Civil Disobedience or Resistance to Civil Government

by Henry David Thoreau

1849

1. Q: What does Thoreau criticize in his essay?

A: The Mexican-American War, slavery, American social institutions and
policies.
2. Q: What is Thoreau's opinion towards voting and petitioning?
A: He thinks that a wise man will not leave justice to the chance of a majority
vote. The majority will end up voting their interest, voting for what will benefit
them.
3. Q: Why can't Thoreau recognize the American Government as his own
government?
A: Because it's the slave's government too.
4. Q: What does the author think about slavery?
A: He thinks that slavery is a moral evil that should be eliminated.
5. Q: Why does Thoreau encourage one to be "counter-friction" to the system?
A: He urges the reader to be a "counter-friction" and not to participate in the
wrong.
If the government requires one to be an agent of injustice toward another,
one must break the law.
6. Q: Why Thoreau does not fully disobey democracy's rules?
A: He argues that by breaking one law (e.g., the law to pay taxes) he will be
punished, and he does not say that people should try to avoid the consequences
of their disobedience- they should not resist arrest.In this way, society will see
the consequences of its laws; by staying in jail, society will realize that keeping
all just men in jail is not a solution.
7. Q: Why was Thoreau imprisoned?
A: For not paying his poll taxes (A tax required as a qualification for voting).
8. Q: What did Thoreau learned after the night spent in prison?
A: He gained a new view of his town and realized that the State is weak.He
also realized that his neighbors were only friends during good times.
 9. Q: What's Thoreau opinion about lawyers and legislators? Whom does he
mention?
A: Standing within political institutions, they never critically look at these
institutions and, therefore, cannot reform them. He speaks of Daniel Webster,
saying that this politician fails to make fundamental reforms of government.
10.Q: What kind of a state does Thoreau imagine at the end of the essay?
A: One that respects the individual and will even allow people to live
independently of the state.
13. Q: How many times does Thoreau mention "civil disobedience" in his essay?
A: He does not mention this at all.
14. Q: What are a person's duties regarding injustice, according to Thoreau?
A: One must refuse to support something that is wrong.

Fragment: "If I devote myself to other pursuits and contemplations, I must first see,
at least, that I do not pursue them sitting on another man's shoulders."
This sentence illustrates that people should think for themselves and not conform to
the majority, in other words, the importance of individuality and self-reliance. With
this comes a major theme into the light: individualism. Thoreau thinks that if an
individual supports the government in any way, even by simply respecting its
authority as a government, then that person is accomplice in injustices made by the
government. Thoreau writes that a person may have other goals and pursuits.
However, at the very least, a person must "wash his hands" of injustice and not be
associated with something that is wrong. He refuses to benefit from injustice
directed toward others (ex: slavery).
He argues that each person should live for himself and must follow his own interests
and goals. For Thoreau, a person can have concerns that must take priority over
improving the world; individuals should maintain their integrity by staying true to
their values and concerns.

Mexican-American War - The Mexican-American War (1846-1848) was fought

over boundary disputes between the two countries; the Americans believed that it
was their "Manifest Destiny" to expand their territory. During the war, U.S. forces
invaded Mexico and occupied its capital, eventually gaining the land that would
later constitute California, Nevada, Utah, most of Arizona and New Mexico, and
parts of Colorado and Wyoming.