Rhetorical Analysis On Civil Disobedience

Henry David Thoreau is known as one of America’s most influential writers because of his strong-will and independence. He wrote “Civil Disobedience” during the time in which the Mexican War was happening.This war began because of a conflict about the boundary between Texas and Mexico and because Mexico refused to even consider selling New Mexico and California to the United States. Many people opposed the war because it was believed that President Polk intentionally provoked the conflict long before he gained congressional approval.In order to show their dissaprovement, Thoreau and numerous other American writers did some radical things. For instance, Thoreau even spent a night in jail because he refused to pay his taxes. After that experience, …show more content…
He is clearly a very strong willed person and does not conform to what the majority does. As any audience member can tell, he is very concerned about the way the government works, but not only that, he is concerned about how intolerant the government is to non-conformity. He believes the government does not have tolerance for those who do not conform to common thought. Thoreau states that many conflicts are created by people not being able to pursue their ideas in certain topics. The conformity that existed bothered Thoreau very much, so he wrote in his essay his thoughts on it. By making his point clear about how important non-conformity is, Thoreau created a very influential essay. A quote from the text states, “Witness the present Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their tool; for in the outset, the people would not have consented to this measure.” This quote explains the conformity of the government and how is people don’t stand up for what they believe in, the government is just going to encourage people to conform. Evidently, Thoreau used his strong opinion of non-conformity to influence his …show more content…
This idea ties in with non conformity, as discussed earlier. Thoreau knew if no one was going to stand up for their beliefs against the government, then the government was just going to do things their way. Which is the reason why he encourages his readers to stand up against the government. Thoreau states in his essay, “The objections which have been brought against a standing army, and they are many and weighty, and deserve to prevail, may also at last be brought against a standing government.” Here, Thoreau is encouraging people to make objections about the government in order to get their point across. One way Thoreau himself stood up against the government was by refusing to pay his taxes which resulted in a night in jail for him. This of course, was not the only way Thoreau stood against the government, after his night in jail he wrote this essay, describing his jail experience and encouraging others to do the same types of things in order to achieve their desires. Clearly, Thoreau encouraged his audience to stand up against the government, which is influential to his readers because his message could be applied to any time