In 1846, Henry David Thoreau spent a night in jail because he refused to pay his taxes. He did not pay his taxes because he knew that his money will be used for something he does not support. He was opposed to the United States war with the Mexico because he believed it was an excuse to expand America’s slaveholding territory. In jail, Thoreau wrote the essay known as “Resistance to Civil Government”. In his essay, Thoreau said that he thinks government should let people make decisions instead of doing so by itself. Everyone has a conscience, an opinion of their own. Government should listen to it. That is what government is for. Mexican war was a decision of few people who use government as their tool. It was not decided by everyone. Thoreau does not support the Mexican war and he has a reason for it. Government should listen to him instead of forcing him to pay tax. He is a citizen of United States and he has as much to say for his country as anyone else. This is why he will resist the government. He thinks that by resisting the government, he is being a true citizen. Thoreau also said that majority rule does not speak for everyone and it is not always right. To make some decision, you have to listen to individual conscience. Thoreau urges everyone to listen to their conscience. He said if you do not support something you think is wrong, you should not help in building it. Thoreau said that we do not have to raise a respect for every law, but we should respect the right law. Thoreau believes the truly just government is the one where individual is recognized as the higher power. Through civil disobedience, Thoreau wanted to fix all of this. thoreau.eserver.org/civil.html
Posted on: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 06:01:54 +0000