Social Activism In American Society

1. What was his position on the Mexican War? Thoreau thinks that the war is dumb. He states that, “hundred thousand merchants and farmers here, who are more interested in commerce and agriculture than they are in humanity.” He is saying that people would rather farm food than fight in a war.

It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right." (Jacobus, 306). He argues that it is up to each and every individual to stand up for their own rights and know the difference between what’s right and what’s wrong. As said by Thoreau, by committing acts of civil disobedience or peaceful protests, citizens of the nations are able to have their voice to speak up against the wrongdoings of their own government. They bring attention to the more important issues at hand and allow opinions to be formed, and can thus spark change in society.

America has always been defined by its political freedom and expressiveness, at the cost of intranational conflict. During the 1800s, The United States was in a constant state of political disagreement. The north and south fought on several topics, mainly the expansion of slavery. However, these arguments were about more than just slavery. They were arguing not only slavery, but the ideals and specific principles that America has been based upon since the foundation of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

Lincoln has often been referred to as the great slave emancipator, and his role in establishing the emancipation of African American’s has been looked to as one of his greatest achievements. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued on January 1st 1863 and declared that ‘all persons held as slaves… shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free’. This can be seen as the first executive order issued regarding the establishment of African American’s as citizens of the United States. Lincoln can therefore be seen as vital to the emancipation of African Americans. However, it can be argued that to an extent, Lincoln was forced into issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, by the actions of African American slaves who actively pursued their freedom.

With the rise of social media it is common for people to explain their beliefs on the internet rather than taking action. Thoreau was very passionate about his right to fight for what he believed in. He thought that for the country to operate efficiently there always needs to be an irritation in the system. In “Civil Disobedience” Thoreau writes, “All machines have their friction; and possibly this does enough good to counterbalance the evil (Thoreau, 4).” Basically Thoreau believes that our country works best with civil disobedience because it provides a “friction” in the system that can outweigh the unjust laws.

The Gettysburg Address told the injustice and the immoral facts of slavery. For instance the slaves in the plantations were considered property of the owner not as people and not being able to have the same rights as .According to the article (pbs.com),”Slaves could not testify in court against a white,They could not sell their own goods. And if the slave was raped it would been considered trespassing on the behalf of the owner. ”The quote essentially says that the slave could not do anything without the owner having a say. The slaves also were to diseases and they also had to work through sickness (pbs.com),”The Illness were not treated

He refused to pay a government issued poll-tax for the Mexican-American war because it did not sync up with his beliefs (Thoreau). McCandless did not think that the government had any right to interfere with his personal needs. This further exemplifies McCandless’s ideal life of rebelling rather than

Another famous essay Thoreau’s is Civil Disobedience. Civil Disobedience was published in 1849. In this essay he talks about his belief on how individuals shouldn’t blindly follow the government if they thought the rules and laws are unjust. This was partly motivated by Thoreau’s hatred towards slavery and the government support of it. Thoreau thought we would be better without the government as he mentions in the first paragraph of Civil Disobedience, “that government is the best which governs not at all.”

Thoreau was the first one to be credited for being the first one to use the word civil disobedience. Civil disobedience meaning the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines,as peaceful form of political protest. In shorter terms it’s when someone doesn’t agree with the government and decides to act against it. Someone who practiced an act of civil disobedience was Anne Hutchinson. She didn’t agree with the minister making salvation dependent on an individual’s good work.

He objected the injustices of war and slavery, and practiced civil disobedience in his daily life. In the time of Thoreau writing Civil Disobedience, many people believed revolution against the government had not been necessary since the time of the American Revolution. However, Thoreau believes that resisting an abusive government is especially important at this point in time considering that, "a sixth of the population of a nation which has undertaken to be the refuge of liberty are slaves, and a whole country is unjustly overrun and conquered by a foreign army, and subjected to military law." According to Thoreau, it is the duty of American citizens to promptly revolutionize against slavery and the Mexican-American War, which have both been supported by the corrupted American

The Great Speech Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1863 delivered one of the most iconic speeches in American History. His delivery infuses us with such raw power and emotions that poured out from the bottom of his heart will change the hearts and minds of Americans for ages to come. Abraham Lincoln did not just write one speech he made five different copies with different sentence structure and paragraph structure, to show how important the layout of the message and how it needed to be simple and to the point. Dissecting “The Gettysburg Address” we begin to understand Abraham Lincoln’s heart lies, he reminds everyone about our past and that we should honor those who fought for our freedom; he tells us “All men are created equal” only to show us what we need to work on as people in the present, he spreads hope for the future and encourages us to grow together

Thoreau 's views on the government by comparing the government to a machine. He states, ”When the machine was producing injustice, it was the duty of conscientious citizens to be ‘a counter friction’ (i.e., a resistance) "to stop the machine.” The two major issues being debated in the United States during his life was slavery and the Mexican-American War in which were major reasons he wrote his essays. In the mid to late 1840’s slavery has been indoctrinated into American society in which caused rifts between Americans.

Abraham Lincoln in the speech, The Gettysburg Address, constructs a point of achieving a "just and lasting peace" between the North and South without retribution. Lincoln supports his assertion by justifying his beliefs of unity between the states. Lincoln's purpose is to influence the people to not allow what has been done to go to waste. He wants his audience to realize that this division will only persist if no one settles the current issues in society. Lincoln speaks in a sympathizing, determined tone to address the Americans who are mourning the loss of their loved ones and to the rest of Americans who he wants to see a change from.

This citation shows that Thoreau did not want to follow the laws. Thoreau also believed in living life by following moral law and not law stated in the constitution. Thoreau also believed that the government does best if it does not rule over the people. In the essay Civil Disobedience it says “That government is best which governs least”. This shows what Thoreau felt the government should not do.

Introduction In this research, the participation of political activism is analyzed, so is the history and evolution. The individuals that may have influenced the movements that have taken place. Such as; Nelson Mandela and Steve Biko just to name a few. Comparisons made from the types of ways that political activism has participated.