In Thoreau's opinion, anyone who believed something to be wrong had a duty to resist it actively. What is particularly interesting is that Thoreau's creative mind took him deeper into the argument, as he concluded that this legitimate opposition really wasn't enough. Thoreau's individualism would be modified as his theories were applied by others to collective action., Henry David Thoreau looks at old issues in new ways, asking: is there ever a time when individuals should actively oppose their government and its justice system?Īfter a thorough review of the evidence, Thoreau comes to the conclusion that opposition is legitimate whenever government actions or institutions are unacceptable to an individual's conscience. However, these leaders, responding to more pressing circumstances and responding as members of subjugated classes of people sharply defined by the social markers of race and ethnicity placed more emphasis on community and the disruptive effects of mass action.

Gandhi and, through him, Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thoreau would later inspire historic protest leaders such as Mohandas K. His thoughts tapped into the vein of resistance that runs through American culture, but it also reflected his own strong individualism. Thoreau believed that individuals could be free only if their actions were true to their own beliefs, with or without the support or approval of the community, or of friends and family. For it matters not how small the beginning may seem to be: what is once well done is done forever.

I know this well, that if one thousand, if one hundred, if ten men whom I could name if ten honest men only ay, if one HONEST man, in this State of Massachusetts, ceasing to hold slaves, were actually to withdraw from this co-partnership, and be locked up in the county jail therefor, it would be the abolition of slavery in America. Thoreau called for the use of what we now call 'passive resistance' to laws perceived to be unjust, and predicted that individual resistance to unjust laws could have a significant effect on government and its policies. 'Civil Disobedience' was inspired by Thoreau's arrest in 1846 for refusing for six years to pay a poll tax in protest of both slavery and the Mexican-American War. Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it.' '.I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government. In 1849, Henry David Thoreau famously argued for the power of citizens to demand better government and policies in his essay 'Civil Disobedience' (originally titled 'Resistance to Civil Government'). Laying the Foundation of Civil Disobedience: Henry David Thoreau

Thoreau and civil disobedience