The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail Group

Question:

bpsking13
bpsking13
Student
High School - 11th Grade

Please summarize the night that Thoreau spent in jail.

"Civil Disobedience"

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Posted by bpsking13 on Thursday April 9, 2009 at 1:56 PM and tagged with the night thoreau spent in jail.

Answers:

  1. mwestwood
    mwestwood Teacher
    Community / Jr. College

    eNotes Editor

    The nonviolent resistance of Henry David Thoreau in "Resistance to Civil Government" set the cornerstone for such passive resistance leaders as Mohandas Ghandi and Martin Luther King.  Thoreau spent a night in jail because he refused to pay what he felt was an unjust tax.

    An individualist who repudiated lazy, conformist behavior, Thoreau later addressed publicly the issues of resistance to government.  He stated, "That government governs best that governs least."  Thoreau felt that each person's responsibility is to follow the higest leadings of personal conscience.  If these leadings are counter to civil law, then the individual must answer the higher moral law.  Thoreau advocated withdrawing all support from a government that conflicts with personal conscience.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/civil-disobedience-salem/civil-diso...

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    Posted by mwestwood on Thursday April 9, 2009 at 4:01 PM