"Civil Disobedience" and Thoreau

• ''Civil Disobedience'' is Henry David Thoreau's 1849 essay explaining his night in jail for refusing to pay poll tax, protesting the Mexican-American War and slavery.
• The essay defends civil disobedience and reflects Thoreau's connection to Transcendentalism, emphasizing individualism, intuition, nature, and spirituality.
• ''Civil Disobedience'' has profoundly influenced non-violent resistance and protests, including those led by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr..

Henry David Thoreau

• Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was an American author from Concord, Massachusetts.
• Thoreau came from an intellectual, middle-class family
• He studied at Harvard University.
• Ralph Waldo Emerson encouraged Thoreau's writing.
• Thoreau lived in a cabin on Walden Pond, resulting in his famous book, Walden.
• Beyond writing essays like ''Civil Disobedience'' and books, Thoreau observed nature, lectured, and worked as a surveyor.
• Thoreau died from tuberculosis in 1862.

Background and History

• Thoreau, his family, and friends held liberal views, opposing slavery and advocating social equality and tolerance.
• This background deeply influenced the writing of ''Civil Disobedience.''

Transcendentalism

• Thoreau belonged to the Transcendentalism literary movement along with Emerson, Bronson Alcott, and Margaret Fuller.
• Transcendentalist themes included nature, spiritual experience, independence, and self-reliance.
• Transcendentalism valued the spiritual over the material and encouraged individual spiritual insights.
• Transcendentalists rejected the pursuit of material wealth, emphasizing the individual's spiritual value and advocating social justice and civil rights.
• Thoreau's family were abolitionists, opposing slavery and aiding the Underground Railroad.

The Mexican-American War

• Thoreau opposed the Mexican-American War because he recognized its connection to slavery.
• In 1845, the U.S. annexed Texas, despite Mexico's claim.
• Concerns arose that Texas' annexation would increase pro-slavery states.
• The Mexican-American War (1846-1848) led to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848.
• The treaty ceded Texas, California, and New Mexico to the U.S.
• Texas was admitted as a slave state, increasing slavery's political power and angering abolitionists.

When Was Civil Disobedience Written?

• ''Civil Disobedience'' originated as a lecture in 1848 at the Concord Lyceum.
• The lecture occurred around the end of the Mexican-American War, after Thoreau left his cabin at Walden Pond.
• The essay was first published as ''Resistance to Civil Government'' in Aesthetic Papers in 1849.

Summary and Purpose

• ''Civil Disobedience'' begins by stating that governments tend to abuse power and should govern minimally.
• Thoreau believed a better government was possible.
• He criticized power acquired through strength rather than justice.
• Thoreau argued that individuals should not relinquish conscience or moral judgment entirely to the government.
• Individuals can act according to their beliefs, even if contradictory to the government.
• Law enforcers are like machine parts, prone to labeling critics as enemies.
• Thoreau protests the U.S. government for allowing slavery, which he morally opposes.
• Thoreau focused on expressing his views locally, deeming voting insufficient due to majority rule.
• He advocated action based on principle, urging abolitionists to withdraw support from Massachusetts.
• Thoreau refused to pay his poll tax in protest, was jailed, and was released when someone paid for him.
• Thoreau viewed imprisonment for his beliefs as just and emphasized the power of individual action for change.

How to Engage in Civil Disobedience

• Thoreau's essay lays the foundation for civil disobedience, defined as public, principled, non-violent resistance aimed at change.
• Suggested actions included refusing to pay taxes to oppose immoral government spending on slavery and the Mexican-American War.

The Promise of America

• Thoreau saw values like individualism, freedom, religious choice, and self-reliance as embedded in the United States.
• He believed civil disobedience could help the country become its best version.

Analysis

• ''Civil Disobedience'' is an explanation of Thoreau's imprisonment for protesting, making the issue local.
• The essay addresses national and international issues like slavery and the Mexican-American War.
• Thoreau implied that collective individual protests can have a cumulative effect.
• The long-term purpose of ''Civil Disobedience'' is a call to non-violent resistance against injustice.
• The essay explores civil disobedience's philosophy, analyzing government's purpose and individual power of resistance.
• Thoreau's tax refusal exemplifies non-violence, a philosophical tenet of civil disobedience.

Significance and Impact

• Thoreau's ideas attracted attention led to a huge impact on literature, philosophy, environmentalism, science, and politics.
• ''Civil Disobedience'' has influenced protest movements against corrupt, immoral, or unjust governments worldwide.

Influence on Future Leaders

• ''Civil Disobedience'' impacted major thinkers, including Leo Tolstoy, Peter Kropotkin, and Martin Buber.
• Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. were influenced by Thoreau's ideas.
• Gandhi modeled his non-violent resistance to the government of India on Thoreau's principles.
• Martin Luther King, Jr. used Thoreau's non-violent civil disobedience in protests for civil rights.

This content covers Henry David Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience", his protest against the Mexican-American War and slavery. The essay, influenced by Transcendentalism, has impacted non-violent resistance movements. It also includes a short biography of Thoreau and his works.