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What Is Thoreau's Argument Against The Authority Of Government

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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, …show more content…

This is still seen within America today because through the Fifth and Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, it is declared that governments cannot deprive, or hold any power over any person’s right to “life, liberty, or property” without due process of law. Thoreau also argued against the functioning of state governments because they were putting their own power over that of the people’s, in which he stated that “there will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all power and authority is derived.” This shows that as long as the State disregards the people’s place in governmental decisions, there will always be restrictions on the abilities of the people. By removing the State from its pedestal, the people are given the right to decide how their government should be run, and with this right democracy will be born. Society today greatly functions off this principle because the people are given the ability to vote for those that run the state government, which removes the independent power the state potentially held, and transfers it to the people, making american life much more

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