Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” is a work that draws a corrupt government to the surface, well at least that is what Thoreau intended. During a time when slavery was very heavily depended on Thoreau wrote this piece after spending a night in jail. He comments on what he believes the government's duties and values should be and how they should treat the individual. One moral obligation that Thoreau believes the government should follow is to outlaw slavery. All individuals should be treated with dignity and respect by the government. “That government is best which governs least,” this quote demonstrates Thoreau’s thought that less government is best. The whole laissez faire idea plays a huge role in Thoreau's thoughts. His idea on government relates to ours today because we clearly are against slavery and for the equal treatment of all men. Also we try to keep the government out of our problems as much as possible.
When it comes to the Mexican War Thoreau was strongly against it, he believed that our government was being overly aggressive. President Polk believed that it was the United State’s “manifest destiny” to acquire as much land as we could. He engaged in war when there was disagreement between Mexico and the U.S. over who owned which land. I think for sure Thoreau had reasons to question the aggressiveness of the American government at the time, we participated in war to try an take land from a different country. I can see why Thoreau would believe the government was being overly aggressive.
| Mexican War |
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