Civil Disobedience Key

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    Civil

    Disobedience

    Henry David Thoreau

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    What does it mean to be a good

    citizen?

    Vote in elections?

    Conform to majority opinion?

    Participate in protest marches? Obey laws?

    Other ideas?

    Always, usually, sometimes, or never?

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    Three ways to serve the state?

    P. 372 2 starting with line 65 With their bodies

    Army, militia, etc.

    No judgment Heads

    Legislators, politicians

    Dont make moral distinctions Consciences

    Heroes, patriots, reformers

    Often resist the state

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    What is your first reaction to

    Thoreaus ideas on civil

    disobedience, or nonviolent

    resistance?

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    According to Thoreau, what should

    be respected more than the law?

    Conscience

    Must the citizen ever for a moment resignhis conscience to the legislator?

    The only obligation which I have a right toassume is to do at any time what I think isright.

    Justice

    Law never made men a whit more just

    Example of men who fight in wars theydisagree with

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    What should a citizen do about an

    unjust law?

    If it is of such a nature that it requires you

    to be the agent of an injustice to another,

    then, I say, break the law.

    If one honest manceasing to hold

    slaves, were actually to withdraw from this

    copartnershipit would be the abolition of

    slavery in America.

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    How does Thoreau respond to

    being jailed?

    Under a government which imprisons any

    unjustly, the true place for a just man is

    also a prison.

    I did not for a moment feel confined

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    2. How convincing do you find

    Thoreaus argument?

    A man must live according to his nature

    Circumstances under which he advocates

    breaking the law

    His views on majority rule

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    3. How important to Thoreaus

    argument is his idea about the

    different ways of serving the state?

    Three ways of serving state:

    Body, mind, conscience

    Its very important because he points out

    that great people serve the state with their

    conscience, and therefore often resist it.

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    4. What might some find

    threatening about Thoreausideas? What if everyone resists everything?

    How far is too far with civil disobedience? Powerful may be afraid of the power of

    people working together

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    5. A paradox is a statement that

    seems to contradict itself butmay nevertheless suggest an

    important truth. Example: a good citizen must sometimes

    break the law

    That government is best that governs not

    at all (cont. next slide)

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    5. (cont) Paradox

    Under a government which imprisons any

    unjustly, the true place for a just man is

    also a prison.

    Those who serve with their conscience

    often resist the state.

    I did not for a moment feel confined, and

    the walls seemed a great waste of stone

    and mortar.

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    What connections do you see

    between Thoreaus views and

    Gandhis? Gandhis satyagraha is similar to

    Thoreaus civil disobedience Resist injustice peacefully

    Cheerfully accept the consequences

    We will gladly die and will not so much astouch you. But so long as there is yet life

    in these our bones, we will never comply

    with your arbitrary laws.

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    Transcendentalist LiteratureAnalysis Chart

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    Self-reliance/intuition

    The only obligation which I have a right to

    assume is to do at anytime what I think

    right.

    What I have to do is to see, at any rate,

    that I do not lend myself to the wrong

    which I condemn

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    Importance of nature

    Nature/earth

    If a plant cannot live according to its nature, it

    dies; and so a man.

    Human nature

    The only obligation which I have a right to

    assume is to do at any time what I think right.

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    Free thought and expression

    Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in

    the least degree, resign his conscience to

    the legislator?

    Why does it not encourage its citizens to

    be on the alert to point out its faults, and

    dobetter than it would have them?

    Refused to pay poll tax due to anti-slavery

    and anti-war beliefs

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    Importance of

    individual/nonconformity A minority is powerless while it conforms

    to the majority; it is not even a minority

    then; but it is irresistible when it clogs by

    its whole weight.

    Let your life be a counter-friction to stop

    the machine.

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    Confidence

    Let your life be a counter-friction to the

    machine.

    A very few as heroes, patriots, martyrs,

    reformers in the great sense, and men

    serve the state with their consciences

    also, and so necessarily resist it for the

    most part; and they are commonly treatedas enemies by it.