Blog #5

In the selection “Civil Disobedience” by Henry Thoreau he expresses his opinions on the government. This particular selection was not the easiest read in the world but within it Thoreau establishes what he considers the governments role to be, what type of government he thinks is best, and how the government should be treated in his opinion. He also makes a lot of references to others in his piece to support his views, although I do not particularly support his stance on everything.
For instance, one of the things Thoreau makes extremely clear in this piece is what he feels is the individual’s responsibility regarding supporting the government when it is doing wrong. Throughout the piece he expresses how he feels that a government who is doing wrong should not be respected by the people. At one point of the speech he even suggests a revolution when the government is unjust saying “that it is not too soon for honest men to rebel and revolutionize” (Jacobus 140). This line suggests that he believes that a revolution should occur if the government gets out of control. On page 143 there is an even better quote spelling out the responsibilities of individual’s to an unjust government:
It is not a man’s duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradiation of
any, even the most enormous wrong; he may still properly have other concerns to
engage him; but it is his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it and, if he give it no
thought longer, not to give it practically his support. (Jacobus 143)
I think the aforementioned quote says it all. He basically states here that he believes it is the individual’s duty not support an unjust government and to do this they must wash their hands of it or engage in it. He puts his beliefs into action later on as we can see when he talks about being put in jail for not paying taxes to fund a war he did not support.

Works Cited
Thoreau, Henry David. “Civil Disobedience.” A World of Ideas: Essential Readings for College Writers .Ed. Lee A Jacobus. 7th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006. pp.137-157.