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Henry David Thoreau And Civil Disobedience

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Henry David Thoreau and Civil Disobedience
“ Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.” (Brainy). Civil disobedience is breaking a law for a better reason (Suber). The purpose of civil disobedience is to change a law, or act of the government. Henry David Thoreau involvement in civil disobedience was due to personal influence, he chose to participate in civil disobedience to protest slavery and the Mexican-American war, and he did achieve success using this controversial method for standing up for what he strongly believes is right . To understand Henry David Thoreau’s role in civil disobedience one must first have knowledge of his personal life and early years. He was born in 1817 (Witherell). He lived and grew up almost …show more content…

His act of civil disobedience was refusing to pay taxes and he wrote an essay protesting the Mexican-American war, because he did not support slavery or the Mexican-American war. He then was taken to jail for one day (Mott). Being put in jail didn’t slow him down. After he went to jail he started giving excellent speeches. These speeches gained him even more followers (Henry, Venus). After the speeches he decides he hasn’t done enough, so he wrote an essay called “Civil Disobedience” (Thoreau). It was his biggest and best act of civil disobedience (Internet). In his essay he describes slavery as unjust (Thoreau). His essay is very excellent written and is one of the best in history to be written. One of Henry David Thoreau’s best quotes was “ I quietly declare war with the state…” Thoreau said (Thoreau). What the quote means is that he was so upset with his government that he did not trust them any more. He felt like the only thing that could fix it was the thing he hated most, war. He was one of the best and most well know civil disobedience protesters in history. Thoreau was a nonviolent protestor (Mott). Meaning that he never harmed nobody or vandalized state property. Another one of his quotes

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The essay Civil Disobedience, written by Henry David Thoreau has a history with Thoreau’s own experiences. Thoreau spent a night in prison for not paying his poll taxes where he was inspired to write the essay and with this essay Thoreau aspired to proclaim against the acts of slavery and the Mexican War. a.“It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate”().

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Another act where he went against the rules of government is when he refused to get a license in order to kayak down a river. The man in charge told him that he needed to receive a license before they would allow him on the water. McCandless, not having the necessary identifications he needed in order to get a license, rebelled and found a way onto the water anyway. These are the acts that Thoreau finds to be exhilarating. In the final paragraphs of “Civil Disobedience,” Thoreau begins to compare the government to a machine.

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This shows that the State in Thoreau’s eyes is foolish and ignorant. Not only that, it is stated in part 3 paragraph 9 that the reason he was incarcerated is due to his refusal to pay allegiance to the State. By doing so, Thoreau wants to be a role model for the people around him by quietly declaring “war” with the State. The term war used does not refer to an actual war, but an indirect, non-violent conflict with the State in hopes of changing it. This is also evident in paragraph 13 of the same part when he states that he does not “wish to quarrel with any man or nation...

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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

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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

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Civil Disobedience Compare and Contrast Henry Thoreau and Martin Luther King both wrote persuasive discussions that oppose many ideals and make a justification of their cause, being both central to their argument. While the similarity is obvious, the two essays, Civil Disobedience by Thoreau and Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr. do have some similarities. King tries persuading white, southern clergymen that segregation is an evil, unfair law that ought to defeat by use of agitation of direct protesting. Thoreau, on the other hand, writes to a broader, non-addressed audience, and focuses more on the state itself. He further accepts it at its current state, in regard to the battle with Mexico and the institution of slavery.

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Civil Disobedience In the dictionary civil disobedience is the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest, but Thoreau and Martin Luther King have their own beliefs to civil disobedience. In Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” he writes about the need to prioritize one’s conscience over the dictates of laws. Martin Luther King uses civil disobedience as something that effectuates change in the government. Both Thoreau and Martin Luther King has similar yet different perspectives on civil disobedience.

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    Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King, Jr. have many similarities. In Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience, Thoreau believes that if you disagree with the government, you should withdraw your support from them (Exhibit D). In King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, King states, “Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force” (Exhibit A). None of both King’s and Thoreau’s protesting suggestions include using violence, which shows that neither believe in violent protesting. Henry David Thoreau’s and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s belief in nonviolence is one of the

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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

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Thoreau, on the other hand, used “Civil Disobedience” to encourage people to stand up to the government. Thoreau encourages people that they should stand up for what they believe in, even if it goes against the majority. “Why does it not encourage its citizens to be on the alert to point out its faults, and do better than it would have them?” (Thoreau). Thoreau is not anti-government, instead he wants the U.S. citizen’s thoughts and opinions, to be heard by the government, and wants the government to change and adapt based on their citizens, not the other way

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Thoreau spent two years living in a cabin by Walden Pond, where he reflected on the nature of existence and the importance of simplicity and self-reliance. He believed that individuals should live deliberately and mindfully, and that they should strive to live in harmony with nature. Thoreau was also a strong advocate for civil disobedience, which he saw as a means of resisting unjust laws and policies. In his essay "Civil Disobedience," published in 1849, he argued that individuals had a moral obligation to disobey laws that violated their conscience or that were contrary to natural law.

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Thoreau refused to support the war with Mexico and in protest he refused to pay a tax, which is deemed illegal by the government. He believed the war to be unjust and stated that even though a law is a law it might not always be lawful. Sometimes we must do what we think is right in our own morality regardless of the

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Throughout all of time, people have needed to live according to their own agendas. Being forced to live a certain way has only caused trouble. That is why Henry David Thoreau supported civil disobedience to help people live according to their own beliefs. In the essay “On Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau, the author defined and explained the effect of civil disobedience. Thoreau defined it as, civil disobedience is any peaceful action that demonstrates the disagreement of a person or persons with their government.

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In Civil Disobedience, Thoreau questions, “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”, indicating that man should take more focus on standing up for what is right instead of conforming to what the majority is thinking or what people are being told to think by the government (Thoreau). Thoreau explains that every man has a conscience for a reason, all men are able to generate an opinion on what is right and what is wrong and that men should in a sense “man up” and fight instead of backing down to become slaves to the legislative government. Thoreau gives an example of his non-conformity in Civil Disobedience when he writes about how he stood up against the government by withholding money to pay his taxes.

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Other works by Thoreau include Civil Disobedience, Poems of Nature, Life Without Principle and many more.

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