Resistance to Civil Government, Henry David Thoreau

Sanne Bergh
Eng48A
Journal for Thoreau
Oct. 27, 2011

Author Quote
"How does it become a man to behave toward this American government today? I answer that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it. I cannot for an instant recognize that political organization as my government which is the slave's government too (1859)".

Henry David Thoreau

Internet Quote
"Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power."

Brief Summary of what the Author is Saying
 Thoreau is protesting slavery and discusses his disgust in humanity because they are allowing the government to participate in the inhumane act of slavery. He believes the government is corrupt and the people must do something to change it.

Your Idea/Reactions/Responses to the Author's Ideas
As a liberal living in the San Francisco Bay Area, I strongly agree with Thoreau's ideas about the government. We still live in a system that caters to the white, male and rich man who owns unnecessarily large amounts of property. Only in 2008 America was able to swallow its racial digressions and elect a black president. Only in the 1960's America passed the Civil Rights' Movement. This country has prejudices that I personally believe are due to the government's lack of action. The south was obsessed with keeping their customs exactly the same and thus rebelled against the North's more progressive desires to abolish slavery. This also has to do with the fact that they were profiting from slavery, and paid labor was significantly more expensive. Then we went into this long, tedious battle that was initiated partly due to ignorance and a disregard for acceptance of change. Humanity was not a concern when the labor was just so cheap and the economically stable thing to do. America's government has always had the tendency to lean towards the decision that will make them more money. The statement that "the best government that governs least" could come across as borderline anarchist. It is the corruption of the politicians who do nothing that cause the problems. For example, Virginia didn't pass an act that made human sterilization illegal until 1976. This is nearly 35 years ago! When it comes to the question of humanity, America is insensitive. The government chooses the profitable answer, always. There is no morality.