What does Thoreau say about civil disobedience?

Thoreau argued that the government must end its unjust actions to earn the right to collect taxes from its citizens. As long as the government commits unjust actions, he continued, conscientious individuals must choose whether to pay their taxes or to refuse to pay them and defy the government.

How was civil disobedience used in the civil rights movement?

Drawing in part on Gandhi’s example, the American civil rights movement, which came to prominence during the 1950s, sought to end racial segregation in the southern United States by adopting the tactics and philosophy of civil disobedience through such protests as the Greensboro (North Carolina) sit-in (1960) and the …

What kind of government does Thoreau say is best?

The phrase that government is best which governs least is often credited to Henry David Thoreau, in his 1849 Civil Disobedience, or Resistance to Civil Government. (It’s also sometimes credited to Thomas Jefferson or John Locke, but although it might capture well some of their thinking, to my knowledge it doesn’t …

What would make a better government according to Thoreau?

Thoreau believed that the best possible government was one that interfered with the lives of its people as little as possible, and only when completely necessary.

What are the four necessaries of life according to Thoreau?

For Thoreau, happiness implied living on the bare necessities of life. He defined them as, ‘The necessaries of life for man in this climate may, accurately enough, be distributed under several heads of Food, Shelter, Clothing, and Fuel.

What was something that Thoreau greatly opposed?

Thoreau refused because of his opposition to the Mexican–American War and slavery, and he spent a night in jail because of this refusal. The next day Thoreau was freed when someone, likely to have been his aunt, paid the tax, against his wishes. The experience had a strong impact on Thoreau.