Civil Disobedience a Century Before

Civil Disobedience

A century before Mohandas Ghandi and Martin Luther King made their marks on history, Henry David Thoreau promoted civil disobedience. In fact, both Ghandi and King pay tribute to Thoreau as a harbinger of 20th century peaceful protesting. In his autobiography, Martin Luther King wrote, "I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. No other person has been more eloquent and passionate in getting this idea across than Henry David Thoreau. As a result of his writings and personal witness, we are the heirs of a legacy of creative protest," (cited by Lenat).

Thoreau's "Resistance to Civil Government," known currently as "Civil Disobedience," outlines the reasons for and importance of eschewing unjust laws. At times Thoreau comes across as an anti-government anarchist. Thoreau begins his treatise by stating, "That government is best which governs not at all," ("Civil Disobedience" Part 1).

Thoreau clarifies his opening statement by noting that the total absence of government is unfeasible and therefore "I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government. Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it," ("Civil Disobedience" Part 1). Civil disobedience is part of the process by which citizens obtain a better government.

Civil disobedience is based on several core philosophies. First, Thoreau alludes to the tyranny of the majority: "a government in which the majority rule in all cases cannot be based on justice, even as far as men understand it," ("Civil Disobedience" Part 1). The rule of the majority will surely stamp out the rights of the minority. Martin Luther King drew from this core point in his civil rights struggle.

Second, Thoreau advocates individualism and independent thought. "I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward," ("Civil Disobedience" Part 1). It is more important to act according to one's conscience than to follow any law. In fact, Thoreau notes that laws are often not designed according to what is right but only to what those in power deem effective for their needs. McElroy describes Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" as "an analysis of the individual's relationship to the state that focuses on why men obey governmental law even when they believe it to be unjust." King's entire civil rights campaign was predicated on the fact that the laws themselves were unjust and discriminatory. It is squarely up to the individual to take a stance.

Finally, Thoreau seems to take a deontological ethical position when he states, "It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right." King's historic march on Washington was a demonstration that exemplified moral righteousness. In King's "I Have a Dream" speech, he states, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Any American citizen who disagreed with King on this core point would be easily established as a racist. Therefore, any American who supported the "separate but equal" clauses in federal legislation or the Jim Crow laws in state and local legislation can be defined as law abiding yet inherently immoral. Writing from an antebellum perspective, Thoreau comments directly on the fact that the American government was immoral because of slavery. Thoreau could not in good conscience respect a government that supported slavery, noting "I cannot for an instant recognize that political organization as my government which is the slave's government also," ("Civil Disobedience" Part 1).

Thoreau stated plainly, "Unjust laws exist; shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?" ("Civil Disobedience" Part 2, para. 3). For both Thoreau and King, the matter of unjust laws was urgent. In his speech delivered during the March on Washington, King stated, "It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality," ("I Have a Dream"). A century earlier, Thoreau advocated the expedient breaking of an unjust law. Of unjust laws Thoreau stated, "if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law," ("Civil Disobedience" Part 2, para. 5).

King draws directly from Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience," pointing out the urgency to break unjust laws in order to transform the very ethical foundations of the society. "And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges," ("I Have a Dream"). King's "whirlwinds of revolt" are precisely what Thoreau called the "counter friction to stop the machine," ("Civil Disobedience" Part 2, para. 5). Thoreau would have commended the March on Washington as a large-scale method of invigorating the social order and creating a "more perfect union."

Thoreau's personal means of civil disobedience was to shun the poll tax; for Thoreau, paying taxes to an unjust state is condoning injustice. Thoreau was imprisoned for his offense yet stood his ground. King was likewise held in prison, from where he penned some of his most influential writings including the "Letter from Birmingham Jail."

Nowhere in "Civil Disobedience" does Thoreau advocate armed resistance; it is as if Thoreau understands that with an effective campaign of peaceful protest that great revolutions are possible. King understood the power of civil disobedience to move the vast and seemingly impenetrable forces of a government backed by military power. The march on Washington was a massive demonstration of unarmed, peaceful resistance. The event was an affirmation of the individual's power of ethical certainty over the government's tyranny. King stated in his "I Have a Dream" speech, "We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force."