Thoreau uses the phrase “undue respect for law” in part 1, paragraph 4 to describe how “
well-disposed [people] are daily made the agents of injustice
,” meaning that that good people do what is legally required, instead of doing what is right.
What does Thoreau say about the law?
Thoreau declared that if the government required people to participate in injustice by obeying “unjust laws,” then people should “break the laws” even if they ended up in prison. “Under a government which imprisons any unjustly,” he asserted, “
the true place for a just man is also a prison
.”
What is the result of an undue respect for the law?
A common and natural result of an undue respect for law is, that you may
see a file of soldiers, colonel, captain, corporal, privates, powder-monkeys
, and all, marching in admirable order over hill and dale to wars, against their wills, ay, against their common sense and consciences, which makes it very steep marching …
What does Thoreau say should be respected even more than the law?
According to Thoreau, what should be respected more than the law? “
Must the citizen ever for a moment… resign his conscience to the legislator?
” “The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think is right.”
What does Thoreau mean when he says Law never made men a whit more just?
Thoreau means that if a law is unjust a good man should break it!
You should follow your conscience first
. “Law never made men a whit more just, and by means of their respects for it, even the well-disposed are daily made agents of injustice”
What is Thoreau’s solution?
Thoreau’s solution to
reform the government develops the idea of the relationship between the individual and the state
, by suggesting that people are not bound to obey the government. If a government allows injustice, the individual can and should resist it.
What is Thoreau’s problem with voting?
Thoreau did not think very highly of voting in general or individuals who expressed their opinions by casting votes. He thought
that voting was too much like gambling
: risky and uncertain. He said that many people have opinions that seem strong. However, he thought that people often did not do enough…
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 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 were his feelings about the government while he was in jail?
How did his imprisonment affect his feelings about the government?
He refused to pay his poll tax. In jail he lost respect for the state.
… People would live by their own rules without regard for the law, and no one person or group would have control.
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 …
What does if a plant Cannot live according to its nature it dies and so a man mean?
If a plant cannot live according to its nature, it dies; and so a man. He chooses the metaphor of a dying plant to show
readers he is discussing matters of life and death
.
What does Thoreau mean when he says he refuses to sit on another man’s shoulders?
What does Thoreau mean when he says he refuses to sit on another man’s shoulders?
He refuses to support inequality. He refuses to benefit from injustice directed toward others.
How does it become a man to behave toward this American government today?
How does it become a man to behave towards the American government today? I answer, that
he cannot without disgrace be associated with it
.
What are Thoreau’s beliefs?
Thoreau emphasized
self-reliance, individuality, and anti-materialism and sharply questioned
the basic assumptions of the way men lived. Transcendentalism proved to be the intellectual force that charged Thoreau’s imagination to write about the possibilities of an ideal existence for man.
Why is Thoreau so angry at the government?
In “Civil Disobedience,” Thoreau is angry at the government
because he believes it is complicit in immoral activities
.
