Civil Disobedience — Henry David Thoreau

Starting question

Essay thesis

Thoreau argues that conscience is higher than government, and that citizens must refuse cooperation with injustice. A just person should not wait passively for the majority to reform the state; they must withdraw support from evil, even at personal cost. > That government is best which governs least. > Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.

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Best government governs least

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Thoreau begins from suspicion of government power. Government is at best an expedient, often an obstacle, and its authority should be limited. He radicalizes a familiar slogan toward the idea that the best government may eventually be one that does not govern at all. > I heartily accept the motto, That government is best which governs least. > That government is best which governs not at all.

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Government as instrument

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Government is not the source of moral progress. It is a tool used by people, often captured by the strongest group and used for expediency rather than justice.

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Conscience before law

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The central moral claim is that obedience to law cannot replace obedience to conscience. A person’s first duty is to do what is right, not merely what the state commands. > It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. > The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right.

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Majority rule is not justice

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Majorities rule because they are physically stronger or more numerous, not because they are morally wiser. Democratic procedure does not guarantee moral legitimacy. > A government in which the majority rule in all cases cannot be based on justice, even as far as men understand it.

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Men first, subjects afterward

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Thoreau wants citizens to remain moral agents rather than become obedient machinery. The state prefers subjects, but justice requires people who can say no. > Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? > I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward.

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The machine metaphor

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When government becomes an engine of injustice, citizens must not become its gears. Neutrality is not enough if one’s compliance helps the machine run. > If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law.

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Slavery and Mexico

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The essay’s urgent context is American slavery and the Mexican-American War. Thoreau sees both as state-backed injustices that citizens materially support through taxes, voting, and compliance.

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Complicity matters

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Thoreau distinguishes disapproving of injustice from withdrawing support. It is not enough to have the right opinion while continuing to fund or enable wrong. > There are thousands who are in opinion opposed to slavery and to the war, who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to them.

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Vote is too weak

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Voting is only a feeble expression of moral preference if one leaves the outcome to majority chance. Justice requires putting one’s whole weight behind the right. > Even voting for the right is doing nothing for it. > A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance.

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Refusal as action

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The practical duty is non-cooperation: refuse to hold office, refuse allegiance to injustice, refuse payment that sustains wrongdoing. The individual cannot do everything, but can stop being an instrument.

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Tax resistance

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Thoreau’s own act is refusing the poll tax. He will not pay money to a government that supports slavery and war. This transforms moral dissent into material withdrawal. > I cannot for an instant recognize that political organization as my government which is the slave’s government also.

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Prison as proper place

No contempt for order itself

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