Civil
Disobedience
"After all, the practical reason why, when the power is once in the hands
of the people, a majority are permitted, and for a long period continue, to
rule, is not because they are most likely to be in the right, nor because this
seems fairest to the minority, but because they are physically the strongest.
But a government in which the majority rule in all cases cannot be based on
justice, even as far as men understand it. Can there not be a government in
which majorities do not virtually decide right and wrong, but conscience? — in
which majorities decide only those questions to which the rule of expediency is
applicable? Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign
his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think
that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to
cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation
which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right. It is
truly enough said that a corporation has no conscience; but a corporation of
conscientious men is a corporation with a conscience. Law never made men
a whit more just; and, by means of their respect for it, even the well-disposed
are daily made the agents of injustice. A common and natural result of an
undue respect for law is, that you may see a file of soldiers, colonel,
captain, corporal, privates, powder-monkeys,(5) and all, marching in admirable order over
hill and dale to the wars, against their wills, ay, against their common sense
and consciences, which makes it very steep marching indeed, and produces a
palpitation of the heart. They have no doubt that it is a damnable business in
which they are concerned; they are all peaceably inclined. Now, what are they?
Men at all? or small movable forts and magazines, at the service of some
unscrupulous man in power? Visit the Navy Yard, and behold a marine, such a man
as an American government can make, or such as it can make a man with its black
arts — a mere shadow and reminiscence of humanity, a man laid out alive and
standing, and already, as one may say, buried under arms with funeral
accompaniments, though it may be "Not a drum was heard, not a funeral
note, As his corse to the rampart we hurried; Not a soldier discharged his
farewell shot O'er the grave where our hero we buried."(6)"
This paragraph came from the paper Thoreau wrote titled “ Civil
Disobedience”. I felt like the beginning of this paragraph meant that when
people have power in government a certain majority is given the power to rule
over a certain period of time for example in the government the House of Representatives
were mostly Democrats when president Obama came into power in 2008. That was
the majority that ruled, but now after this election (2014) the House of
Representatives is mostly Republican. Now they will have “the power to rule” for
a while. But this doesn’t mean they are right, or they know more. They are in
power now because they have the strength. Thoreau argues in the next portion of
this paragraph about right, wrong or conscience. He questions if a government
could exists where the majority don’t get to decide what is right or wrong in
where this majority decides what is fair and what is appropriate. Everyone has
a conscience so why can’t we act on our conscience? Thoreau believes “we should
be men first subjects after”. Meaning the government expects us to follow the
rules that are set instead of going with our guts and instincts. You see it
everywhere a group of people following laws that make no moral sense but they
still follow them because they are like an army, they do as they are told and
don’t question anything even thought inside they don’t agree. But most of the
time they do it because they are forced to. The penalties that come with
breaking the laws are much greater than their will to do the right thing.
Thoreau also compares these men to toy soldiers, they are alive but they are
not living in essence because all his common sense is gone, all they know how
to do is follow orders. A life like that isn’t worth living. But yet we do it.
In the last portion of this paragraph Thoreau quotes a poem names “The Burial
of Sir John Moore at Corunna”. The poem is based on Sir John Moore who is sent
to fight the Peninsular War, he is given orders and those orders in the end get
him killed, even though they won, he dies in the end.
This entire paper was very important but I chose this paragraph because
it illiterates a connection between the law and our conscience. It explains why
for so long injustices occurred and went on for as long as they did like
slavery and the period where women had no rights. It was because people just
follow, the majority just follows the group that is in charge. Civil
disobedience occurs when the people rebel and follow their conscience like
Susan B Anthony. In the mid 1800s women weren’t allowed to vote and she voted,
was arrested for it and brought up her case about the 14th amendment
in the constitution in front of a whole group of people. This proved the
majority in power passed their own laws disregarding and sometimes ignoring the
facts at hand. It clearly states in 14th amendment that all citizens
have the right to vote. But yet he majority of the population followed the
group that was in power and they said no women or slaves can vote and that was
the law for a very long time. People have to be more conscience of the actions
of the government they can’t just follow blindly!
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