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Importance of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau: Empowering Citizens for Just Governance

Henry’s essay on civil disobedience was established in 1849 as a form of resistance to poor governance. It is one of the most important works in American history as it deals with the rights as well as the responsibilities of citizens in view of the government. The essay has been used to legalize efforts to peaceful protests and resistance so as to cause a government change in the government policies that are found to be unjust and are at times […]

Civil Disobedience and Henry David Thoreau

Civil Disobedience is an essay written by Henry David Thoreau first published in 1866, in which Thoreau attempts to convince readers to oppose the Mexican-American War and the institution of slavery as a whole. First presented as a lecture in 1848, and shortly thereafter as an essay titled Resistance to Civil Government. It was not until sometime after Thoreaus death that the essay was published as Civil Disobedience and began to gain further prominence and popularity. In his essay, Thoreau […]

Civil Disobedience Philosopher Henry David Thoreau

Thoreau argues that citizens must disobey the rule of law if those laws prove to be unjust. He recalled his experiences and thought it was only right to withhold his taxes from payment. Thoreau etched his legacy for civil disobedience. Ironically for years, the United States government chooses to ignore Thoreaus failure to pay taxes (I wish they would have done the same for me 4 years ago). Hes then arrested and tossed into jail, where he continues to refuse […]

Civil Disobedience in Henry David Thoreaus Essay

Harlan Ellison is exceptionally frank and to-the-point when developing Repent Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman as an example of the true value of civil disobedience and deviation. Ellison starts by informing the reader of his intent, leading into the overall moral of the story. While doing so, Ellison includes a long quote from Henry David Thoreaus essay, Civil Disobedience, describing how very few men serve the state with a consciousness; as doing so would force them into a resistance of the […]

Thoreau and Civil Disobedience

Thoreau wrote Civil Disobedience in response to questions about why he had gone to jail. As an abolitionist, he had objected to the Massachusetts poll tax and refused to pay it as a protest against slavery. When the Mexican War broke out in 1846, he protested against it, seeing it as an aggressive war of conquest aimed in part at adding new slave territories to the United States, and for this reason, as well, he refused to pay the tax. […]

Thoreau’s Practice of Transcendental Self-Reliance: Living Simply, Opposing Materialism, and Defying Authority

Henry David Thoreau was an American poet, author, advocate, and transcendentalist. He wrote many famous essays like Walden and Civil Disobedience. Like other followers of the transcendentalist movement, Thoreau stressed the importance of religion, philosophy, and ideology in one’s life. He felt that a person lived a good life by following his conscience and instincts. Thoreau also believed that materialism distracted people from living a good and moral life. In Walden, he says Rather than love, than money, than fame, […]

A Legitimate Argument against Thoreau

A legitimate argument against Thoreau would be how does one judge if a law is unconstitutional or not to bend or break. Thoreau never endorsed violence or breaking the law, his Civil Disobedience is a call to order to object unconstitutional laws. Merely not following the law of the land does not condone malice and rebellion. A classic example would be that of the government accepted to discriminate against LGBT people, but it still wouldnt be right. He made perfect […]

Nature and Humans in “To Build a Fire” and “Solitude”

Jack London composes an appalling tale about a concluded man to travel along through unbearable sub-frosty temperatures of the Yukon and how that man becomes casualty to the force of nature that turns out to be persistent and unforgiving in the brief tale “To Build a Fire.” The man in the story wound up falling into ice and into water that was in an underground aquifer and considering going all in. With the harshness of the virus, “107 degrees underneath […]

Impossibility of Self-Reliance

Transcendentalism is the way of thought that society corrupts the individual and to escape this evil, corrupting society, man must live off the land and be self-reliant in nature. In the investigative report, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, Chris McCandless chooses to live as Thoreau did during Walden, engulfed in nature, with little outside influence, living off the land like the natives and being self-reliant. To some, this way of living is appealing as it offers unlimited freedom at […]

Comparitive Review

Emerson and Thoreau Represent Individualism In Ralph Waldo Emerson’s article “Self-Reliance” and Henry David Thoreau’s paper “Resistance to Civil Government (“Civil Disobedience”), both visionary scholars talk about being individual and what changes and reforms should be made in our community. Nevertheless, the two articles contrast in their concept of what changes should be made. Emerson adopts a considerably more broad strategy to what changes an individual must make while Thoreau’s paper dives into substantially more detail in the matter of […]

Thoreau’s Transcendentalism

In the early 19th century, a philosophy known as transcendentalism emerged in America. Members of the transcendentalist movement believed that the thoughts of individuals were bastardized due to societal issues such as politics and religion. Although transcendentalists held numerous beliefs, the three essential values of transcendentalism are idealism, individualism, and the divinity of nature. Transcendentalists believed that individuals should be independent, and not influenced by the rules of society. Along with individualism, members of this movement used creative writing in […]

Transcendentalism – Idealistic Philosophical and Social Movement

Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau started the transcendentalist movement in America in the Nineteenth Century. People in today’s society seem to follow each other instead of following their own thoughts. People believe they need lots of possessions in life to achieve success. Technology and money have made people reliant on them and they can not go without either one. In Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson and in Walden and On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David […]

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance”

Transcendentalism is a philosophy that started in the late eighteenth century that stressed equality, intuition, nature, self-reliance, social responsibility, and the power of the individual. This new group of ideas proved to be very influential in the government of certain societies and inspired the government structure in the community of Harmony. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were two of the most influential Transcendental writers of that era. Emerson’s Self-Reliance and Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience both suggested social responsibility, intuition, […]

What is Transcendentalism?

Transcendentalism is exactly what it sounds like. It is the idea that humans have knowledge that transcends the natural senses. This knowledge is gained from a person looking inside themselves and reflecting on the world around them (Transcendentalism, An American Philosophy, par. 1). All of the knowledge that a person needs is inside oneself; people just have to dig deep to find it. Sometimes we just need to forget about the rationalizing part of our lives and look into ourselves […]

A Modern Transcendentalist

The common denominator of the universe is not harmony, but chaos, hostility and murder”. Great minds like Thoreau preached that humanity is harmonious with nature. In reality this was not their point. They sought nature as an escape from a society they found flaws in.Timothy Treadwell seemed to be truly harmonious with nature. For 13 years he lived among the bears in the Alaskan wilderness. With his video camera, he captured moments much closer, and personal than any journalist could […]

The Wonder of Transcendentalism

In Economy, Thoreau discusses not only the practical aspects of a man’s life but also his spiritual nature. In the passage, “”One day…”” he uses the comparison of the striped snake to remind man’s current degradation, while simultaneously allowing hope for an ultimate spiritual awakening. It is fascinating to note that the animal he chooses is a snake, hinting at the form assumed by Satan when he duped Eve in the Book of Genesis. In the Bible, the snake represented […]

Transcendentalism and “Into the Wild”

Into the Wild recalls the story of Chris McCandless and his journey into the Alaskan frontier. Throughout this experience Chris’s values, choices, beliefs and lifestyle are all examined. McCandless’s ideals and actions mirrored that of the transcendentalism. Transcendentalism was a movement in the 1830-40’s. This group led by Ralph Waldo Emerson had a unique set of beliefs and values. The group’s views were transfixed on individuality, the limitless potential of humans, emotion and feeling over intellect, “Transcendentalists believed in numerous […]

Transcendentalism, an American Philosophy

As I sat patiently on the plane, ready for my flight to Colorado to take off, a sudden announcement over the loudspeaker broke the chatter of the passengers. We regret to inform you that this aircraft is undergoing maintenance. Your flight will be delayed, and we will update you with details as they come. Hopefully we will be taking off soon. Please stay seated for the time being. I sighed loudly, realizing that I would be on the plane for […]

Thoreaus Ideal Form of Government

One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. Henry David Thoreau explains the ideal government in his text Civil Disobedience. Thoreau wrote this text to explain and provide vivid information about his vision of an ideal government. When Thoreau describes a better government, he means one that is least based upon an abused system. Thoreaus ideal government would appeal to the peoples ideas rather than a single individual. Thoreau believes that in order for a government to become better […]

Civil Disobedience and the Government

In Civil disobedience, written by Henry David Thoreau, he argues that if citizens feel laws are unjust then they must rebel against them and disobey the rule of the law. Henry uses himself as an example on why one should disobey a law. He does this by refusing to pay taxes in protest of slavery and the Mexican war. For years the government paid no attention to Thoreau’s failure to pay taxes, until July 1846. Being asked to pay his […]

My own Personal Thoughts on Civil Disobedience

This report begins by examining the positions of several prominent American historical figures on the question of civil disobedience. The persons whose viewpoints and arguments are scrutinized include Martin Luther King, Henry David Thoreau and Susan B. Anthony. The analysis concludes by examining my own personal thoughts on civil disobedience. People are morally entitled to disobey the law set by government with an aim of pressuring the government to make just law. Civil disobedience is defined as a refusal to […]

Social Justice Issues

Anyone may say that the force is unfair and unjust. Yet, who is actually ready to accept the consequences for going against the unjust law? Is breaking the law worth the penalty? The government is the one to determine whether the law is fair but what if the people think it’s not? should we protest the force? Civil rights leader like Henry David Thoreau, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr. represented very different philosophies. Thoreau and King shared the […]

Transcendentalism in the Novel into the Wild

Transcendentalism, defined as the era that transcends the limits of intellect, reason, and society; which allows emotions and soul to aid in creating a relationship with the universe or nature to achieve perfection. This era took place in the 1800s, which was created from the start of controversial debates between New Light theologians and the Old Light opponents. The New Light members believed religion should focus on the people’s personal experience, unlike the Old Light members who valued to have […]

About Henry David Thoreau
School :	Transcendentalism
Alma mater :	Harvard College
Parents :	Cynthia Dunbar, John Thoreau
Siblings :	Sophia Thoreau, John Thoreau Jr., Helen Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau Essays