There was never a point in history that didn’t involve any sort of revolts or disobedience resulting in blood or anarchy. Conformity to society and letting the government control every aspect of life was common and many people let that lifestyle continue without complaints. Philosophers such as Thoreau, Emerson, and Paine demonstrated those ideas in their major writing pieces explaining their ideas. Very few people from those times followed the ideals that the writers represented. Figures like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, John Brown, and even the Sons of Liberty all had one thing in common and that was their bravery and courage to make a bold statement and being proactive in what they believe is right.
During the era 1846-1854, there was extreme political tension occurring in the nation which kept America in a tense state. To try and fight against the government was risky and could lead to more turmoil, but one women did not let that get in her way. The fight for women’s suffrage just started to spark during this time and many women in America had something to say. Elizabeth Staton was the voice and leader to the meeting filled with women at Seneca Falls, New York. For one woman to decide to hold a public meeting about how the government is unfair and unjust is exactly what Emerson and Thoreau would have wanted. Not letting the norm of society denote women of their true potential was seen as rebellious when in reality it was just an act of self-expression. As Emerson has wrote, “What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think” (Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson). Staton was not into women’s suffrage for the fame or for the pure adrenaline of being rebellious, but for her own pleasure to state what she feels and gather up the women to feel empowered. Whether he/she fights for a cause with a group of people or by one’s self, civil disobedience has to start with one human; one courageous mind.
Nearing the end of the 19th century, the Civil War broke out across America and one of the main reasons for the cause of that war was slavery (John Green). As this unit has been titled, our nation was in a continuous dispute as centuries have passed. A division between the north and the south, slave versus on-slave state, created skeptics and disbelievers in the governmental system. Strong abolition advocates, such as John Brown, took drastic matters into his own hands that made him seem like psycho. Brown was daring and borderline insane when he decided to turn to violence to make a point. John Brown literally took out the competition, per say, when he murdered in cold blood innocent slave owners and townspeople of a slave town (VA Historical Society). Besides the fact that it involved killing citizens and raiding a city, his intentions were true and just. In his speech, he stated that, “...I never had the design against the life of any person...or to excite slaves to rebel” (Brown Speech). John Brown clearly did not care whether a group would support his actions and join him because he did this for his own state of mind to try and make something that he believed was wrong to right. One of his supporters included Thoreau.
Henry David Thoreau was a supporter of John Brown and what he did because just the plain fact that he did something about what he believed in. Since our core has studied Mr. Thoreau in such depth these past few months, I know that he and Ralph Emerson are the epitomes of civil disobedience. Henry Thoreau was also an activist against the government at the time and he “held deeply felt political views, opposing slavery and the Mexican-American War”(Biography). With both being antislavery activists, it proves perfectly why Thoreau would admire John’s actions. The act against the government is simply not something most people would go around doing because it could lead to their imprisonment or in John’s case, death. Instead of seeing his actions as defiant and consider it murder, Thoreau views it as heroic and brave, especially since it is for a group of people and not just himself.
The majority of people in America stood and allowed their lives to be dictated and controlled by society and the government whether just or unjust. Fear of consequences and judgement coated people’s minds, preventing any sort of rebellion in what they believe. The handful of so-called “rebels” paid the price of speaking their mind, but the result of their bravery shaped our world today. Thoreau and Emerson set the base or foundation that the people of the 19th and 20th century built off of and took their writing and applied it to their lives.
Henry David Thoreau was a supporter of John Brown and what he did because just the plain fact that he did something about what he believed in. Since our core has studied Mr. Thoreau in such depth these past few months, I know that he and Ralph Emerson are the epitomes of civil disobedience. Henry Thoreau was also an activist against the government at the time and he “held deeply felt political views, opposing slavery and the Mexican-American War”(Biography). With both being antislavery activists, it proves perfectly why Thoreau would admire John’s actions. The act against the government is simply not something most people would go around doing because it could lead to their imprisonment or in John’s case, death. Instead of seeing his actions as defiant and consider it murder, Thoreau views it as heroic and brave, especially since it is for a group of people and not just himself.
The majority of people in America stood and allowed their lives to be dictated and controlled by society and the government whether just or unjust. Fear of consequences and judgement coated people’s minds, preventing any sort of rebellion in what they believe. The handful of so-called “rebels” paid the price of speaking their mind, but the result of their bravery shaped our world today. Thoreau and Emerson set the base or foundation that the people of the 19th and 20th century built off of and took their writing and applied it to their lives.
"Henry David Thoreau - Philosopher, Journalist, Poet ..." 2011. 16 Nov. 2015 <http://www.biography.com/people/henry-david-thoreau-9506784> (Biography)
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