Compare And Contrast Declaration Of Independence And Civil Disobedience

Americans sometimes have conflicting values. A persistent debate centers the individual and society. Individuals create and shape the society around them. They intertwine and depend upon each other. Much like yin and yang, they create balance and affect each other yet this interdependence also leads to conflict. In the texts “Declaration of Independence”, “Civil Disobedience”, and “Self Reliance”, the authors show that individuals shape the society, just as the society shapes the individuals. Individuals often stray away from society’s norms. In “Self Reliance”, Emerson writes about the primacy of the individual, and the importance of the individual, disregarding the expectations of society. He states, “What I must do is all that concerns

The essay “Civil Disobedience” is about the individuals facing the society they live in, as well as the fight against injustice. Thoreau says in his essay, “I think we should be men first, and subjects afterwards” (392). Thoreau says that they should act as citizens of a community before they act as subjects of the government as well as society. Thoreau also states that, “The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to so at any time what I think is right” (392). This means that at any point in time, as long as the individual does what he believes is right, society’s (as well as government, in this case) standards do not apply. Thoreau believes that people are inherently good. Finally, Thoreau states in his essay that, “The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies” (392). This says that the men in the society work as machines for the government. They do not succeed through being the individuals, but rather as subjects and robots. Thoreau writes that the individuals as a whole work harder and more efficiently when left to their own devices than society

“The Declaration of Independence” comes from a man called Thomas Jefferson. He wanted to push and change society. Jefferson writes to the British Government to explain the issues he has with society and their opinion on how the ruler is unfit for such a society. In the text he says, “A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free people” (244). The complaint is that George III, as an individual, is so unfit to rule the free people that his actions have the society considering him a tyrant. The document goes on to state, “The history of the present King of Great Britain…of an absolute tyranny over these States” (242). In this particular piece, the society has turn against an individual, rather than an individual turning away from a society’s standards. Jefferson writes about the colonist’s realities. He does so by stating, “When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to…declare the causes which impel them to the separation” (240). Jefferson asserts that the people don’t get the respect they deserve. This is why coloniel society has turned against King George III. Man vs. society is not always seen in the perspective of the man, but sometimes in the perspective of the