Thoreau argued that the government must end its unjust actions to earn the right to collect taxes from its citizens. In other words, when a sixth of the population of a nation, which has undertaken to be the refuge of liberty, are slaves, and a whole country is unjustly overrun and conquered by a foreign army, and subjected to military law, I think that it is not too soon for honest men to rebel and revolutionize. In “Civil Disobedience,” he proclaimed an activist manifesto: Thoreau’s minor act of defiance caused him to conclude that it was not enough to be simply against slavery and the war. This incident prompted Thoreau to write his famous essay, “Civil Disobedience” (originally published in 1849 as “Resistance to Civil Government”). Someone, probably a relative, anonymously paid Thoreau’s taxes after he had spent one night in jail. In July 1846, the sheriff arrested and jailed Thoreau for his tax delinquency. The local tax collector had ignored his tax evasion, but decided to act when Thoreau publicly condemned the U.S.
Thoreau had already stopped paying his taxes in protest against slavery.
Thoreau and other Northern critics of the war viewed it as a plot by Southerners to expand slavery into the Southwest. In 1846, the United States declared war against Mexico. For the next few years, Thoreau lived simply off the land, meditated, and wrote about nature. In 1845, he built a hut at Walden Pond on property owned by Emerson. The leader of the movement was Ralph Waldo Emerson, a writer and lecturer.Īt first, Thoreau agreed with Emerson’s teaching that social reform begins with the individual. He soon joined a religious, philosophical, and literary movement called Transcendentalism. He worked a short while as a schoolmaster, but then began writing poetry. Henry David Thoreau, the son of a Concord pencil-maker, graduated from Harvard in 1837. Saving Earth Britannica Presents Earth’s To-Do List for the 21st Century.Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862).100 Women Britannica celebrates the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, highlighting suffragists and history-making politicians.
COVID-19 Portal While this global health crisis continues to evolve, it can be useful to look to past pandemics to better understand how to respond today.Student Portal Britannica is the ultimate student resource for key school subjects like history, government, literature, and more.This Time in History In these videos, find out what happened this month (or any month!) in history.#WTFact Videos In #WTFact Britannica shares some of the most bizarre facts we can find.Demystified Videos In Demystified, Britannica has all the answers to your burning questions.Britannica Classics Check out these retro videos from Encyclopedia Britannica’s archives.Britannica Explains In these videos, Britannica explains a variety of topics and answers frequently asked questions.
0 kommentar(er)
