Contrasting the Declaration of Independance and Civil Disobedience
Contrasting the Declaration of Independance and Civil DisobedienceIt is ironic that Jefferson, writer of the “Declaration of Independence,” died 20 years prior to Thoreau even writing “Civil Disobedience.” The two author’s works contain numerous parallel discussions about government corruption and the immoral act of slavery.
In the “Declaration of Independence” the colonies are just beginning to rebel against Britain, the King had so much power over their lives that they couldn’t do as much as buy tea and not be taxed for it. Jefferson wrote that if government doesn’t grant the people their rights, or if the government gets too powerful, “it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government.” So they did, they broke away and gained freedom. In Thoreau’s day the King is not a threat anymore, instead the hierarchy being criticized is the US Government. Thoreau believed and stated, “That government is best which governs not at all.” By...
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