Blog 3 - Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience"

1.) Thoreau talks about one of the values of government is the fact that they make laws to please the majority.  They listen to what a majority of the country thinks should be happening.  The government thinks this is the best way to run a democracy.  The problem with running the government that way is not everyone has a say if they go against the masses which causes the government to not properly represent all of the citizens.  The government treats matters of justice, ethics and morality that goes along with what the masses feel.  A lot of time, the government will make laws that are unjust for some people.  Thoreau says in that case that it is the responsibility of the citizens to disobey those laws then.  Thoreau also talks about how too much respect for the government hurts causes people to do unjust things.  If someone trusts the government whole heartedly, they are resistant to question what they are doing.  It causes people to become complacent and they are less likely to disobey unjust laws.  The government of Thoreau's time is similar to the government of today because they still want people to be complacent and not question what they are doing.  The government is only worried about pleasing the majority rather than doing what is write.

2.)  The annexation of Texas was the main reason for the Mexican-American war.  Mexico and America was fighting over where the border between the two countries should be and the status of Texas.  President Polk at the time was not good of informing the U.S. citizens what was happening.  He was trying to keep them in the dark and work without needing the permission of the United State population.  That is what Thoreau was worried about with the government.  He felt it was unethical for the government to do whatever they wanted without limitations from the people which is what Polk was doing at the time of the war.  This war helped people believe what Thoreau was saying in his reaction to the government.