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Henry David Thoreau: July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862

Henry David Thoreau: July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862.

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Henry David Thoreau: July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862

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  1. Henry David Thoreau: July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862 Henry David Thoreau was an American philosopher, author, and transcendentalist whose work has greatly influenced life today. He is best known for his essay Civil Disobedience, an argumentation for individual refusal to civil government in conscientious opposition to an unjust state. In his essay, Thoreau focused on the idea of civil disobedience, which is the need to prioritize one’s conscience over the commands of laws. He believes that individuals should look deep within themselves and their conscience to do the right thing even when it goes against the government. This philosophy of civil disobedience influenced political thoughts and actions of such later figures as Martin Luther King Jr. , John F. Kennedy, and many others.

  2. “For it matter not how small the beginning may seen to be: what is once well done is done forever.” Above is an excerpt from Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience essay. He calls to every man asking them to withdraw their support towards the government. Because Thoreau was a transcendentalist, he believed that truth can be found within yourself. He wanted all men to withdraw support from the government and move to looking deep within your conscience and finding the truth within yourself.

  3. “The only right which I have the right to assume is to do at any time what I think is right.” The idea of civil disobedience is based around looking deep in yourself and doing what is right at all times. He wants people to stop supporting what government says is right, but start supporting what you think is right.

  4. “Under a government which imprisons unjustly, the true place for a just man is a prison.” Thoreau has reached the conclusion that under an unjust government, the only place for a man following his conscience is a prison. He has used this lecture as a chance to point out that he spent a night in jail acting out on an unjust government in an attempt to stay true to his conscience. This links back to the idea of civil disobedience, which is to look deep within yourself to do the right thing even when it goes against the government.

  5. Civil Disobedience and the Abolitionist Movement

  6. Henry Thoreau Not Paying the Poll Tax Thoreau opposed slavery and the war that was being fought in Mexico to expand the boarders of Texas. He refused to pay the poll tax for many years and was arrested for doing so. He meant to remain in jail so as to set an example to his community. However, his debt was paid and he was released after only one night in prison. Thoreau broke a law which he found to be unjust. In his essay “Civil Disobedience” he says, “Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?”

  7. The Underground Railroad This “railroad” was a large network of safe houses and people willing to help slaves escape their masters and reach freedom. Federal law required runaway slaves to be brought back to their owners when found. Despite this, many people and groups were involved, among them the Quakers.

  8. Castnor Hanway and His Refusal to Help Recapture a Group of Fugitive Slaves Six slaves had escaped from the Gorsuch family and were directed to a safe house in Christina, PA. The Gorsuch family went after them with a professional slave-catcher, Henry Kline. When the Gorsuch family and Kline found the safe house, a fight broke out and Kline sought assistance from a bystander, Castnor Hanway. Hanway refused and was later brought to court. However, he was found innocent.

  9. Civil Disobedience in the Civil Rights Movement

  10. The Greensboro Sit-Ins -Four students, Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, David Richmond, and Ezell Blair, Jr. participated in the sit-ins. -Sit-ins began on February 1, 1960 in Greensboro, North Carolina. -They consisted of a group of students entering a store, sitting down at the counter, and asking to be served. If they were not, they remained there until the store closed. -This is considered civil disobedience because the students were going against the established Jim Crow laws of the South since they believed them to be morally wrong.

  11. The Montgomery Bus Boycotts -These boycotts were begun by Rosa Parks, who, in refusing to move to the back of the bus, was deliberately violating the Jim Crow laws in place in the South. -While the numerous protestors were not actually breaking any laws, they were consciously refusing to take part in something they felt was morally wrong. -Took place December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, AL. -Rosa Parks employed civil disobedience by, when told to move to the back of the bus, refused. The protestors, seeing this as inexcusable, refused to ride the buses, in essence refusing to pay for segregation. They instead carpooled or walked to get where they wanted to.

  12. Selma to Montgomery March -On March 21, 1965, 3,200 protestors began a march from Selma, AL to the state capitol, Montgomery. -Two weeks earlier, on “bloody Sunday,” a march planned for the same purpose and following the same route had been attacked by Alabama rangers and officers with Billy clubs and tear gas. -They were protesting the lack of representation, and particularly the lack of the right to vote, of African Americans. -While this march was not against the law, the “bloody Sunday” march was violating Jim Crow laws. This march was considered civil disobedience because, as it was a continuation of the last one, the protesters were breaking laws (since repealed) that they felt were morally wrong.

  13. Sources (Civil Rights Movement) “Sit-in.” Photograph. http://americanhistory.si.edu. Web. Nov. 29, 2011. “Selma to Montgomery March.” Photograph. www.berrienhistory.org. Web. Nov. 29, 2011. “Bus Boycott.” Photograph. www.blackpast.org. Web. Nov. 29, 2011. Cozzens, Lisa. "Civil Rights Movement 1955-1965: Sit-Ins.” www.watson.org. 22 June 1998. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. <http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/civilrights-55-65/sit-ins.html>. "We Shall Overcome -- Selma-to-Montgomery March." U.S. National Park Service - Experience Your America. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. <http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/al4.htm>. Cozzens, Lisa. "Civil Rights Movement 1955-1965: The Montgomery Bus Boycott." Www.watson.org. 29 June 1998. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. <http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/civilrights-55-65/montbus.html>.

  14. Works Cited (Abolitionist Movement) "Abolitionism in the United States or Antislavery Movement in the United States." Poway Unified School District -Home Page. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. <http://www.powayusd.com/teachers/clewis/abolitionism_in_the_united_state.htm>. "Civil Disobedience and the Underground Railroad." Welcome to Calliope... Web. 30 Nov. 2011. <http://www.calliope.org/thoreau/thurro/thurro1.html>. De Barros, Patricia (Kate). "Slavery and Civil Disobedience: Christiana Riot of 1851." Web. 30 Nov. 2011. <http://www.umbc.edu/che/tahlessons/pdf/Slavery_and_Civil_Disobedience_Christiana_Riot_of_1851(PrinterFriendly).pdf>. The Underground Railroad. 2011. Photograph. Education = Opportunities and Choices. Edublogs. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. <http://mrskaymedina.edublogs.org/files/2011/01/railroad5-1kwqfji.jpg>.

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