On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience Analysis

In the pursuit of “a more perfect Union,” it is only expected that there will exist stark, if not polar discrepancies on how we as a nation should go about attaining such an ideal. It is, after all, a large aspect of the fundamentals upon which our nation was founded. What’s more, it takes a certain breed of brave, yet well-spoken individuals to delineate both what this ideal is, and what is necessary to achieve it. Immediately, we are reminded of antebellum America, and the vast divergence that existed in the construction of law, the legitimacy of government, and its role in transforming America as it neared Civil War. Abraham Lincoln and Henry David Thoreau, both prominent in their political and philosophical beliefs, epitomize the outspokenness …show more content…
“How can one truly expect to live in hermitage and completely isolated from government?” I thought. As I read deeper, though, I realized that the only, albeit major, fundamental difference between Thoreau and Lincoln was that of integrity, and what each was willing to do to keep it. Where Lincoln’s more moderate integrity called for the religious following of all laws, Thoreau wouldn’t allow his moral integrity to be tainted by following any unjust law. Civil Disobedience, as a result, regardless of consequence, is the only way to salvage one’s integrity and morals. Thoreau, a transcendentalist and staunch advocate against the evils of slavery, believed that people should be left to govern themselves without the injustices of power and money. His call for such a strong sense of individualism was well thought out, but a bit extreme for my likings. Unlike Lincoln, Thoreau was not able to touch on the theme of moral pathos because he did not consider American familial structure and the importance of those around us. Likewise, I was skeptical, but eventually understanding of Thoreau’s definition of participation in injustice, especially in relativity to his call for individualism. It was difficult for me to grasp why paying a tax to a state that enforces an unjust law is worse than watching a slave be unjustly beaten on a plantation. Through …show more content…
Although their ideals on what defines a perfect union are much more similar than the paths they each believe are necessary to achieve it, we are forced nonetheless to ponder the construction of law, and where our integrity lies in relation. What do I do if I believe a law to be unjust? I imagine this to be a cornerstone of this class, and I hope to find my personal answer to it over the course of time we have