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.
How does Thoreau define a just government?
The government is losing its wholeness ; the government is just for show because men feel like they need a government in place; the government can’t do great things like a man can.
What does he say the government is supposed to do what does Thoreau believe about the situation the country was in while he was writing this?
Thoreau envisions the best kind of government as on that does not govern. He supports laissez-faire (free enterprise, free trade, noninterfering). ... He believed that government had to have the consent of the people to wage war or collect taxes .
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 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 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 does Thoreau say about jail?
Thoreau maintains that “ Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison .” This is true today in Massachusetts, he says: in prison, a person can live with honor among the victims of injustice.
Why did Henry Thoreau write Civil Disobedience?
Thoreau wrote Civil Disobedience to justify not paying his taxes, for which he was put in jail . He refused to pay his taxes to protest two injustices he believed were perpetrated by the United States government: slavery and the war against Mexico.
What is Thoreau’s last thought about the state before he loses respect for it?
In “Civil Disobedience”, Thoreau thinks the state can’t tell its friends from its enemies . That is his last thought about the state before he loses respect for it.
Which best describes one way in which Civil Disobedience impacted people and events later in history quizlet?
Which best describes one way in which “Civil Disobedience” impacted people and events later in history? It fortified the beliefs of those who thought the government acted unfairly.
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.
Who does Thoreau say he will cheerfully obey?
The authority of government, even such as I am willing to submit to—for I will cheerfully obey those who know and can do better than I , and in many things even those who neither know nor can do so well—is still an impure one: to be strictly just, it must have the sanction and consent of the governed.
What type of person is Thoreau?
One of America’s most famous writers, Henry David Thoreau is remembered for his philosophical and naturalist writings . He was born and raised in Concord, Massachusetts, along with his older siblings John and Helen and younger sister Sophia.
What is the main idea of civil disobedience by Thoreau?
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 are the two main claims of civil disobedience?
Thoreau argues that there are two laws: the laws of men and the higher laws of God and humanity . If the laws of men are unjust, then one has every right to disobey them.
