Analysis Of Henry David Thoreaus Civil Disobedience

Civil Disobedience or originally known as â€Å"Resistance to Civil Government† is one of the most known essay written by Henry David Thoreau. Published in 1866, it was written shortly after Thoreau spent one night in jail due to not paying a poll tax. Outraged by been imprisoned Thoreau wrote the essay to slam the government on many of the issues that were occurring at the time, some events like the Mexican-American war and slavery were the two major targets he bashed as he was opposed in going to war against Mexico and called for the abolition of slavery. Of course, his point of view on those two topics were not very welcomed due to the era he was living so it did not have a major influence on society at the time it was published.†¦show more content†¦Only his vote can hasten the abolition of slavery who asserts his own freedom by his vote† (Belasco Johnson 949). Thoreau urged the people to use their voice or vote to make change as he thinks the power of the majority or the people is the only thing that can make change. This although it did not make a great impact as president Lincoln abolished slavery at the end of the civil war, it was a form of peaceful protesting, something that it will be used for future generations to take on political and social challenges. As time passed years after Thoreau had passed on, two major activist leaders came to the scene in 1930 India had successfully become independent from Britain lead by a leader of Mahatma Ghandi. Ghandi was known to lead the Indian National Movement and in the 1960s in the United States Martin Luther King who led the Civil Rights movement for African-Americans. Both used a non-violent form of protest to accomplish their goal and escape the injustices which were imposed upon them and their people. Ghandi as a young man was studying law and it came to his attention as mentioned in an article written by George Hendrick The Influence of Thoreaus Civil Disobedience on Gandhis Satyagr aha he mentions how Ghandi talked about how much Thoreau had influenced him as Ghandi wrote a letter, as he notes â€Å"You have given me a teacher in Thoreau who had furnished me through his essay on the ‘Duty of Civil Disobedience’ scientific confirmation ofShow MoreRelatedCritical Analysis Of Henry David Thoreaus Civil Disobedience984 Words   |  4 PagesHenry David Thoreau (1817–1862) was an introspective who desired only a simple life and wandered the woods of Concord, Massachusetts journaling. How, then, did he influence such political icons as Mohandas Gandhi, Leo Tolstoy, and Martin Luther King Jr.? The answer lies in â€Å"Civil Disobedience† (1849). â€Å"Civil Disobedience† is an analysis of the individual’s relationship to the state and focuses mainly on why men obey laws even when they violate their own conscience. It is not an essay of abstractRead MoreAnalysis Of Henry David Thoreaus Civil Disobedience By Ralph Waldo Emerson 790 Words   |  4 Pagesintuition. This idea is supported by Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay Self-Reliance because Emerson praises the independent nature of the individual and urges the individual to break away from away from the conformist society. In his essay Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau encourages the individual to challenge the authority of the government by breaking the laws that only reflect the will of the majority. 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