H.D. Thoreau - Civil Disobedience

8/6/2019 H.D. Thoreau - Civil Disobedience

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their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the peo-ple can act through it. Witness the present Mexican war,~the work ofcomparatively a few individuals using the standing government astheir tool; for in the outset the people would not have consented tothis measure.This American government-what is it but a tradition, a recent 1

one, endeavoring to transmit itself unimpaired to posterity but eachinstant losing some of its integrity? It has not the vitality and force ofa single living man; for a single man can bend it to his will. It is a sortof wooden gun to the people themselves. But it is not the less neces-sary for this; for the people must have some complicated machineryor other, and hear its din, to satisfy that idea of government whichthey have. Governments show thus how successfully men can be im-posed on, even impose on themselves, for their own advantage. It isexcellent, we must all aUow. Yet this government never of itself fur-thered any enterprise but by the alacrity with which it got out of itsway. It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. Itdoes not educate. The character inherent in the American people hasdone all that has been accomplished; and it would have done some-what more if the government had not sometimes got in its way. Forgovernment is an expedient by which men would fain succeed in let-ting one another alone, and, as has been said, when it is most expedi-ent the governed are most let alone by it. Trade and commerce, if theywere not made of India-rubber, would never manage to bounce overthe obstacles which legislators are continually putting in their way,and, if one were to judge these men wholly by the effects of their ac-tions and not partly by their intentions, they would deserve to beclassed and punished with those mischievous persons who put ob-structions on the railroads.

But to speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who call 3themselves no-government men, I ask for, not at once no government,but at once a better government. Let every man make known whatkind of government would command his respect, and that will be onestep toward obtaining it.After all, the practical reason why, when the power is once in the 4

hands of the people, a majority are permitted, and for a long periodcontinue, to rule is not because they are most likely to be in the right,

'The present MexicanWar (1846-1848) The war was extremely unpopular in NewEngland because i t was an act of a bullying government anxious to grab land hom aweaker nation. The United States had annexed Texas in 1845, precipitating a welcomeretaliation from Mexico.

Thoreau/Civil Disobedience 127t - > -NCO

nor because this seems fairest to the minority but because they arephysically the strongest. But a government in which the majority rulein all cases cannot be based on justice, even as far as men understandit. Can there not bea government in which majorities do not virtuallydecide right and wrong but conscience?-in which majorities decideonly those questions to which the rule of expediency is applicable?Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign hisconscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience then? Ithink that we should be men first and subjects afterward. It is notdesirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right.The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at anytime what I think right. It is truly enough said that a corporation hasno conscience; but a corporation of conscientious men is a corporationwith a conscience. Law never made men a whit more [ust, and, bymeans of their respect for it, even the well-disposed are daily made theagents of injustice. A common and natural result of an undue respectfor law is that you may see a file of soldiers, colonel, captain, corporal,privates, powder-monkeys/ and all, marching inadmirable Older overhill and dale to the wars, against their wills, ay, against their commonsense and consciences, which makes it very steep marching indeed andproduces a palpitation of the heart. They have no doubt that it is adamnable business in which they are concerned; they are all peaceablyinclined. Now, what are they? Men at all? or small movable forts andmagazines at the service of some unscrupulous man in power? Visitthe Navy-Yard," and behold a marine, such a man as an American gov-ernment can make, or such as it can make a man with its black arts-a mere shadow and reminiscence of humanity, a man laid out aliveand standing, and already, as one may say, buried under arms withfuneral accompaniments, though it may be-

Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note,Ashis corse to the rampart we hurried;Not a soldier discharged his farewell ~hotO'er the grave where our hero we buned."

The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as 5machines, with their bodies. They are the standing army, and the mi-

Jpowder-rnonkeys The boys who delivered gunpowder to cannons."Navy-Yard This isapparently the United States Naval yard at Boston.s-rhese lines are from "Burial of Sir John Moore at Corunna" {l8171 by the Irish poet

Charles Wolfe 11791-1823).


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litia, jailers, constables, posse cornitntus.f &c. In most cases there isno free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense; butthey put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; andwooden men can perhaps bemanufactured that will serve the purposeas well. Such command no more respect than men of straw or a lumpof dirt. They have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs. Yetsuch as these even are commonly esteemed good citizens. Others-asmost legislators, politicians, lawyers, ministers, and office-holders-serve the state chiefly with their heads; and, as they rarely make anymoral distinctions, they arc as likely to serve the Devil, without in-tending it, as God. A very few, as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformersin the great sense, and men, serve the state with their consciencesalso and so necessarily resist it for the most part; and they are com-monly treated as enemies by it. A wise man will only be useful as aman and will not submit to be "clay" and "stop a hole to keep thewind away," but leave that office to his dust at least:

I am too high-born to be propertied,To be a secondary at control,Or useful serving- man and instrumentTo any sovereign state throughout the wodd.7

He who gives himself entirely to his fellow-men appears to them 6useless and selfish; but he who gives himself partially to them is pro-nounced a benefactor and philanthropist.How does it become a man to behave toward this American gov- 7ernment today? Ianswer, that he cannot without disgrace be associ-ated with it. Icannot for an instant recognize that political organiza-tionas my government which is the slave's government also.

All men recognize the right of revolution; that is, the right to re- 8fuse allegiance to, and to resist the government when its tyranny or itsinefficiency are great and unendurable. But almost all say that such isnot the case now. But such was the case, they think, in the Revolutionof '75. If one were to tell me that this was a bad government becauseit taxed certain foreign commodities brought to its ports, it is mostprobable that I should not make an ado about it, for I can do withoutthem. All machines have their friction; and possibly this does enough

6posse comit


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not a hundred thousand politicians at the South but a hundred thou-sand merchants and fanners here, whu :HC mort: interested in cum-merce and agriculture than they are in humanity, and are not preparedto do justice to the slave and to Mexico, cost what it may. I quarrelnot with far-off foes but with those who, near at home, co-operateWith, and do the bidding of, those far away, and without whom thelatter would be harmless. We are accustomed to say that the mass ofmen are unprepared; but improvement is slow because the few are notmaterially wiser or better than the many. It is not so important thatmany should be as good as you as that there be some absolute good-ness somewhere; for that will leaven the whole lump. There are thou-sands who are in opinion opposed to slavery and to the war who yetineffect do nothing to put an end to them; who, esteeming themselveschildren of Washington and Franklin, sit down with their hands intheir pockets and say that they know not what to do, and do nothing;who even postpone the question of freedom to the question of freetrade, and quietly read the prices-current along with the latest advicesfrom Mexico after dinner and, it may be, fall asleep over them both.What is the price-current of an honest man and patriot today? Theyhesitate and they regret and sometimes they petition, but they donothing in earnest and with effect. They will wait, well disposed, forothers to remedy the evil, that they may no longer have it to regret.At most, they give only a cheap vote, and a feeble countenance andGod-speed, to the right, as it goes by them. There are nine hundredand ninety-nine patrons of virtue to one virtuous man. But it is easierto deal with the real possessor of a thing than with the temporaryguardian of it.

All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with 11a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and wrong, with moralquestions; and betting naturally accompanies it. The character of thevoters is not staked. I cast my vote, perchance, as I think right; but Iam not vitally concerned that that right should prevail. I am willingto leave it to the majority. Its obligation, therefore, never exceeds thatof expediency. Even voting for the right is doing nothing for it. It isonly expressing to men feebly your desire that it should prevail. Awise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish itto prevail through the power of the majority. There is but little virtuein the action of masses of men. When the majority shall at length votefor the abolition of slavery, it will be because they are indifferent toslavery, or because there is but little slavery left to be abolished bytheir vote. They will then be the only slaves. Only his vote can hastenthe abolition of slavery who asserts his own freedom by his vote.

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I hear .of a convention to be held at Baltimore, 10 or elsewhere for 12~he selection of :1 C;lIH.l id:ltc for the Presidency, made up chiefly of ed-~tOIS, and.men who are.politicians by profession; but I think, what isIt to any mdependent, mtelligent, and respectable man what decisionthey may come to? Shall we not have the advantage of his wisdom andhonesty nevertheless? Can we not count upon some independentvotes? Are there not many individuals in the country who do not at-tend. conve?tions? ~ut no: I find that the responsible man, so calledhas Imn:edlately drifted from his position, and despairs of his count~when hIS country has more reason to despair of him. He forthwithadopts on~ of the candidates thus selected as the only available onethus provmg that he is himself available for any purposes of the dem-ago~ue. His v?te. is of n.omore worth than that of any unprincipledforeI~ner or hireling natIve who may have been bought. 0 for a manwho ISa man and, as my neighbor says has a bone inhis back whichyou cannot pass your hand throUgh! OUf statistics are at fault- thepopulation has been returned too large. How many men are ther~ tosquare th~usand miles in this country? Hardly one. Does not Americ:offer ~ny inducemenr for men to settle here? The American has dwin-dled mto ~n Odd Fellow11--one who may be known by the develop-ment of hIS organ of gregariousness and a manifest lack of intellectand cheerful self-reliance whose first and chief .. h d' concern, on cominginto t e worl r is to see that the Almshouses are in good repair. andbefore yet he has lawfully donned the virile garb to collect a fund 0 ;the support ~f the widows and orphans that may be; who, in short,ve~tures to hve. only by the aid of the Mutual Insurance CompanyWhlC~has promised to bury him decently. I

It IS ?ot.a man's duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to 13the eradIcatIOn of any, even the most enormous wrong; he may stillproperly have other concerns to engage him, but it is his duty at I tto wash hi h d f' d' ' , eas t'. IS an s 0 It an t If he gives it no thOUght longer not togive It prac~ically his support. If I devote myself to other purs~its andcontemplations, I must first see at least that I do not h. . "pursue t emslttmg Upon a~other man's shoulders. I must get off him first, that hemay pursue hIS contemplations too. See what gross inconsistency istolerated. I have heard some of my townsmen say, "I should like to

lO B 1 . III timore n 1848 the pol it ic al e nv ironmen t wa s par ti cu lar ly int ense. it wasseedbed for theoreticians of the ConIederaCJl which was only b '. be aplated seriously. 'egmrung to contem-

"Odd Fellow Thc . l ndepende~t O rde r of Odd Fel lows , a f ra ternal a nd benevole ntsec~et society,. founded IIIEngland IIIt he e igh teenth c en tury and f ir st e st ab li sh ed in theUni te d S tat es In 1819 illBaltimore.

. . . . . . .Wo


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have them order me out to help put down an insurrection of the slaves,or to march to Mexico-see if I would go"; and yet these very menhave each directly by their allegiance and so indirectly, at least, bytheir money, furnished a substitute. The soldier is applauded who re-fuses to serve in an unjust war by those who do not refuse to sustainthe unjust government which makes the war; is applauded by thosewhose own act and authority he disregards and sets at naught; as ifthe State were penitent to that degree that it hired one to scourge itwhile it sinned, but not to that degree that it left off sinning for amoment. Thus, under the name of Order and Civil Government, weare all made at last to pay homage to and support our own meanness.After the first blush of sin comes its indifference; and from immoral itbecomes, as it were, unmoral, and not quite unnecessary to that lifewhich we have made.

The broadest and most prevalent error requires the most disinter-ested virtue to sustain it. The slight reproach to Which the virtue ofpatriotism is commonly liable, the noble are most likely to incur.Those who, while they disapprove of the character and measures of agovernment, yield to it their allegiance and support, are undoubtedlyits most conscientious supporters, and so frequently the most seriousobstacles to reform. Some are petitioning the State to dissolve theUnion, to disregard the requisitions of the President. Why do they notdissolve it themselves-the union between themselves and the State-and refuse to pay their quota into i ts treasury? Do not they stand inthe same relation to the State that the State does to the Union! Andhave not the same reasons prevented the State from resisting theUnion which have prevented them from resisting the State?

How can a man be satisfied to entertain an opinion merely, andenjoy it! Is there any enjoyment in it if his opinion is that he is ag-grieved? If you are cheated out of a single dollar by your neighbor, youdo not rest satisfied with knowing that you are cheated, or with sayingthat you are cheated, or even with petitioning him to pay you yourdue; but you take effectual steps at once to obtain the full amount andsee that you are never cheated again. Action from principle, the per-ception and the performance of right, changes things and relations; itis essentially revolutionary and does not consist wholly with anythingwhich was. It not only divides states and churches, it divides families;ay, it divides the individual, separating the diabolical in him from thedivine.

Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall weendeavor to amend them and obey them until we have succeeded, orshall we transgress them at once? Men generally, under such a govern-


rnent a~ t~is, think that they ought to wait until they have persuadedthe majority to alter them. They think that if they should resist theremedy would beworse than the evil. It makes it worse, Why isit not~ore apt to anticipate and provide for reform! Why does it not cherishIts w~seminority? Why does it cry and resist before it is hurt! Whydoes It not encourage its citizens to be on the alert to point out itsfaul~s and ~D better than it would have them? Why does it alwayscrucify Christ and excommunicate Copernicus and Luther+' and pro-nounce Washington and Franklin rebels?One would think that a deliberate and practical denial of its au- 17

thority was the only offence never contemplated by government. elsewhy has it not assigned its definite, its suitable and proportionat: pen-~lty? If a man who has 110 property refuses but once to earn nine shill.mgs for the State, he is put in prison for a period unlimited by any lawthat I know, and determined only by the discretion of those whoplaced him. there; but if he should steal ninety times nine shillingsfrom the State, he is Soonpermitted to go at large again.

If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of 18government, let it go, let it go: perchance it will wear smooth-cer-tainly the machine will wear out. If the injustice has a spring or apull? or a rope or a crank exclusively for itself, then perhaps you may~onslder whether the remedy will not be worse than the evil; but if itIS of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice toanother, then I say break the law. Let your life be a counter friction tostop the machine. What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do notlend myself to the wrong which I condemn.As for adopting the ways which the State has provided for reme- 19

dying the evil, I know not of such ways. They take too much time:md a man's life will be gone. I have other affairs to attend to. I carnemto this world, not chiefly to make this a goodplace to live in but toli~e in it, beit good or bad. A man has not everything to do, but Some-thing, and because he cannot do everything, it is not necessary thathe should do something _wrong.It is not my business to be petitioningthe Gove:-nor or the Legislature any more than it is theirs to petitionme, .and ~f they should not hear my petition what should I do then!But m this Casethe State has provided no way; its very Constitutionis the evil. This may seem to be harsh and stubborn and unconcilia-

. "NicoJa~s .Copernicus (1473-1543) and Martin Luther (1483-1546) Coper-mcus revolutionized astronomy and the way humankind perceives th . L h. . . e umverse; ut er ~w~s a rel ig ious revoluUonary who began the Reformation and created the first Protestant Wfaith. ~


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tory; but it isto treat with the utmost kindness and consideration theonly spirit that can appreciate or deserves it. So is all change for thebetter like birth and death, which convulse the body.Ido not hesitate to say that those who call themselves Abolition- 20ists should at once effectually withdraw their support, both in personand property, hum the govcnuncnt of M,lssacbusetts, nnd not wait tillthey constitute a majority of one before they suffer the right to prevailthrough them. I think that it is enough if they have God on their side,without waiting for that other one. Moreover, any man more rightthan his neighbors constitutes a majority of one already.I meet this American government or its representative, the State 21

government, directly and face to face once a year-no more-in theperson of its tax-gatherer, this is the only mode in which a man situ-ated as I am necessarily meets it; and it then says distinctly, Recognizeme, and the simplest, the most effectual and, in the present posture ofaffairs, the indispensablest mode of treating with it on this head, ofexpressing your little satisfaction with and love for it, is to deny itthen. My civil neighbor, the tax-gatherer, is the very man I have todeal with-for it is, after all, with men and not with parchment that Iquanel-and he has voluntarily chosen to be an agent of the govern-ment. How shall he ever know well what he is and does as an officerof the government, or as a man, until he is obliged to consider whetherhe shall treat me, his neighbor, for whom he has respect, as a neighborand well-disposed man, or as a maniac and disturber of the peace, andsee if he can get over this obstruction to his neighborliness without aruder and more impetuous thought or speech corresponding with hisaction. I know this well, that if one thousand, if one hundred, if tenmen whom I could name-if ten honest men only-ay, if one HONESTman in this State of Massachusetts, ceasing to hold slaves, were ac-tually to withdraw from this copartnership and be locked up in thecounty jail therefor, it would be the abolition of slavery in America.For it matters not how small the beginning may seem to be: what isonce well done is done forever. But we love better to talk about it: thatwe say is our mission. Reform keeps many scores of newspapers in itsservice but not one man. If my esteemed neighbor;" the State's am-bassador, who will devote his days to the settlement of the questionof human fights in the Council Chamber, instead of being threatened

13esteemed neighbor Thoreau refers to Samuel Hoar jI778---1856), a Massachusettscongressman, who went to South Caro lina to pro te st tha t s tate'S pr ac ti ce of s eizing b lackseamen from Massachuse tt s sh ips and enslaving them. South Caro lina threatened Hoarand drove him out of the state. He did not secure the justice he demanded.

T/rurcau/Civil Uisu/Jcdicllcc 135

with the prisons of Carolina, were to sit down the prisoner of Massa-chus~tts, that State which is so anxious to foist the sin of slavery uponhe~ sister-c-though at present she can discover only an act of inhospi-tality to be the ground of a quarrel with her-the Legislature wouldnot whoJly waive the subject the following winter.

U~der a go~ernment which imprisons any unjustly, the true place 22for.a Just man ISalso a prison. The proper place today, the only placew~i~h ~~ssachusetts has provided for her freer and less despondingspints ISInher prisons, to be put out and locked out of the State byher own.act, as they have already put themselves out by their princi-ples. It IS there that the fugitive slave and the Mexican prisoner onparole and the Indian come to plead the wrongs of his race should findthem; on that separate but more free and honorable ground where theState ~laces those who are not with her but against her-the onlyhouse .m a slave State in which a free man can abide with honor. Ifany think .that their influence would be lost there, and their voices nolonger affhct the ear of the State, that they would not be as an enemywithin its walls, they do not know by how much truth isstronger than~r~or,.nor how much more eloquently and effectively he can combatmjustice who has experienced a little in his own person. Cast yourw~ole. vo~e, not a strip of paper merely, but your whole influence. Amm.ont! is powerless while it conforms to the majority; it is not evena mmonty the?; b_utit isirresistible when it dogs by its whole weight.If the alternative is. to keep all just men in prison or give up war andslavery, the State will not hesitate which to choose. If a thousand menwere not to pay their tax-bills this year, that would not be a violentbloody m:asure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State toc.omllllt VIOlenceand shed innocent blood. This is, in fact, the defini-non of a peaceable revolution, if any such is possible. If the tax-gath-erer or any other public officer asks me, as one has done "But whatshall] do?" my answer is, "If you really wish to do anything resignyour o~fice.1I~hen the subject has refused allegiance and th; officerhas resigned hIS office, then the revolution is accomplished. But evensuppo.se blo?d should flow. Is there not a sort of blood shed when thecons~lence IS.wounded? Through this wound a man's real manhoodan~ Immortality flow out, and he bleeds to an everlasting death. I seethis blood flowing now.I h~ve conte~plated the imprisonment of the offender rather than 23

the seizure of hIS goods-though both will serve the same purpose=because they who aSSCIt the purest right, and consequently are mostdangerous ~oa corrupt State, commonly have not spent much time inaccumulating property. To such the State renders comparatively small


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service, and a slight tax is wont to appear exorbitant, particularly ifthey are obliged to earn it by special labor with their hands. if ~herewere one who lived wholly without the use of money, the State Itselfwould hesitate to demand it of him. But the rich man-e-not to makeany invidious comparison~is always sold to the institution v :hichmakes him rich. Absolutely speaking, the more money, the less virtue,for money comes between a man and his objects and obtains them forhim. and it was certainly no great virtue to obtain it. It puts to restmany questions which he would otherwise be taxed to answer; whilethe only new question which it puts is the hard but superfluo~s one,how to spend it. Thus his moral ground is taken from under hIS feet.The opportunities of living are diminished in proportion as what arecalled the "means" are increased. The best thing a man can do for hisculture when he is rich is to endeavor to carry out those schemeswhich he entertained when he was poor. Christ answered theHerodians '" according to their condition. "Show me the tribute-money," said he~and one took a penny out of his pocket-s-if you usemoney which has the image of Caesar on it, and which he has madecurrent and valuable, that is, if you are men of the State and gladlyenjoy the advantages of Caesar's government, then pay him back someof his own when he demands it; "Render therefore to Caesar thatwhich is Caesar's, and to God those things which are God's"~leavingthem no wiser than before as to which was which; for they did notwish to know. .When Iconverse with the freest of my neighbors, Iperceive that 2. 4whatever they may say about the magnitude and seriousness of thequestion, and their regard for the public tranquillity, the. long and theshort of the matter is that they cannot spare the protection of the ex-isting government, and they dread the consequences to their propertyand families of disobedience to it. For my own part, Ishould not liketo think that Iever rely on the protection of the State. But if Idenythe authority of the State when it presents its tax-bill, it will soon takeand waste all my property and so harass me and my children withoutend. This is hard. This makes it impossible for a man to live honestly,and at the same time comfortably, in outward respects. Itwill not beworth the while to accumulate property; that would be sure to goagain. You must hire or squat somewhere and raise but a small cropan d eat that soon. You must live within yourself and depend uponyourself always tucked up and ready for a start, and not have many

"Herodians Pollowers of King Herod who were opposed to Jesus Christ (see Matthew 22: 16).


affairs. A man may grow rich in Turkey even, if he will be in all reospects a good subject of the Turkish government. Confucius'" said: "Ifa state is governed by the principles of reason, poverty and misery ares~bjects of shame; if a state is not governed by the principles ofreason,nches and honors are the subjects of shame." NO i until I want theprotection of Massachusetts to be extended to me in some distantSouthern port, where my liberty is endangered, or until Iam bentsolely on building up an estate at home by peaceful enterprise, Icanafford to refuse allegiance to Massachusetts and her right to my prop-erty and life. It costs me less in every sense to incur the penalty ofdisobedience to the State than it would to obey. Ishould feel as if Iwere worth less in that case.

Some years ago the State met me in behalf of the Church and corn- 25manded me to pay a certain sum toward the support of a clergymanwhose preaching my father attended, but never Imyself. "Pay," it said,"or be locked up in the jail." Ideclined to pay. But, unfortunately,another man saw fit to pay it. Idid not see why the schoolmastershould be taxed to support the priest, and not the priest the school-master; forIwas not the State's schoolmaster, but Isupported myselfby voluntary subscription. Idid not sec why the lyceum should notpresent its tax-bill and have the State to back its demand, as well asthe Church. However, at the request of the selectmen, Icondescendedto make some such statement as this in writing:-J1Know all men bythese presents, that I, Henry Thoreau, do not wish to be regarded as amember of any incorporated society which Ihave not joined." This Igave to the town clerk; and he has it. The State, having thus learnedthat Idid not wish to be regarded as a member of that church, hasnever made a like demand on me since; though it said that it mustadhere to its original presumption that time. If Ihad known how toname them, Ishould then have signed off in detail from all the soci-eties which Inever signed on to; but Idid not know where to find acomplete list.I have paid no poll-tax'" for six years. I was put into a jail once on 26

this account, for one night; and, as Istood considering the walls ofsolid stone, two or three feet thick, the door of wood and iron a footthick, and the iron grating which strained the light, Icould not help

"Confucius (550 or 551-479 B.C) The most important Chinese religious leader.His Analects (collection) treated not only religious but moral and political matters aswell.

Ipollcax A tax. levied on every citizen living in a given area; poll means "head," soit isa tax per head. Itwas about $2and was used to support the Mexican war.


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being struck with the foolishness of that institution which treated meas if I were mere flesh and blood and bones, to be locked up. I won-dered that it should have concluded at length that this was the bestuse it could put me to and had never thought to avail itself of myservices in some way. I saw that if there was a wall of stone betweenme and my townsmen, there was a still more difficult one to climb orbreak through before they could get to be as free as Iwas. I did not fora moment feel confined, and the walls seemed a great waste of stoneand mortar. I felt as if I alone of all my townsmen had paid my tax.They plainly did not know how to treat me but behaved like personswho are underbred. In every threat and in every compliment there wasa blunder; for they thought that my chief desire was to stand the otherside of that stone wall. I could not but smile to see how industriouslythey locked the door on my meditations, which followed them outagain without let or hindrance, and they were really all that was dan-gerous. As they could not reach me, they had resolved to punish mybody; just as boys, if they cannot come at some person against whomthey have a spite, will abuse his dog. I saw. that the State was half-witted, that it was timid as a lone woman with her silver spoons, andthat it did not know its friends from its foes, and I lost all my remain-ing respect for it and pitied it.

Thus the State never intentionally confronts a man's sense, intel- 27lectual or moral, but only his body, his senses. It is not armed withsuperior wit or honesty but with superior physical strength. I was notborn to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see whois the strongest. What force has a multitude? They only can force mewho obey a higher law than L They force me to become like them-selves. I do not hear of men being forced to live this way or that bymasses of men. What sort of life were that to live? When [ meet agovernment which says to me, "Your money or your life," why should[ be in haste to give it my money? Itmay be in a great strait and notknow what to do: I cannot help that. It must help itself; do as I do. Itis not worth the while to snivel about it. I am not responsible for thesuccessful working of the machinery of society. I am not the son ofthe engineer. I perceive that, when an acorn and a chestnut fall side byside, the one does not remain inert to make way for the other, butboth obey their own laws and spring and grow and flourish as best theycan till one, perchance, overshadows and destroys the other. If a plantcannot live according to its nature, it dies; and so a man.

The night in prison was novel and interesting enough. The prison- 2. 8ers in their shirt-sleeves were enjoying a chat and the evening air in


the doorway when Ientered. But the jailer said, "Come, boys, it is timeto lock up"; and so they dispersed, andIheard the sound of their stepsreturning into the hollow apartments. My room-mate was introducedto me by the jailer as "a first-rate fellow and a clever man." When thedoor was locked, he showed me where to hang my hat and how hemanaged matters there. The rooms were whitewashed once a month,and this one, at least, was the whitest, most simply furnished, andprobably the neatest apartment in the town. He naturally wanted toknow where I came from and what brought me there; and when I hadtold him, I asked him in my turn how he came there, presuming himto be an honest man, of course; and, as the world goes, I believe hewas. "Why," said he, "they accuse me of burning a barn; but r neverdid it." As near as 1 could discover, he had probably gone to bed in abam when drunk and smoked his pipe there; and so a barn burnt. Hehad the reputation of being a clever man, had been there some threemonths waiting for his trial to come on, and would have to wait asmuch longer; but he was quite domesticated and contented, since hegot his board for nothing and thought that he was well treated.He occupied one window, and I the other; and I saw that if one 29

stayed there long, his principal business would be to look out the win-dow. I had soon read all the tracts that were left there and examinedwhere former prisoners had broken out and where a grate had beensawed off and heard the history of the various occupants of that room;for I found that even here there was a history and a gossip which nevercirculated beyond the walls of the jail. Probably this is the only housein the town where verses are composed, which afterward printed in acircular form but not published. I was shown quite a long list of verseswhich were composed by some young men who had been detected inan attempt to escape, who avenged themselves by signing them.I pumped my fellow-prisoner as dryas I could, for fear I should 30

never see him again; but at length he showed me which was my bedand left me to blowout the lamp. "It was like travelling into a far country, such as I had never ex- 31

pected to behold, to lie there for one night. It seemed to me that 1never had heard the town-clock strike before, nor the evening soundsof the village; for we slept with the windows open, which were insidethe grating. Itwas to see my native village in the light of the MiddleAges, and our Concord was turned into a Rhine stream, and visions ofknights and castles passed before me. They were the voices of oldburghers that I heard in the streets. I was an involuntary spectator andauditor of whatever was done and said in the kitchen of the adjacentvillage-inn-a wholly new and rare experience to me. Itwas a closer


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140 /vEAS IN '1'J!1~ WUULD UF /'UU'J'lCS

. f my native town. I was fairly inside of it. I never had seen itsview a . Ior iinstitutions before. This is 'One of its peculiar institutions; or It IS ahi t 171 began to comprehend what its inhabitants were about.s He own. h hi' hIn the morning our breakfasts were put through t e ~ e in ~ e 37 .door in small oblong-square tin pans, made to fit, and holding a pintof chocolate, with brown bread and an iron spoon. When they calledfor the vessels again, Iwas green enough to return what bread I hadleft; but my comrade seized it and said that 1 should I~y t.hat up. forlunch or dinner. Soon after he was let (Juttu wurk at hnying 1Lla nClg~l-boring field, whither he went every day, and would ~ot be back tillnoon; so he bade me good-day, saying that he doubted If he should seeme again. .

When I came out of prison-for someone interfered and paid that 33tax-l did not perceive that great changes had taken place on the co.m-man, such ashe observed who went in a youth and emerged a tottenngand gray-headed man; and yet a change had to my eyes come over thescene-the town and State and country-greater than any that meretime could effect. I saw yet more distinctly the State in which 1lived.I saw to what extent the people among whom I lived could be trustedas good neighbors and friends; that their friendship w~s for summerweather only; that they did not greatly propose to do right, ~~at theywere a distinct race from me by their prejudices and supersnnons, asthe Chinamen and Malays are; that, in their sacrifices to humanity,they ran no risks, not even to their property; that, after all, they werenot so noble but they treated the thief as he had treated them andhoped, by a certain outward observance and a few pra~ers,. an~ bywalking in a particular straight though useless path from nme to time,to save their souls. This may be to judge my neighbors harshly; for Ibelieve that many of them are not aware that they have such an insti-tution as the jail in their village.

Itwas formerly the custom in our village, when a poor debtor ca~e 34out of jail for his acquaintances to salute him, looking through thenfingers, which were crossed to represent the grating of a jail window,"How do ye do?" My neighbors did not thus salute me but firs~ lookedat me and then at one another as if I had returned from a long toumey.I was put into jail as I was going to the shoemaker's to get a shoewhich was mended. When I was let out the next morning I proceededto finish my errand, and having put on my mended shoe, joined a

17shire town A county seat, which means the town would have a court, county of-fices, and jails.

711OrC(lIIICivil Di.mbedicncc 141

huckleberry party who were impatient to put themselves under myconduct; and in half an hour-for the horse was soon tackled-was inthe midst of a huckleberry field on one of our highest hills two milesoff, and then the State was nowhere to be seen.This is the whole history of "My Prisons." 35Ihave never declined paying the highway tax, because Iam as de- 36sirous of being a good neighhor as f am of being a bad subject; and as

fur supporting schools I am doing my part to educate my fellow coun-trymen now. It is for no particular item in the tax-bill that I refuse topay it. I simply wish to refuse allegiance to the State, to withdraw andstand aloof from it effectually. I do not care to trace the course of mydollar, if I could, till it buys a man or a musket to shoot one with-thc dullar is innucent-but I am concerned to trace the effects of myallegiance. In fact, I quietly declare war with the State, after my fash-ion, though I will still make what use and get what advantage of her Icall, as is usual in such cases.. If others pay the tax which is demanded of me from a sympathy 37

With the State, they do but what they have already done in their owncase, or rather they abet iniusnce to a greater extent than the Staterequires. If they pay the tax from a mistaken interest in the individualtaxed, to save his property, or prevent his going to jail, it is because~hey have ~ot considered Wisely how far they let their private feelingsinterfere With the public good.This, then, is my position at present. But one cannot be too much 38

on his guard in such a case, lest his action be biassed by obstinacy oran undue regard for the opinions of men. Let him see that he does onlywhat belongs to himself and to the hour.I think sometimes, Why, this people mean well; they are only ig- 39

norant, they would do better if they knew how: why give your neigh-bors this pain to treat you as they are not inclined to? But I thinkagain, this is no reason why 1should do as they do or permit others tosuffer much greater pain of a different kind. Again, I sometimes say tomyself, When many millions of men, without heat without ill willwithout personal feeling of any kind, demand of you a few shillingsonly, Without the possibility, such is their constitution, of retractingor altering their present demand, and Without the possibility, on yourside, of appeal to any other millions, why expose yourself to this over-Whelming brute force? You do not resist cold and hunger, the windsand the waves, thus obstinately; you quietly submit to a thousandsimilar necessities. You do not put your head into the fire. But just inproportion as I regard this as not wholly a brute force but partly a


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142 JDEAS IN THE WOHLD OF POLITICS

human force, and consider that I have relations to those millions as toso many millions of men, and not of mere brute 01 inanimate things,I see that appeal is possible, first and instantaneously, from them tothe Maker of them, and secondly, from them to themselves. But if Iput my head deliberately into the fire, there is no appeal to fire or tothe Maker of fire, and Ihave only myself to blame. IfIcould convincemyself that Ihave any right to be satisfied with men as they are, andto treat them accordingly, and not according, in some respects, to myrequisitions and expectations of what they and Iought to be,. then, l i.kea good Mussulrnan'f and fatalist, I should endeavor to be satisfied withthings as they are and say it is the will of God. And, above all, thereis this difference between resisting this and a purely brute or naturalforce, that I can resist this with some effect; but Icannot expect, l ikeOrpheus.i" to change the nature of the rocks and trees and beast~.Ido not wish to quarrel with any man or nation. I do not wish to 40split hairs, to make fine distinctions, or set myself up as better t~anmy neighbors. Iseek rather, Imay say, even an excuse for conformmgto the laws of the land. Iam but too ready to conform to them. Indeed,I have reason to suspect myself on this head; and each year, as the tax-gatherer comes round, Ifind myself disposed to review the acts andposition of the general and State governments, and the spirit of thepeople, to discover a pretext for conformity.

We must affect our country as our par-ents,And if at any time we alienate

Our love or industry from doing it honor,We must respect effects and teach thesoulMatter of conscience and religion,And not desire ofrule or benefit.20

I believe that the State will soon be able to take all my work of thissort out of my hands, and then Ishall be no better a patriot than myfellow-countrymen. Seen from a lower point of view, the Constitution,with all its faults, i s very good; the law and the courts are very respect-

I B M u s s u l m a n Muslim a follower 0 1 the religion of Islam.l'Orpheus InGreek mythology Orpheus was apoet whose songs were soplaint ive tha tthey aUected animals, t rees, and even stones.,oWe must afted. . .. From George Peele (1558?--15971), The Battle o f Alcazar(ac ted 1588-89; printed 1594), Il.ii, Thor eau added thes e lines in a bier ~rinting 01 t hee ssay . They emphas iz e the fac t t hat one i s d isobedi en t t o the ~ tat e a s one IS to a ~arent-with love, a ffec tion , and from a cause of consc ience. Disobedience IS not taken lightly.


able; even this State and this American government are, in many re-spects, very admirable and rare things, to be thankful for, such as agreat many have described them; but seen from a point of view a lit tlehigher, they are what Ihave described them; seen from a higher sti ll,and the highest, who shall say what they are, or that they are worthlooking at or thinking of at all!

However, the government does not concern me much, and Ihall 41bestow the fewest possible thoughts on it. It is not many momentsthat Iive under a government , even in this world. If a man is thought-f~ee, fancy-i.ree, imagination-free, that which is not never for a longtime appearing to be to him, unwise rulers or reformers cannot fatallyinterrupt him.Iknow that most men think differently from myself; but those 42whose lives are by profession devoted to the study of these or kindred~ubjects content me as lit tle as any. Statesmen and legislators, stand-mg so c?mpletely within the inst itution, never distinct ly and nakedlyb~hold I~. They speak of moving society but have no resting-placeWithout it. They may be men of a certain experience and discrimina-tion and have no doubt invented ingenious and even useful systemsfor which we Sincerely thank them; but all their wit and usefulnesslie within certain not very wide limits. They are wont to forget thatthe world is not governed by pol icy and expediency. Webster'" nevergoes behind government and so cannot speak with authority about it.His words are wisdom to those legislators who contemplate no essen-tial reform in the existing government; but for thinkers, and those wholegislate for all time, he never once glances at the subject . Iknow ofthose whose serene and wise speculations on this theme would soonre~eal the limits of his mind's range and hospitality. Yet, comparedw~th the cheap professions of most reformers, and the still cheaperWIsdom and eloquence of politicians in general, his are almost theonly sensible and valuable words, and we thank Heaven for him. Com-paratively, he is always strong, original, and, above all , practical. Stillhis quality is not wisdom but prudence. The lawyer's truth is notTruth but consistency, or a consistent expediency. Truth is always inharmony with herself and is not concerned chiefly to reveal the justicethat may consist with wrong-doing. He well deserves to be called ashe has been called, the Defender of the Const itution. There are real lyno blows to be given by him but defensive ones. He is not a leader but

>[Daniel Web$ter {1782-1852} One of the most brilliant orators of his time. Hewas secretar y of s tate from 1841 to 1843, which is why Thoreau thinks he cannot be asatisfactory critic of government.


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14,' mEA,'; T N THE WORLD OF POLITICS

a follower. His leaders are the men of '87.22 "I have never made aneffort," he says, "and never propose to make an effort; I have nevercountenanced an effort, and never mean to countenance an effort, todisturb the arrangement as originally made, by which the variousStates came into the Union!' Still thinking of the sanction which theConstitution gives to slavery, he says, "Because it was a part of theoriginal compact-let it stand." Notwithstanding his special acutenessand ability, he is unable to take a fact out of its merely political rela-tions and behold it as it lies absolutely to be disposed of by the intel-lect-what, for instance, it behooves a man to do here in America to-day with regard to slavery but ventures, or is driven, to make somesuch desperate answer as the following, while professing to speak ab-solutely, and as a private man-hom which what new and singularcode of social duties might be inferred? "The manner," says he, "inwhich the governments of those States where slavery exists are to reg-ulate it, is for their own consideration, under their responsibili ty totheir constituents, to the general laws of propriety, humanity, and jus-tice, and to God. Associations formed elsewhere, springing hom a feel-ing ofhumanity, or any other cause, have nothing whatever to do withit. They have never received any encouragement hom me, and theynever will.',23They who know of no purer sources of truth, who have traced up 43its stream no higher, stand, and wisely stand, by the Bible and theConstitution, and drink at it there with reverence and humility; butthey who behold where it comes trickling into this lake or that poolgird up their loins once more and continue their pilgrimage toward itsfountain-head.No man with a genius fOJ legislation has appeared in America. 44They are rare in the history of the world. There are orators, politicians,and eloquent men by the thousand; but the speaker has not yet openedhis mouth to speak who is capable of settling the much-vexed ques-tions of the day. We love eloquence for its own sake and not for anytruth which it may utter or any heroism it may inspire. Our legislatorshave not yet learned the comparative value of free-trade and of free-dom, of union, and of rectitude, to a nation. They have no genius ortalent for comparatively humble questions of taxation and finance,commerce and manufacturers and agriculture. Ifwe were left solely tothe wordy wit of legislatOJs in Congress for our guidance, uncorrectedby the seasonable experience and the effectual complaints of the peo-

l 1men o f ' 87 The men who framed the Const itut ion in 1787,u- rhese ext rac ts have been inse rted since the Lec tu re was read. [Thoreau's note]


ple, America would not long tai h keighteen hundred years, thou~ep::ha~c:~nha~:::~i ~~ t:ation.s. For~~,~ Testament has been written; yet where is the le~,]ato;"~~~::. heds and pract~cal talent enough to avail himself of the light hi hItS e s on the SCIenceof legislation? w ICThe authority of government even h . .to-for. 1will cheerfully obey th~se wh~u:no~ ~:c:l~~gb to submit 4S

I, and .m ~any things even those who neither know nor ~!ter than::~-:~~ s~~~s::::f~~: ~:~e:e~e ~:riCtlYhjust,it must h~veJ:e :~:c~

d. can ave no pure nght ovperson an property but what I concede . er myabsolute to a limited monarchy from 1 " t~ ltd'The progress from anracy is a ,a nrute monarchy to a democ-. ' progress toward a true respect for the' di id alChinese philoso h 24. III IV1U Even thebasis of the em~ir:r Iswa~WIseenough to regard the individual as the. ". a emocracy such as we know it the last'

provement possible 10 government? Is it not ibl k irn-further towards recognizing and or anizin PO~SI e to ta e a stepwill never be a really free a d Iigh dg the rights of man? Theren en 1 tene State until th Stto recognize the individual as a high d . d e ate comesh. h 1 1 er an m ependent powe f

w IC a its own power and authoritv are deri I, romcordingly. I please myself with. ~ ~re denved, and treats him ac-afford to be just to all men and t~n::;~ru~g ~ S~a~eat la~t which cana neighbor; which even would not thi~ .e ~nd1v1~ualWlt~ re~pect asrepose if a few were to live aloof from i : t:~onslste~t Wl~ l~S ownembraced by it, who fulfilled all the duties f m~ddhng with It, normen. A State which bore this kind of f . 0 nelghbor~ and fellow-as fast as it r ipened would prepare the ruitfand s~fered It to drop offglorious State which 1 I h . .way or a still more perfect and, a so ave imagined but not yet anywhere seen.

14Ch' hiese p 10sQpher Thoreau probably means Confucius.

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H.D. Thoreau - Civil Disobedience