Transcript Thoreau and “Essay on Civil Disobedience”

Thoreau and “Essay on Civil
Disobedience”
Prepared by
Eileen T. Hildenbrand
2011
“On Civil Disobedience”
 “It is ’On Civil Disobedience' that
established his reputation in the wider
political world. It is one of the most
influential political tracts ever written by an
American.” It is an analysis of the
individual’s relationship to the state that
focuses on why men obey governmental
law even when they believe it is unjust.
“On Civil Disobedience”
 While Walden can be applied to almost
anyone's life, "Civil Disobedience" is like a
venerated architectural landmark: it is
preserved and admired, and sometimes
visited, but for most of us there are not
many occasions when it can actually be
used.
Thoreau
 Still, although it is seldom mentioned without
references to Gandhi and King, ”On Civil
Disobedience" has more history than many
suspect. In the 1940's it was read by the Danish
resistance, in the 1950's it was cherished by people
who opposed McCarthyism, in the 1960's it was
influential in the struggle against South African
apartheid, and in the 1970's it was discovered by a
new generation of anti-war activists. The lesson
learned from all this experience is that Thoreau's
ideas really do work, just as he imagined they
would.
Consider this…
 The individual is never obliged to surrender
to the conscience of the majority or to the
State. If a law "is of such a nature that it
requires you to be the agent of injustice to
another, then I say, break the law."
Consider...
 Why was Thoreau arrested and imprisoned
in Concord for one night in 1846?
In America...
 How did the appeal to civil disobedience
develop in America throughout the history
of this country? Give specific examples,
beginning with the American Revolution.
In the world...
 What examples of civil disobedience are
occurring in the world today (e.g., the
Middle East?)
In literature
 How does the theme of civil disobedience
relate to literary works, such as Sophocles'
Antigone?
Civil Disobedience
 Civil disobedience has its roots in antiquity,
but its more recent application can be traced
to American essayist Henry David Thoreau
(1817-1862). Thoreau was arrested for
refusing to pay a poll tax, since he believed
the money generated from the tax would be
used to fund the Mexican War, a campaign
with which he was at odds.
Thoreau
 Thoreau saw the war as one that would
simply lead to the expansion of slave
territory in the United States, and therefore
in his view was an immoral undertaking.
 As a result of not paying the tax, Thoreau
was arrested and spent a night in jail, an
experience that later proved seminal to his
famous essay, “On the Duty of Civil
Disobedience.”
Thoreau
 In “On Civil Disobedience,” he questions
the government’s right to tell him what to
do. In life, he questioned its right to tax
him, especially when those taxes supported
policies with which he disagreed. In 1846,
he---who opposed slavery--- put his beliefs
into practice by refusing to pay taxes that
might in some way support slavery policies.
For this passive resistance, he spent a night
in jail.
Thoreau
 When he was twenty-nine years old, he
refused to pay a small tax that supported the
Mexican-American War and the
continuation of slavery. His action was an
example of his philosophy of passive
resistance a means of nonviolent protest.
The jailer offered to pay the tax for him, but
he refused on principle. He spent one night
in jail before his aunt paid the tax. This
essay explains his actions.
Thoreau
 In the 1840s, as the southern states became
more determined to protect and extend
slavery, he came to regard all governments
as a threat to liberty. During the MexicanAmerican War which many opponents of
slavery believed was being fought to
establish slavery in the West, he wrote “On
Civil Disobedience.”
Thoreau
 He argued that the individual conscience is
more important than the law: “Law never
made men a whit more just; and by means
of their respect for it, even the welldisposed are daily made the agents of
injustice.”
Thoreau
 He was willing to spend time in jail for
refusing to pay a tax that would be used to
finance the war. He later wrote that, behind
bars, he felt freer that his townspeople who
stood outside the prison but lived in
subjugation to the state.
“On Civil Disobedience”
 “If…the machine of government…is of
such a nature that it requires you to be the
agent of injustice to another, then, I say,
break the law” (Thoreau).
“On Civil Disobedience”
 I think that we should be men first, and
subjects afterward. It is not desirable to
cultivate a respect for the law, so much as
for the right” (Thoreau).
Thoreau--Questioning Authority
 When his objection to corporal punishment
forced him out of his first teaching job,
Thoreau and his older brother John open
their own school in Concord. The school
was quite successful, but they had to close it
when John became ill.
Rosa Parks
 In light of the death of civil rights pioneer
Rosa Parks (1913-2005), much of the nation
has been examining Parks' monumental
action and legacy.Parks' refusal to give up
her seat on a bus to a white man in the
segregated South helped ignite a nationwide
movement toward correcting deeply
ingrained biases based on race in both the
American government and in society.
Rosa Parks
 Moreover, Parks' action was one of passive
resistance or civil disobedience -- a form of
protest against a government or
organization in which the one protesting
refuses to abide by a law that is contrary to
his/her beliefs, while also refusing to
engage in violent behavior to correct the
injustice.
Rosa Parks
 Parks broke the law -- at the time, in 1955
Montgomery, Alabama, segregation
ordinances required blacks and whites to be
separated in public facilities, such as
restrooms or buses -- in a peaceful manner,
serving as a model for others.
Others...
 Two key figures in the history of civil
disobedience were inspired by Thoreau's
action -- Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948),
also known as Mahatma Gandhi, who
through the practice of satyagraha (Sanskrit
for "holding to the truth") helped lead India
out from under the yoke of British
occupation, and MLKing, Jr. (1929-1968),
who led the nation's peaceful civil rights
movement until his assassination.
Others...
 Other famous practitioners of civil
disobedience include Dorothy Day (18971980), founder of the Catholic Workers
Movement and a champion of the
dispossessed, and Cesar Chavez (19271993), a son of migrant workers and
founder of the United Farm Workers Union;
both used non-violent, yet often illegal,
means to draw attention to their causes and
create change in institutional policies.
Others
 More recent acts of passive resistance
include the protests of anti-Iraq war activist
Cindy Sheehan and her followers. Sheehan's
son died in Iraq. Outraged by the
government's justification for the war,
Sheehan camped outside President Bush's
Texas home in the summer of 2005, hoping
to meet with the president and draw
attention to her cause.
Thoreau’s style
 Style refers to the manner in which an
author puts his/her thought into words.
Thoreau constructs paragraphs so that the
sentences build to a climax. Thoreau also
repeats his main ideas to reinforce his
message.
Optimism and Individualism
 Thoreau’s outlook reflected the Romantic
spirit of optimism--the belief that ordinary
citizens could better themselves, their
political system, and their society. Notice
that Thoreau is opposed to limitations on
personal freedom.
Argument
 An argument is a form of persuasion that
uses logic, reasons, and evidence to
influence an audience’s ideas or actions. In
“On Civil Disobedience,” Thoreau argues
for limiting the power of government.
Analyze how he develops his argument
through various persuasive techniques.
Argument
 “Witness the present Mexican war, the work
of comparatively a few individuals using
the standing government as their tool” ( A
valid argument relies on logic--the process
of clear, well-organized thinking that leads
to a reasonable conclusion.)
Argument
 An argument uses logic for its power. An
argument uses logic, reasons, and evidence.
He writes that government does not further
any enterprise. He supports this by giving
examples: “It does not keep the country
free. It does not settle the West. It does not
educate.”
Evaluating Evidence
 “But a government in which the majority
rule in all cases cannot be based on justice,
even as men understand it.
Optimism and Individualism
 “I saw that, if there was a wall of stone
between me and my townsmen, there was a
still more difficult one to climb or break
through, before they can be as free as I
was.” (Why does Thoreau believe he is
freer than his “townsmen”?)
Optimism and Individualism
 “…which even would not think it consistent
with its own repose if a few were to live
aloof from it, not meddling with it” (What
type of freedom does Thoreau desire?)
 (Thoreau's angle of vision is patently that of
American Romanticism, deeply influenced
by the insights of Kant and Coleridge and
Carlyle.)
Question 1
 Thoreau believes that people should not
participate in injustice but that they do not
have to actively promote a more just world.
What is the difference between these two
concepts, and why does Thoreau make this
moral distinction?
 http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/civi
ldisobedience/study.html
Question 2
 Is Thoreau's conception of civil
disobedience compatible with democratic
government? Why or why not?
Question 3
 What is Thoreau's opinion on wealth and
consumption? Why does he say that the rich
are less likely to practice civil
disobedience?
Thoreau text
 http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentali
sm/authors/thoreau/civil/
 transcendentalism
 Definition: A philosophy that asserts the
primacy of the spiritual and transcendental
over the material and empirical.