Civil Disobedience And The Mexican War

Thoreau begins Civil Disobedience with the famous quote "That government is best which governs least," and he explains a government that does not get in people's lives. Government is only a scheme. It exists because the people have chose to choose their will, but it is easy to take advantage of. The Mexican War is an example that thoreau used to explain the the government as their tool. Thoreau maintains that government as a foundation that prevents the accomplishment of the work it created. It’s purpose was ensuring individual freedom. Denying the idea of abolishing government, he says that he simply wants a better government. Majority rule is ensured by physical strength, not rights and justice. One’s conscience should rule instead of the government, and civil government should be used only when it absolutely has to. He explains the dumbness and conscience in the way men use the state. A man cannot accept the state without ignoring himself.
Thoreau presents the right of revolution, which all men recognize, and bases on the American Revolution, the beginning of which he finds less interesting than the issues he has at hand.
He explained the government as a machine that may or may not do enough good to balance what evil it does, he supports rebellion. The stages of reform, he is aware are not politicians but ordinary people who cooperate with the system. The opposition to slavery is meaningless. Only what you do about your opinion matters. Wrong will be corrected only by the individual, not through the government. Although Thoreau confirms that a man has other, higher duties, he must at least not be guilty through . The individual must not support the government, and must act with logic, must break the law if
necessary.

Abolition can be reached by not accepting the government, which may be completed practically through the not paying of taxes. If getting arrested is the result, there is no shamefulness, prison is the best place for a just man in an unjust society. In the current state of affairs, taxes is violent and bloody. Nonpayment constitutes a "peaceful revolution." Thoreau comments on the corrupting influence of money and property, and urges a simple, self lifestyle as a means of maintaining freedom. He describes his experience in the Concord Jail , explaining the feel of the state's treatment of a man as if he were a physical presence only, rather than a moral one. A man can be forced only by one who possesses greater morality. In Civil disobedience as his other writings, Thoreau focuses on the individual's responsibility to live and to know the meaning from his own life; overseeing that society is secondary.
Thoreau maintains that he does not want to quarrel or to feel superior to others. He wants to conform to the laws of the land, but current laws are not acceptable from a higher point of view. Politics and politicians act as though the universe were ruled by something convenient . In the progression from absolute monarchy, to limited, to democracy, Thoreau observes an evolution in government toward greater expression of the consent of the government. He notes that democracy may not be the final stage. His importance at the end of the essay is on respect for the individual. There will never be a "really free and enlightened State" until the state recognizes the importance of the individual.