Henry David Thoreau and the Power of Non-Violent Resistance

Thoreau contends that men have lost the free will to make individual decisions regarding war, slavery, and domestic issues because government imposes on its citizens only in its own self interests. (Thoreau 1706). He states government loses its integrity when willing to consider profit over the interests of its citizens, and basic human rights such as slavery and war. (Thoreau 1707). He considers slavery as a â€Å"hateful and stupid enterprise? (Eulau 119). Thoreau feels such deep disgrace being associated with a government who condones slavery, that he refuses to vote, pay taxes, and makes his only contact with this government the tax collector. (Eulau 121). Thoreau personally does not want to be bothered with the issues of government or†¦show more content†¦(Eulau 121). These actions by the State lead him to actively criticize slavery.Thoreau holds individualism, self-knowledge and self-realization are the basic elements of transcendentalism. He uses individualism in his essay by describing that a state must lose its coercive sovereignty in such a way that the law of society will function freely. (Parrington 375). The individual must voluntarily concede himself to the economic and political arms of society but moral law is the basic law and is superior to statutes and constitutions. He believes citizens of this society commit themselves to allegiance. (Parrington 375). He implies that no government can have any right over a person or property unless one will concede to it. (Thoreau 1711). His idea of self-knowledge or realization is based on his belief in keeping in touch with the one subject and source of his being. He is a self-conscious romantic and realizes he cannot achieve perfect sharing with nature. His spiritual concerns and imagination will divert him from nature to higher and different worlds. (McIntosh 407). He tries to exist in a place between his mind and nature. His imagination does not separate him from nature but helps him to relat e to it. He tries to place the spirit, body, intellectual conscious and unconsciousness into harmonious relations. (McIntosh 407). His examples of undue respect for law are soldiers going to warShow MoreRelatedThoreaus Theory Of Civil Disobedience882 Words   |  4 PagesHenry David Thoreau made a practice of conscientiously and willfully disobeying laws that he believed to be unjust. He was arrested and put in jail for doing so on numerous occasions. Thoreau described this as passive resistance, or nonviolent opposition to authority, especially in cases with refusal to cooperate legally. Passive resistance, also known as civil disobedience, influenced people such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and even John F. Kennedy. Civil Disobedience in the sameRead MoreCivil Disobedience By Henry David Thoreau975 Words   |  4 Pages Henry David Thoreau was a very influential writer in the 1800s and still is today. 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