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Similarities Between 'Resistance To Civil Government And' A Plea For Captain John Brown

956 Words4 Pages

Abdullateef Mumin
English 2327, Assignment #6
Dr. Brandon Hernsberger
Dec 6, 2015. The Changes of Philosophy that Thoreau went through. Henry David Thoreau, one of the greatest American transcendentalists in the 19th century went through some changes of philosophy during the time between when he wrote his two books, "Resistance to Civil Government" and "A Plea for Captain John Brown." As we all know that in the essay of resistance to civil government, Henry David Thoreau was contextualized around passivity while in the essay of a plea for captain John Brown is contextualized around aggression. In "A plea for Captain John Brown" Henry David Thoreau, argues for the morality of murder. While in the “resistance to civil government”, he argues about the civil right of the people. That government should not control the people. He also argues that a man is meant to make his own rules and the government should not make that rule for him. …show more content…

Before writing a paragraph like this in his essay “a plea for Captain John Brown” Henry David Thoreau already knows that Government is actually indulging in disciplinary actions that keep the people from behaving badly or doing bad things. So, Captain John Brown was wrong in his actions and the punishment for a crime like what he did, going along with the constitution of United States was to kill or life imprisonment. In "A plea for Captain John Brown" Henry David Thoreau, argues for the morality of murder. While in the “resistance to civil government”, he argues about the civil right of the people. That government should not control the people. He also argues that a man is meant to make his own rules and the government should not make that rule for

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Thoreau used powerful speech in his essay about the act of civil disobedience, which he himself had done. Publication was not Thoreau’s only approach in his urge for change. Thoreau targeted the legislative system through his refused to pay taxes. He believed that if because he does not support the ideas of the government then he must not pay the taxes. This non-violent resistance to obey taxation brought about the attention of the government.

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In the society Steinbeck describes, if one were to disobey the rules, he “had no place in any world, no matter where created” (Steinbeck 266). Even though the families had rights, they seemingly did not have the right to protest if they believed a law was unjust. Because of this, the rulers of this society have all of the power. Individuals have to keep their own beliefs private and must adhere to society’s rules, not matter if they were right or wrong, in fear of being shamed. Comparatively, the very foundation of Thoreau’s beliefs is that humans have the right to rebel against a corrupt state.

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“Unjust laws exist: Shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them” (Thoreau 945, par.16). Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had written about resisting an unjust government in his piece, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. In his essay “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience,” Henry David Thoreau also discusses the right and responsibility to resist an unjust government. Since King and Thoreau both use current events in their time as examples of injustice, use historical and biblical references, how they can’t wait any longer to make a change, both provide strong arguments on how important it is to stand up against the injustice put upon American people by the government; however, King and Thoreau were inspired to write by different causes

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By making people ponder on the unjust laws in society Thoreau hopes that it will draw more attention to the matter and convince people to help support the cause. Thoreau utilizes this strategy again to draw people’s attention towards the malfunctioning of the current government. He attended to make people question their attitude towards their government. Thoreau asks “how does it become a man to behave towards this American government today? [He answers], that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it.

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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.

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