Civil Disobedience Part 1
Most people remember Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as reformers who practiced non-violent forms of protest and advocacy. Both effectively changed the popular opinion about emotional issues for their countries
and brought in a wave of change that was long overdue. But the practice of non-violent protest, or civil disobedience, started long before either Gandhi or King. It began with a quiet, shy poet who is best known for writing a
lot about a pond
Henry David Thoreau lived from 1817 until 1962, mainly in the area of Concord, Massachusetts. The issue that would tear the country apart in the 1960s had already begun dividing the nation. Thoreau was only 14 when Nat
Turner led the slave rebellion in Virginia and was later hanged. In his late 20s, Thoreau began speaking against slavery in public, echoing the voices of freedmen like Frederick Douglass and Lewis Hayden
Thoreau believed that a government that supported slavery was corrupt and immoral. He was also deeply suspicious of government. For these and other reasons, Thoreau refused to pay his poll tax for a number of years.
The poll tax was a legal tax owed by every person. It was basically a tax on one's body. After not paying for years, he was at last arrested. He spent only one night in jail, however, as a relative paid the tax for him. He was
reportedly furious that any tax was paid on his behalt
It was this experience that Thoreau wrote about in an essay called "Civil Disobedience. In this essay, he argued that being moral and just came before allegiance to government. He wrote 'If the machine of government is of
such a nature that requires you to be the agent of injustice to another then, I say, break the law." He also felt that voting was not enough to ensure that the right thing be done. He wrote that even voting for the right is
doing nothing for it. A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance. He felt that one had a moral responsibility to resist unjust laws
Which line from Part 1 best explains its main point?
O But the practice of non-violent protest or civil disobedience started long before either Gandhi or King
The issue that would tear the country apart in the 1860s had already begun dividing the nation
Thoreau believed that a government that supported slavery was corrupt and immoral
In this essay, he argued that being moral and just came before allegiance to government