Henry David Thoreau's On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience

Philosopher, Henry David Thoreau in his speech, “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience”, argues that people should not follow the majority and think for themselves if the government is unjust. He supports his claim by first appealing to christian values with religious diction, aphorisms to impact his intellectuals, and addressing a counter argument, Daniel Webster. Thoreau’s purpose is to inform christian citizens in america that they should not hesitate to defy a corrupt federal government that contradict their values. Thoreau develops an enthralling speech by appealing to christian values with religious diction, in which he speaks highly of God. For example, as he talks about the men who serve the state without a real purpose, “serve the state chiefly with their heads: and, they rarely make any moral distinctions, they are as likely to serve the Devil, without intending it, as God”. In this case, he is talking about
In Thoreau’s speech, he quotes something that Webster has said, “‘The manner in which the governments of those states where slavery exists are to regulate it, is for their own consideration, under their responsibility to their constituents’”. Webster defends the constitution, believing that everything the constitution says is right and okay to have been done. He believes that citizens of the united states should respect everything that the constitution has to say, because whatever it says is right. Therefore, the citizens should support slavery because it was written in the constitution. Thoreau fires back at Webster’s beliefs because slavery is an issue of ethics. Christians have a higher authority than the government or the constitution, and that is God. A christian’s morals should be more important than what the constitution says. In this case, slavery is extremely immoral, and christians should know that. Christians shall follow their own morals, and take a stand for what is