CommonLit Excerpt From Civil Disobedience

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Excerpt from “Civil Disobedience”

By Henry David Thoreau
1849
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, and naturalist.
He is best known for his book Walden, which reflects on the value of living simply and in accord with
nature. Thoreau’s disgust with the institution of slavery was one of his primary motives in writing “Civil
Disobedience.” As you read, take notes on what Thoreau believes individuals can do to create change.
[1] It is not a man’s duty, as a matter of course, to

devote himself to the eradication of any, even the
most enormous, wrong; he may still properly
have other concerns to engage him; but it is his
duty, at least, to wash his hands of it, and, if he
gives it no thought longer, not to give it practically
his support. If I devote myself to other pursuits
and contemplations, I must first see, at least, that
I do not pursue them sitting upon another man’s
shoulders. I must get off him first, that he may
pursue his contemplations too. See what gross
inconsistency is tolerated. I have heard some of "Civil disobedience" by Martin Börjesson is licensed under CC BY-
NC 2.0
my townsmen say, “I should like to 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 men have each, directly by their allegiance, and so indirectly, at least, by their
1
money, furnished a substitute. The soldier is applauded who refuses to serve in an unjust war by
those who do not refuse to sustain the unjust government which makes the war; is applauded by those
2 3
whose own act and authority he disregards and sets at naught; as if the state were penitent to that
4
degree that it differed one to scourge it while it sinned, but not to that degree that it left off sinning for
a moment. Thus, under the name of Order and Civil Government, we are 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 it becomes, as it were, unmoral, and not quite unnecessary to that life which we have made.
The broadest and most prevalent error requires the most disinterested virtue to sustain it. The slight
reproach to which the virtue of patriotism is commonly liable, the noble are most likely to incur. Those
who, while they disapprove of the character and measures of a government, yield to it their allegiance
and support are undoubtedly its most conscientious supporters, and so frequently the most serious
5
obstacles to reform. Some are petitioning the State to dissolve the Union, to disregard the requisitions
of the President. Why do they not dissolve it themselves — the union between themselves and the
State — and refuse to pay their quota into its treasury? Do not they stand in the same relation to the
State that the State does to the Union? And have not the same reasons prevented the State from
resisting the Union which have prevented them from resisting the State?
1. Furnish (verb): to provide; to be a source of

2. zero
3. Penitent (adjective): feeling or expressing remorse for having done wrong
4. to whip as punishment
5. Requisition (noun): an official demand that some duty should be performed or something be put into operation
1
How can a man be satisfied to entertain an opinion merely, and enjoy it? Is there any enjoyment in it, if
his opinion is that he is aggrieved? If you are cheated out of a single dollar by your neighbor, you do
not rest satisfied with knowing that you are cheated, or with saying that you are cheated, or even with
petitioning him to pay you your due; but you take effectual steps at once to obtain the full amount, and
see that you are never cheated again. Action from principle, the perception and the performance of
right, changes things and relations; it is essentially revolutionary, and does not consist wholly with
anything which was. It not only divides States and churches, it divides families; ay, it divides the
individual, separating the diabolical in him from the divine.
Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey
6
them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once? Men generally, under such a
government as this, think that they ought to wait until they have persuaded the majority to alter them.
They think that, if they should resist, the remedy would be worse than the evil. But it is the fault of the
government itself that the remedy is worse than the evil. It makes it worse. Why is it not more apt to
anticipate and provide for reform? Why does it not cherish its wise minority? Why does it cry and resist
before it is hurt? Why does it not encourage its citizens to be on the alert to point out its faults, and do
7
better than it would have them? Why does it always crucify Christ, and excommunicate Copernicus
8
and Luther, and pronounce Washington and Franklin rebels?
[5] One would think, that a deliberate and practical denial of its authority was the only offence never
contemplated by government; else, why has it not assigned its definite, its suitable and proportionate,
9
penalty? If a man who has no property refuses but once to earn nine shillings for the State, he is put in
prison for a period unlimited by any law that I know, and determined only by the discretion of those
who placed him there; but if he should steal ninety times nine shillings from the State, he is soon
permitted to go at large again.
If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go:
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perchance it will wear smooth — certainly the machine will wear out. If the injustice has a spring, or a
pulley, or a rope, or a crank, exclusively for itself, then perhaps you may consider whether the remedy
will not be worse than the evil; but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of
injustice to another, then, I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine.
What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn.
6. Transgress (verb): to infringe or go beyond the bounds of a moral principle or other established behavior
7. Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance-era mathematician and astronomer whose work generated only mild
controversy during his lifetime.
8. Martin Luther was a German professor of theology, priest, and monk whose rejection of several practices of the
Catholic Church led to his development of the Ninety-five Theses and, subsequently, his excommunication by Pope
Leo X.
9. a former British monetary unit equal to one-twentieth of a pound
10. perhaps
2
As for adopting the ways which the State has provided for remedying the evil, I know not of such ways.
They take too much time, and a man’s life will be gone. I have other affairs to attend to. I came into this
world, not chiefly to make this a good place to live in, but to live in it, be it good or bad. A man has not
everything to do, but something; and because he cannot do everything, it is not necessary that he
should do something wrong. It is not my business to be petitioning the Governor or the Legislature any
more than it is theirs to petition me; and if they should not bear my petition, what should I do then?
But in this case the State has provided no way: its very Constitution is the evil. This may seem to be
11
harsh and stubborn and unconciliatory; but it is to treat with the utmost kindness and consideration
the only spirit that can appreciate or deserves it. So is all change for the better, like birth and death,
which convulse the body.
I do not hesitate to say, that those who call themselves Abolitionists should at once effectually
withdraw their support, both in person and property, from the government of Massachusetts, and not
wait till they constitute a majority of one, before they suffer the right to prevail through them. I think
that it is enough if they have God on their side, without waiting for that other one. Moreover, any man
more right than his neighbors constitutes a majority of one already.
“Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau (1849) is in the public domain.
11. not intended or likely to placate or pacify

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What does Thoreau believe individuals can do to create change?

What are Thoreau's views on obeying unjust laws?

Name: Class:

Excerpt from “Civil Disobedience”

[1] It is not a man’s duty, as a matter of course, to

1. Furnish (verb): to provide; to be a source of

“Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau (1849) is in the public domain.

11. not intended or likely to placate or pacify

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