ipl-logo

Resistance To Civil Government By Henry David Thoreau

665 Words3 Pages

The concept of civil disobedience, as defined by Henry David Thoreau in his essay "Resistance to Civil Government," has become an increasingly controversial topic in modern society. In this essay, Thoreau argues that individuals have a moral obligation to resist laws that are unjust or unreasonable, even if it means breaking the law and facing consequences such as imprisonment. This idea has been embraced by many activists and protestors who claim that people should protest laws that are unfair or unreasonable. However, there is also a counterargument that suggests that protesting laws is not the most effective way to bring about change, and that individuals should instead work within the system to bring about reform. Thoreau's argument for civil disobedience is rooted in the belief that individuals have a higher moral obligation to themselves and their conscience than to the laws of the state. He argues that when a law becomes unjust or unreasonable, it is no longer a valid law and that individuals have a duty to resist it. In this sense, Thoreau believes that civil disobedience is a form of self-defense, as it allows individuals to preserve their own integrity and sense of morality in the face of oppressive laws. …show more content…

He believed that peaceful resistance, such as petitioning the government and speaking out against unjust laws, was often the most effective means of bringing about change. However, when peaceful resistance is not enough, he believed that individuals should take bold and direct action to resist unjust laws, even if it means breaking the law and facing

Show More
Related

Research Paper On Chris Mccandless

639 Words | 3 Pages

Henry David Thoreau wrote the essay “Civil Disobedience” to inspire people, just like Chris, to challenge laws that they feel are unjust. Chris is faced with the choice of rafting down a river without a permit and breaking the law, or complying with regulations he feels are limiting his freedom. The act of rafting down the river without a permit demonstrates how the new, more authentic Chris does what he wants, not what society wants him to do because the “government is best which governs least” (Thoreau, Civil Disobedience, 388). Chris continues to break the laws he feels are unjust and quits his job because it requires him to wear socks, a policy he believes does not affect his productivity.

Read More

Letter From Birmingham Jail Rhetorical Analysis

676 Words | 3 Pages

Thoreau believes that an individual who acts with fairness, righteousness, and moral integrity has the ability to make a positive impact and influence societal change. heavily influenced by Gandhi's principles, expands on nonviolent civil disobedience as a collective and organized approach to challenge unjust laws and societal norms. He stresses the importance of direct action, peaceful protests, and that the power of love can overcome hate. Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" laid the groundwork for later civil rights movements, and its ideas on individual conscience and nonviolent resistance inspired people like Gandhi and King.

Read More

Ethos In Letter From Birmingham Jail

815 Words | 4 Pages

Leading up to civil disobedience in Birmingham, as the last option, King states how he uses self-purification to assure every move he made was right. Like King, Thoreau’s definition of a just law is moral, and an unjust law affects one’s conscience. He believes, “If the injustice . . . is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law. Similarly to King, Thoreau believes if the government ever becomes corrupt, it is the people’s duty to correct the wrong.

Read More

Comparing Civil Disobedience And Letter From Birmingham Jail

573 Words | 3 Pages

Acting civil, but disobedient, is a way to non-violently protest things you believe to be unfair. Henry David Thoreau wrote an essay called “Civil Disobedience” which has been used by many such as Martin Luther King Jr. to help fight injustice. King was a pastor and renowned speaker who headed the Civil Rights movement. Dr. King's “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was based on concepts he read in Thoreau's “Civil Disobedience”. While both writers discuss ways to be civil yet disobedient, they convince the readers in opposite ways.

Read More

Analysis Of Henry David Thoreau's Resistance To Civil Government

2124 Words | 9 Pages

Resistance to Civil Government (Civil Disobedience) is a dissertation written by American abolitionist, author and philosopher Henry David Thoreau published by Elizabeth Peabody in the Aesthetic Papers in 1849. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was born and lived almost his life in Concord, Massachusetts. After finishing public and private school in Concord he attended the prestige Harvard University. He excelled at Harvard despite leaving school for several months due to health and financial setbacks. Mr. Thoreau graduated in the top half of his class in 1837.

Read More

Civil Disobedience Rhetorical Analysis

357 Words | 2 Pages

In the essay “Civil Disobedience,” written by Henry David Thoreau, he stated, “Government is at best an expedient, but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient.” This expresses his opinion about the government that controlled America during the mid 1800s. His essay expresses that the government only addresses how to deal with a majority of the population, instead of finding a way to serve individuals. Thoreau’s viewpoint on the government is why he feels the need for resistance. For Thoreau, resistance means doing what a person believes is morally right.

Read More

Pathos In Letter To Birmingham Jail

930 Words | 4 Pages

Civil disobedience is the refusal to comply with certain laws or a system of laws. In the documents written by Henry Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr they clearly state their terms of just and unjust laws through a majority of appeals to emphasize the efficiency of their main idea on what civil disobedience is. Thoreau highlights his advocacy on civil disobedience in sufficient literal detail while King’s letter to the clergymen uses more examples of ethos and pathos to illuminate his main idea ultimately making his appeal more effective in my opinion. Henry Thoreau believed that the government was being unjust and he proposed the means of justice by using a more dry ethical and emotional appeal to prevail his main idea. In Civil Disobedience,

Read More

Similarities Between Civil Disobedience And Letter From Birmingham Jail

1358 Words | 6 Pages

It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right." (Jacobus, 306). He argues that it is up to each and every individual to stand up for their own rights and know the difference between what’s right and what’s wrong. As said by Thoreau, by committing acts of civil disobedience or peaceful protests, citizens of the nations are able to have their voice to speak up against the wrongdoings of their own government. They bring attention to the more important issues at hand and allow opinions to be formed, and can thus spark change in society.

Read More

Civil Disobedience In Letter From Birmingham Jail

303 Words | 2 Pages

“Anyone in a free a society where the laws are unjust has an obligation to break the law…”(1), Henry David Thoreau wrote. With “civil disobedience” the right of the people sometimes must be exercised by protest, and can be achieved non-violently. We can read this is Thoreau’s writing, as well as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mohandas Gandhi and Thomas Jefferson. According to our great writers, civil disobedience shows refusing to disobey laws.

Read More

Henry David Thoreau's Role In Resistance To Civil Disobedience

867 Words | 4 Pages

After writing Walden, Henry David Thoreau spent a night in jail after refusing to pay a poll tax. This influential night in jail caused him to write one of his most famous essays “Resistance to Civil Government”, or better known as “Civil Disobedience”. This famous essay is about acting on one’s conscience and not following laws that were deemed morally unjust. He encourages readers to determine what they think is right and wrong and to not base their opinions off of those created by society. In 1854 Henry David Thoreau wrote two more influential essays, “Slavery in Massachusetts” and “A Plea for Captain John Brown”, in them he lectured against slavery, the Fugitive Slave Law, and defended the radical abolitionist, John Brown.

Read More

What Is Thoreau's Argument Against The Authority Of Government

440 Words | 2 Pages

Within Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience, he greatly emphasizes the impact of a government that functions off the consent of the people, whilst in the process putting the people's power and authority above the government’s in an effort to create a truly free State, both of which are still seen within modern society where the government derives no power if it does not have the consent of those it governs, as well as granting its citizens the right to vote and partake in governmental decisions. When Thoreau speaks about how “the authority of government… 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”, he shows that with the rights the people are given as american citizens,

Read More

Martin Luther King And Gandhi Comparison

606 Words | 3 Pages

Civil Disobedience by Thoreau is the refusal to obey government demands or commands and nonresistance to consequent arrest and punishment this had an extreme effect on Martin Luther King Jr and Mahatma Gandhi. They were fighting for different beliefs. However they both had the same believes about civil disobedience and they both end in the same place, jail. In the first place Gandhi believed that the only way to confronted injustice was with non-violent methods.

Read More

Henry David Thoreau On Civil Disobedience

801 Words | 4 Pages

Thoreau was strongly against any violent act of protest, but should a person disagree with his/her government, Thoreau would encourage that person to do so in a peaceful manner. Civil disobedience serves the purpose of giving the people a say. For example, Thoreau stated, “Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward attaining it“ (Civil

Read More

Transcendentalism In Civil Disobedience

904 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More

Disobedience Essay Thesis

858 Words | 4 Pages

Civil Disobedience Essay Many people are unaware that Henry David Thoreau is the originator of civil disobedience. Civil disobedience is refusing to obey a law that is unjust in a peaceful matter. Dolores Huerta, Cesar Chavez, and Martin Luther King Jr are some of many people who have participated in the act of civil disobedience. Between these, Thoreau’s approach to civil disobedience would be most effective in combating unjust laws because he stands for his morals even with negative consequences.

Read More

More about Resistance To Civil Government By Henry David Thoreau

Open Document