptly revolutionize against slavery and the Mexican-American War, which have both been supported by the corrupted American

Throughout history there have been many political changes that are either supported, or not, by citizens. In the given passage from, "Civil Disobedience," by Thoreau, a perspective of disagreeing with the government ways, is provided. Thoreau explains how a government should be in comparison to how it really is by utilizing his words to set the tone and mode, imagery to achieve his audience's understanding, and diction to make his writing scholarly.

In the 1830’s, a group called the transcendentalist arose. It lasted from 1836 to just about 1861. Some people were upset about how the Unitarian church was running things so instead people turned to nature. Basically they believed that any individual was more powerful than any institution. When they created this transcendentalist club they also created rules to go with it. Their rules were basically their beliefs. They believed in an individual’s inner soul leads to the truth. Individual relationships with God was much bigger than anything you could get in a church. Nature played a huge roll in their beliefs. They found the goodness of nature everywhere. To them, all we needed to survive was our mind. The mind is where they

Civil disobedience is an idea that Henry Thoreau wrote about in the 1800's, which later inspired political activists to lead nonviolent protests that effected change in their government. In my research during this assignment, I read that people influenced by Thoreau's writings included philosopher Martin Buber, Mohandas Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. In reading "A Letter from Burmingham Jail," by Dr. King, alongside Thoreau's "Resistance to Civil Government," interesting comparisons and conclusions can be made on the subject of civil disobedience.

Martin Luther King, Jr. and Henry David Thoreau both argue for the right to refuse to obey certain laws for the purpose of influencing government policy. They fight for this right to disobey laws if there is social injustice in their society. Both King and Thoreau have the same ideas on civil disobedience, but they execute them differently. Thoreau laid the groundwork for future readers for the concept of civil disobedience and tells his audience to take action and to rise up against the corrupt laws that are being made. King took this concept and used it to transform the laws that were against African Americans, which were insufferable, and to show that civil disobedience should be used to free them from the intolerable acts happening around them. Thoreau and King both show that civil disobedience is necessary in society, which conveys the similarities and differences found in these two essays through their need for equality through obliterating the use of majority rule and a reformation in government representation.

“Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau, was written in 1846 because he was enraged about being put in jail over not paying his taxes. Thoreau did not support the southern government and slavery therefore he did not feel as if he should pay taxes. He did not agree with the war with Mexico and he felt as if it would only give southern states more power and more southern “slave” states. In jail alone and having time to think, Henry David Thoreau, wrote this essay on his experiences and beliefs.

One of the greatest leaders that greatly impacted society and still influences culture today is Mahatma Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi was an advocate for peaceful resistance, he believed in standing up against injustices with peace. On the contrary, there is another great author who impacted society with his literature, and his name is Henry David Thoreau. Henry Thoreau believed in a much different manner of resisting in society. He believed in nonconforming and breaking the law. His literature greatly impacted how society views nonconformity today. Gandhi and Thoreau have many similarities and differences about the way things in society should run, and how the government should govern.