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Transcript

Concrete Detail

"The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way."

Concrete Detail

"Can there not be a government in which majorities do not virtually decide right and wrong, but conscience? in which majorities decide only those questions to which the rule of expediency is applicable?"

Concrete Detail

"I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward."

Excerpts from Civil Disobedience

Transcendentalist

How is the work Romantic and Transcendentalist?

- tries to subtly change the way of living, government, views on public

- relies on individual's conscience to provide the moral and lawful decision

Who is Henry David Thoreau?

-Thoreau was born on July 12, 1817, in Concord, Massachusetts

-Thoreau graduated from Harvard College (where the Transcendentalism movement was born) in 1837

-Despite graduating from a renowned college, Thoreau did not know what he wanted to do with his life

-Thoreau had radical, political views that included opposing slavery and the Mexican-American war

-After returning to Concord, he befriended Ralph Waldo Emerson through a mutual friend

-In 1845, Thoreau built a small home for himself on Walden Pond where he lived for two years

How did Emerson affect his life?

Highlighted Google Doc

  • Emerson introduced Thoreau to Transcendentalism
  • He became Thoreau’s mentor, teacher and even caretaker at one point
  • Perhaps most importantly, Emerson provided his “apprentice” the Walden Pond

https://docs.google.com/a/brophybroncos.org/document/d/1yXgTMgkkGUXCEsVtOxZ-yoAaT-FUGAeV05nfHmyF3ys/edit

Romantic

-Intuition over fact

-Introspection

-Individualism

-Idealization of common man

Comparison to

The Preamble to the United States

The Walden Pond

  • He worked as little as possible, which granted him a lot of time to write

  • Originally, he wrote two novels about his experience there

  • While dwelling in the lake, he refused to pay a poll tax which led to his arrest, and after his arrest he wrote “Civil Disobedience”

Thesis

"Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe, — "That government is best which governs not at all"; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have"

By Henry David Thoreau

Compare and Contrast

-Both pieces of literature deal with how the government should be run

-They both try to promote the “best” government for the people

-The preamble tries to promote what is best for the general welfare, while Thoreau’s piece relies on almost no government at all (relies on every citizen’s personal conscience)

- When they became public, the Constitution was put into practice by the government , while “Civil Disobedience” at most influenced people’s political views

Expedient

Concrete Detail

“Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient.”

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