Question

Civil Disobedience

Part 1

Most people remember Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as reformers who practiced non-violent forms of protest and advocacy. Both effectively changed the popular opinion about emotional issues for their countries and brought in a wave of change that was long overdue. But the practice of non-violent protest, or civil disobedience, started long before either Gandhi or King. It began with a quiet, shy poet who is best known for writing a lot about a pond.

Henry David Thoreau lived from 1817 until 1862, mainly in the area of Concord, Massachusetts. The issue that would tear the country apart in the 1860s had already begun dividing the nation. Thoreau was only 14 when Nat Turner led the slave rebellion in Virginia and was later hanged. In his late 20s, Thoreau began speaking against slavery in public, echoing the voices of freedmen like Frederick Douglass and Lewis Hayden.

Thoreau believed that a government that supported slavery was corrupt and immoral. He was also deeply suspicious of government. For these and other reasons, Thoreau refused to pay his poll tax for a number of years. The poll tax was a legal tax owed by every person. It was basically a tax on one's body. After not paying for years, he was at last arrested. He spent only one night in jail, however, as a relative paid the tax for him. He was reportedly furious that any tax was paid on his behalf.

It was this experience that Thoreau wrote about in an essay called "Civil Disobedience." In this essay, he argued that being moral and just came before allegiance to government. He wrote "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." He also felt that voting was not enough to ensure that the right thing be done. He wrote that "even voting for the right is doing nothing for it… A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance…" He felt that one had a moral responsibility to resist unjust laws.

What does the author show in the story of Thoreau going to jail? (5 points)


How Thoreau protested

How angry Thoreau was

That few people protested

He was influential

Answer 1

The correct answer is: How Thoreau protested.

Indeed, not only the introduction explicitly mentions the peaceful disobedience method of protesting, it also provides examples of famous proponents of this method, including Gandhi and Martin Luther King. The excerpt also implicitly contrasts peaceful protest with violent revolt, by mentioning not only Henry David Thoreau’s poll tax incarceration but also Nat Turner’s rebellion which are very dissimilar events. Nat Turner’s rebellion was a very violent slave uprising, where Nat turner and several slaves rebelled and massacred almost 100 white men, women and children while Thoreau’s incarceration hurt no-one and resulted in moral condemnation of the police.

Answer 2

The right answer is: "How Thoreau protested". Since H.D. Thoreau was a young men, he could establish that something in his society, in his time, was wrong since the fact the people were divided in free and "legally slaves", the insurrection and death of a powerful leader reaffirmed his believes in a non-trustworthy government and not paying a voting tax represented for him the initial protest act.