Thoreau’s attitude toward reform involved his transcendental efforts to live a spiritually meaningful life in nature. As a transcendentalist, Thoreau believed that
reality existed only in the spiritual world
, and the solution to people’s problems was the free development of emotions (“Transcendentalism”).
What did Thoreau believe in civil disobedience?
Thoreau argued that
the government must end its unjust actions to earn the right to collect taxes from its citizens
. As long as the government commits unjust actions, he continued, conscientious individuals must choose whether to pay their taxes or to refuse to pay them and defy the government.
What did Thoreau fight for?
Thoreau held deeply felt political views,
opposing slavery and the Mexican-American War
. He made a strong case for acting on one’s individual conscience and not blindly following laws and government policy.
What was Thoreau’s main idea?
Thoreau’s
Civil Disobedience
espouses the need to prioritize one’s conscience over the dictates of laws. It criticizes American social institutions and policies, most prominently slavery and the Mexican-American War.
What did Thoreau believe about nature?
Thoreau believed that
all humans were a part of nature
, and so they should live in nature, growing their own food and interacting with the water, trees, soil. By doing so, a person could become a part of the cirlce of life (insert Lion King joke here).
Why does Thoreau compare the government to a machine?
Thoreau compares the government, or “state,” to a machine
to highlight how the government can cause individuals to ignore their own conscience and become complicit in immoral acts
. They become part of a machine that “produces” slavery and warfare.
What type of government does Thoreau want?
How does Thoreau define the best possible kind of government? Thoreau envisions the best kind of government as on that does not govern. He supports
laissez-faire (free enterprise, free trade, noninterfering)
.
What is the main idea of resistance to civil government?
In his essay, “Resistance to Civil Government,” often times dubbed, “Civil Disobedience,” Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
argues against abiding to one’s State, in protest to the unjust laws within its government
.
What does Thoreau consider the most effective way of expressing his displeasure with the government?
Thoreau considers
civil disobedience
one of the most effective ways of expressing his displeasure with the government. Civil disobedience, as the name suggests, is the active disregard and breaking of a government rule when a private citizen believes it is unnecessary or even against society’s best interests.
Why does Thoreau leave the woods?
The other answers rightly quote Thoreau’s own stated reason for leaving the woods:
because he had begun to fall into a rut in his forest existence, and he was no longer far from the beaten path but treading it daily
.
How does Thoreau contemplate what life could be amidst nature?
Henry David Thoreau, disciple of Ralph Waldo Emerson, sought isolation and nearness to nature. In his writings he suggests that
all living things have rights that humans should recognize
, implying that we have a responsibility to respect and care for nature rather than destroying it.
What sort of life Thoreau would like to live upon?
He thought that each person should experience life, explore life and revere life
. In Thoreau, there was a genuine healthy humanity. As a matter of fact, Thoreau’s book Walden still remains a practical, usable manual on how to lead a good and just life.
What does Thoreau suggest is worse than disobeying an unjust law?
He disagreed with other American people who believed
the majority should change the law first
because it is a worse thing to disobey the law than to do what an unjust law says to do. Thoreau wrote that breaking the unjust laws is better: “Break the law. … However, Thoreau did not think people should be criminals.
What does Thoreau argue about voting?
According to Thoreau, when is the majority likely to vote for morality and justice? The majority is likely to vote for morality and justice
when the issue has already been decided
, when it takes no courage to vote for the right, when, in other words, its vote no longer matters.
What does Thoreau say the government is supposed to do?
Thoreau says that
government does not, in fact, achieve that with which we credit it
: it does not keep the country free, settle the West, or educate. … A government founded on this principle cannot be based on justice.
What does Thoreau say is the best type of government?
The phrase “
that government is best which governs least
” is often credited to Henry David Thoreau, in his 1849 “Civil Disobedience,” or “Resistance to Civil Government.” (It’s also sometimes credited to Thomas Jefferson or John Locke, but although it might capture well some of their thinking, to my knowledge it doesn’t …
