Mind map of On the Duty of Civil Disobedience

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On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau 1849, original title: Resistance to Civil Government I heartily accept the motto,—“That government is best which governs least;” and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I

On the Duty of Civil Disobedience

Henry David Thoreau, Project Gutenberg eBook #71 (public domain)

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Summary

Henry David Thoreau's 1849 essay On the Duty of Civil Disobedience argues that a person's conscience must come before obedience to the state. Opening with the motto that the best government governs least, Thoreau treats government as a mere expedient that is often abused, and majority rule as a matter of physical strength rather than justice. Faced with slavery and the war with Mexico, he holds that citizens who keep paying taxes and casting votes are lending the machine their support, and that refusing to cooperate is the honest response to an unjust law. He recounts his own night in the Concord jail for refusing the poll tax, and concludes that the state can confine a body but not a conscience. The essay closes by imagining a state that recognizes the individual as a higher and independent power.

Key takeaways

Government is an expedient, not a source of justice; the individual's conscience outranks the law.
Majority rule rests on strength, not right, so a majority can be wrong and a single honest person can be right.
Voting and petitioning are not enough: withdraw your support, taxes and service, from an unjust government.
Breaking an unjust law openly and accepting the penalty is more honest than waiting for it to be amended.
Thoreau's night in jail for refusing the poll tax showed him that the state's power ends at the body.

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On the Duty of Civil Disobedience

Critique of Government
- Ideal government: "governs least," eventually "governs not at all"
- Government as an expedient, often inexpedient and abused
- Standing government is an arm of the standing army
- American government: a tradition, losing integrity, wooden gun
- Government hinders progress rather than furthering it
- Trade and commerce often obstructed by legislators
The Individual vs. The State
- Demand for a better government, not no government
- Majority rule is based on physical strength, not justice
- Conscience should guide decisions, not majority rule
- Men should be men first, subjects afterward
- Respect for right is more important than respect for law
- Law does not make men just; it can make them agents of injustice
- Individuals serving the State as machines or with their heads, without conscience
- Heroes and patriots serve with conscience, often treated as enemies
- Refusal to be a mere tool or "clay"
- Association with a slave's government is a disgrace
The Nature of Justice and Law
- Right of revolution exists when government is tyrannical or inefficient
- Present crisis: slavery and unjust war require rebellion
- Paley's principle of expediency versus doing justice at any cost
- Nations agree with Paley in practice but not always in what is right
- Merchants and farmers prioritize commerce over humanity
- Others are indifferent or merely express opinions without action
- Voting: a game with a moral tinge, not vital concern for right
- True freedom asserted through one's own vote, not majority decision
The Imperative of Action
- Conventions and politicians are not the focus for independent men
- The "respectable" man drifts from position and despairs of country
- Need for genuine men with conviction
- Duty to withdraw support from unjust government, not wait for majority
- Action from principle is revolutionary
- Unjust laws exist: break them rather than obey or wait for amendment
- Government's fault for remedies being worse than evils
- Conscious denial of authority requires proportionate penalty
- Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine of injustice
- Individual responsibility to not lend oneself to wrong
Personal Experience and Resistance
- Tax-gatherer as the only direct interface with government
- Refusal to recognize the slave's government
- One honest man's withdrawal could abolish slavery
- The prison experience: a novel perspective, seeing the State's limitations
- State confronts the body, not the mind or conscience
- Imprisonment is chosen over seizure of goods for the poor
- Money corrupts, making men subservient to institutions
- Difficulty of living honestly and comfortably under unjust government
- Refusal of poll-tax leads to imprisonment
- Prison walls are a waste; true confinement is in the mind
- The State is timid and half-witted
- "My Prisons": a history of personal resistance
- Refusal to pay poll-tax is a declaration of war on the State
- Paying tax for another abets injustice
- Avoid bias from obstinacy or public opinion
- Resistance to brute force vs. human force
- Seeking excuse for conformity, but ultimately choosing higher law
Towards a Better State
- Government's authority requires sanction and consent of the governed
- Progress towards recognizing individual rights
- Democracy is not the last improvement; seek true respect for the individual
- A State that can afford to be just, treating individuals with respect
- A State that allows individuals to live aloof, fulfilling neighborly duties
- Such a State prepares for a more perfect future State