The Political Principles of Thoreau Essay -- Politics Political Essays

The Political Principles of Thoreau Henry David Thoreau was, in m whatsoever(prenominal) ways, ahead of his time in his political beliefs. During his brief life, he lectured on occasion and struggled to get his writings published. Gaining very little recognition during his lifetime, his death in 1862 went virtually unnoticed, and his true genius as a social philosopher and writer was not fully cognised until the twentieth century. Ironically, civic Disobedience, the anti-war, anti-slavery essay for which he is probably best known, has become a manual for social protest by crowing support to the passive resistance of Mohandas Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other conscientious objectors (Paul 233). Thoreaus Civil Disobedience was mainly a protest against slavery I cannot for an instant recognize the political organization as my government which is the slaves government also (854). On a deeper level, the essay was a general protest against any form o f political injustice and an affirmation of the obligation of passive resistance, encouraging individuals to disobey any laws they felt were unjust. In 1846 while living at Walden, Thoreau demo the doctrine of passive resistance when he was arrested for not paying poll taxes because of his inverse to Texas entering the Union as a slave state and his opposition to the Mexican War. He was robbed of the chance to test the tax when he was released from jail the next day after a relative paid what was owed. Desiring to make the everyday aware of the abolitionist cause, Thoreau composed an essay that considered the rights and duties of the individual in relation to government. He noted that man is not bound to a government that legislat... ...bove any unsatisfactory situation in life through the power of intellect. Thoreaus summation of the role of government is eloquently stated in these lines from Civil Disobedience. there will never be a really free and enl ightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and free power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly (867).Works CitedMeltzer, Milton, ed. Thoreau People, Principles, and Politics. New York Hill, 1963. 80-88.Paul, Sherman, ed. Walden and Civil Disobedience. By Henry David Thoreau. Boston Houghton, 1960. 231-233. Thoreau, Henry David. Resistance to Civil Government. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Fifth ed. Ed. Nina Baym. New York Norton, 1999. 852-867. Transcendentalism. The World Book Encyclopedia. 1994 ed.