Civil Disobedience

Henry David Thoreau’s piece on Civil Disobedience is about citizens of a country revolting against their rulers. While the entire piece was about going against the current practice of government in the United States, it was, as Thoreau saw it, for the betterment of America as a whole. His agreement with the phrase, “That government is best which governs least” shows that he yearns for a government that does not govern, or rule, but rather one that represents. The government should be there to discuss and argue for what the voters want instead of making laws to control the people. This idea is important because it prevents the development of dictatorships throughout the nation. He believed people should control and not be controlled.
Thoreau also calls for the American people to call out their government as being over-reaching and bending to the will of a few people and not to the majority. In other words, he wanted the government to be there for the entire populous and not for the people in each officials’ personal circle. This is important because it stops the domination of one solid idea among the nation. More people are represented which would cause a better acceptance of how the government is working.
Thoreau also talked about why the majority of a population is allowed to rule. He sees it as it is not their right but only because they are the strongest. He believes that the majority should look at their conscience and make their decisions based on that. The greatest part of the piece that Thoreau wrote is his belief in that men “should be men first and subjects afterword.” This belief agrees with his previous saying, “the smaller the government, the better the government” and shows that he believes in the individual first and the government second.