Thoreau, Civil disobedience
Group 1
Three visual cartoons
Comparing the C.D. leaders
- Thoreau was the fist Civil Disobedience leader out of the three
- He thinks the government is corrupt
- He believed that voting wouldent change anything and did not believe in a big government
- In 1846 he declined to pay taxes because of the Mexican-American War and slavery so he was arested and jailed until someone anonymously paid his taxes
- Protested by peaceful sit-ins and marches
- Leader for the Civil Rights Movement in the US.
- Time period of actions- 1950s-1960s
- He was chosen by the NAACP to be apart of the boycott against the Montgomery bus system.
- He was involved in many protest and worked for justice for African Americans.
- He is most famous for his "I have a dream speech" he was sharing for hope that people could be non-segregated.
- Satygraha (which means he insisted on nothing but the truth)
- Spent 20 years defending the rights of immigrants in South Africa.
- And he also was the leader of the Indian National Congress, he was trying to get independence from Great Britian for India.
- He ended up in jail several times for his actions.
- Time Period for these actions- 1930s-1940s
General outline
Thoreau's beliefs are ......
- Thoreau believes that government rarely proves itself useful and that it takes power from the majority because they're the strongest group and not because they hold the most realistic point of view
- He doesn't want to pay taxes because he wants to fight for what he feels
- Thoreau believes that if a law conflicts with a person's moral beliefs then it is right for that person to disobey that law
Definition
Thoreau believed that in order to live in
society one had to protest a law that was considered unjust in an "active" manner. He specifically found fault with the government.
Thoreau felt that slavery should have been abolished and the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) should have been protested.
Context
Henry David Thoreau was a transcendentalist who believed in self- reliance.
- He stressed that one's conscious should be higher than the law
- Thoreau was influenced to write his essay on civil disobedience, during a night in jail
- He didn't want to encourage the Mexican- American War and Slavery, so he chose not to pay taxes
Bibliography
- Paulus, Kirsten. "AP English Blog: Kirsten Paulus." AP English Blog: Kirsten Paulus. N.p., 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 27 Sept. 2016.
- https://www.reference.com/history/did-martin-luther-king-jr-a4704f32a0c1b443#
Three important quotes from the text:
- "Voting for justice is not really acting for it. Rather, it is "feebly" expressing your desire that the right prevail." What Thoreau says in this statement is that voting does not really fix anything and that by the time that a person votes the decision is already made for them.
- "However, Thoreau then says that speaking "practically and as a citizen", he is not asking for the immediate elimination of the government." This quote explains how although Thoreau believes that the government is completely corrupt and flawed he also believes that it should not be terminated.
- "A person is not obligated to devote his life to eliminating evils from the world, but he is obligated not to participate in such evils." This quote shows how Thoreau was not asking people to fight against injustice and take a stand against evil. The only thing that Thoreau asks is that people not take part in the injustice or in spreading it.