"Civil Disobedience"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, to protest the American government's involvement in the Mexican War of 1846-1848, Henry David Thoreau refused to pay his taxes and was quickly thrown into prison as a result of his nonviolent act of civil disobedience. From prison, he wrote a political and philosophical tract called "Civil Disobedience" in defense of his radical actions. The paper contends that this work condemned the Mexican War as an intentional provocation on the part of the United States.

From the Paper:

"Not to need a government is the ideal for Thoreau, self-governance and self-respect-and respect of others in an ideal society. At present, in a non idyllic world, government, Thoreau states, is and should only function as an expedient of the people's will not an institution to satisfy its own needs and its leaders needs. Government is nothing in and of itself, without the people that created it and support it, and when it no longer sustains and supports the people and the popular reasons it came into being, it should be dissolved and a new government should come into being. To make this event occur, all individuals should refuse to participate in unjust governments through peaceful noncompliance until the people's collective will be done."

More papers on "Civil Disobedience":

• Analytical Essay # 130688 : "The Role of Civil Disobedience after World War II"
• Argumentative Essay # 72604 : "Civil Disobedience"
• Essay # 70149 : "Socrates and Civil Disobedience"
• Analytical Essay # 141337 : "Critique Of Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: