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Civil Disobedience

During the time of slavery in the United States many opposed the government’s persistence in slavery. Only a few stepped forward and presented this opposition. Henry David Thoreau was one of the individuals who presented his argument through a letter he wrote in jail. His refusal to pay a local poll tax was his way in protesting against the Mexican War and slavery. “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience,� Thoreau argues for individual resistance to civil government and opposition to an unjust state. He argues it is each individual’s duty to practice civil disobedience, the refusal to obey civil laws to bring change in government policy by not using violence. He criticizes American social institutions and policies as well as slavery and the Mexican American war. Thoreau’s deepest argument throughout his writing is individualism. He rejects the view that a person must sacrifice their values out of loyalty to the government.
Thoreau argues that......

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Approximate Word Count: 798
Approximate Pages: 4 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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