![]() ![]() For Thoreau, out of these acts of conscience flow "a man's real manhood and immortality. Forced to keep all men in prison or abolish slavery, the State would quickly exhaust its resources and choose the latter course of action. Thoreau calls on his fellow citizens to withdraw their support from the government of Massachusetts and risk being thrown in prison for their resistance. Still, complete payment of his taxes would be tantamount to expressing complete allegiance to the State. Thoreau acknowledges that it is realistically impossible to deprive the government of tax dollars for the specific policies that one wishes to oppose. American essayist, poet, and practical philosopher Henry David Thoreau is renowned for having lived the doctrines of Transcendentalism as recorded in his masterwork, Walden (1854). ![]() At the very least, if an unjust government is not to be directly resisted, a man of true conviction should cease to lend it his indirect support in the form of taxes. Thoreau believes that the real obstacle to reform lies with those who disapprove of the measures of government while tacitly lending it their practical allegiance. The position of the majority, however legitimate in the context of a democracy, is not tantamount to a moral position. It criticizes American social institutions and policies, most prominently slavery and the Mexican-American War. Thoreau turns to the issue of effecting change through democratic means. Henry David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience espouses the need to prioritize one's conscience over the dictates of laws. ![]()
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