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Topic Sentence (Take Straight From Your Reason 1): Thoreau was extremely against the government being too involved in a person's life.
INTRO to 1st Quote: Thoreau believed, “...”.
1st Quote that supports the Topic Sentence: “That government is best which governs least.” (1)
EXPLANATION of 1st Quote: Thoreau thought that people should be able to do what they thought was right to them, and not what was right to the government.
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INTRO to 2nd Quote: Thoreau explains, “...”.
2nd Quote that supports the Topic Sentence:
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3rd Quote that supports the Topic Sentence: “The authority of government, even such as I am willing to submit to- for I will cheerfully obey those who know and can do better than I, and in many things even those who neither know nor can do so well- is still an impure one: to be strictly just, it must have the sanction and consent of the governed. It can have no pure right over my person and property but what I concede to it.” (13)
EXPLANATION of 3rd Quote: Thoreau will listen to the government as long as it is just to everyone. It cannot have any right over his body and property, but what he surrenders to it.
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2nd Quote that supports the Topic Sentence: “Thus the State never intentionally confronts a man's sense, intellectual or moral, but only his body, his senses. It is not armed with superior wit or honesty, but with superior physical strength. I was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest. What force has a multitude? They only can force me who obey a higher law than I. They force me to become like themselves.” (9)
EXPLANATION of 2nd Quote: The government is only there most of the time to be forceful. The government only has the right to be forceful because they are stronger and more powerful than him. Thoreau, on the other hand, was not going to be forced to do anything. This is why he protested by not paying a poll tax, and ended up in jail for one night. He would rather them have his life than his money.
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Angry and upset, Thoreau and King thought that the United States government was dealing a great injustice, by not giving every citizen the same rights. Both were so passionate in their beliefs, they were both willing to spend
In contrast, Thoreau begins his essay by criticizing the government system, and he believed that government is ineffective because of the stringent and barbarous laws. And he indicates his point when
Thoreau states that, “no government would be best.” However, as a citizen what does in call for at once? Why? Thoreau is basically telling us that we need to rebel against the bad government.
Thoreau starts his essay by condemning his fellow countrymen’s actions, or rather, inaction. They and Thoreau share similar moral beliefs, but they refuse to take any action towards them. “Must the citizen ever for a moment, or
The main similarity in the writings of Thomas Jefferson and Henry David Thoreau is the idea of revolution against an abusive government. The main difference is the context in which each document was written, the Declaration of Independence as the colonies were rebelling against Great Britain and forming their own government, and Civil Disobedience as criticisms of the government developed within nearly seventy-five years after the signing of the Declaration. Both Jefferson and Thoreau share ideas of revolution, although overthrowing the government is seen in many cases as illegal. Both documents share a common theme of revolution, and both authors believe the best way to move toward a better government is civil disobedience. Jefferson and Thoreau believe that whether it is the struggle for independence or being freed from injustices of the government, civil disobedience and revolution are necessary in order to live in a society based on freedom.
Thoreau wants to emphasize that the Government needed to change. He does this through an aphorism; “I HEARTILY accept the motto, That government is best which governs least". This motto in Thoreau’s case, is saying that if the Government wants to improve, it needs to take
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. Although tone and mode are not directly stated, you can infer that Thoreau meant for his writing to be taken as serious and powerful. His implementation of words such as, "inexpedient," "execute," " integrity," and "command," makes one think about their lawful rights and reflect on what rights are supported or
In “Civil Disobedience,” Thoreau claims that the people obey the government like machines and don’t use their brains and their conscience. He says that the government needs to improve and they need to respect everyone. Thoreau uses imagery, allusions and rhetorical questions to build his argument. Throughout the text are many examples of imagery. One of those examples would be in paragraph 17 when he describes the jail cell he stayed in.
Throughout the writing of “Civil Disobedience,” Thoreau often referred back to his idea that he supported which was “That government is best which governs not at all.” (Thoreau) In the passage, Thoreau believed that the government does not have a conscience. He talked about not wanting to pay the government poll tax, which in result, caused him to be thrown into jail. A poll tax is just a tax on a person for existing, therefore, everyone had to pay the same amount regardless of the value of their possessions.
" Thoreau wants man to individually think for themselves, and to morally decide what is right and wrong: ‘self-individualism'. Both urge the importance of freeing from traditional
What Thoreau means by the Civil Disobedience is that every person should be govern more by his own moral compass that gives him much clearer answer to his deeds, rather than some laws of a government. “Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think we should be men first, and subjects afterward.” (1)
Thoreau’s view on the society as he states, “In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense; but they 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” go to show that it was harder to have individuality and to refuse the governments ways. Now-a-days the practice of civil disobedience has allowed citizens to practice non-conformity with the protection of amendments but back then while the nation was just growing they had to have more power and that, “so long as the interest of the whole society requires it, that is, so long as the established government cannot be resisted or changed without public inconveniency, it is the will of God that the established government be obeyed, and no longer" as quoted by Paley. The society was most likely pushed towards acceptance of the government and weren’t as self-reliant to make change in their
The key to deconstructing Thoreau's argument is to understand his hierarchy of government and the individual. Thoreau's ideal communion between the individual and the state is manifest by the individual as a "higher and independent power". This relationship is entertained in Civil Disobedience in the analysis of Thoreau's 1846 imprisonment, in which Thoreau demonstrated freedom as an internal and subjective
Mr. Thoreau argues that people should not allow any government to control or atrophy their thoughts or beliefs. Mr. Thoreau was an also remained a devoted abolitionist and has written
This citation shows that Thoreau did not want to follow the laws. Thoreau also believed in living life by following moral law and not law stated in the constitution. Thoreau also believed that the government does best if it does not rule over the people. In the essay Civil Disobedience it says “That government is best which governs least”. This shows what Thoreau felt the government should not do.