A Disobedient Civilian During a Controversial War

By Maya Jimenez

Henry David Thoreau once stated, “The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at
any time what I think right.” Such words have been applied to many situations from when it was written
until now. The essay that these words appeared in has been the inspiration for many peaceful movements
and drives towards change. However, have you ever wondered what the author’s motive was for writing
it? In Mr. Thoreau’s essay, Civil Disobedience, there are key parallels to identify within the Mexican
American war as well as its ever present relevance.

Recall what you know about the Mexican American war. The United States obtained massive
amounts of land that had been formerly owned by Mexico, there was a treaty, and now we have borders.
What else is there to learn? Well, a lot. Not many people supported this war. In fact, many anti-war
movements ignited during this time period. Why? Because of ulterior motives provoked by the U.S
government. There were two main beliefs. Some believed that the U.S government wanted the land to
expand slave territory. Texas had previously legalised slavery when it became apart of the United States.
Others believed that it was because of “manifest destiny”, that it was the U.S’s destiny to expand towards
the west due to the purchase of Louisiana and other land. There might have been better economic and
land opportunities in the land westward. Some believed both. Anti-war individuals not only blamed the
U.S government of provoking the war, but individuals that were for the war themselves. They believed in
separate things as well. The greatness of the United States, the superiority of Americans to Mexican and
Native Americans, and the utilization of land were some of the few major excuses for war. As stated in a
passage in Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, “United States would be giving the
blessings of liberty and democracy to more people. This was intermingled with ideas of racial superiority
longings for the beautiful lands of New Mexico and California, and thoughts of commercial enterprise
across the Pacific.”

However, there were people such as Henry David Thoreau that thought of a bigger, underlying
issue. He wrote the foundational piece of work, Civil Disobedience, while experiencing the heat of the
Mexican American war. He protested the war by refusing to pay taxes that would ultimately fund the very
war he didn’t want to happen. When he left he realized that the government had hidden important facts
from the people and thus wrote the essay in defiance.

While in jail, Thoreau recognized that although people disagreed with the war, they hadn’t done
any action besides voicing their opinions. “They will wait, well disposed, for others to remedy the evil,
that they may no longer have it to regret,” he states. He believed that although the war had won the
majority of a vote among Congress, this did not mean individuals had to give in.They should very well
exercise independent though on the premise of reason. It states in our very constitution that, “whenever
any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to
abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its
powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” This was his
reasoning that speaking up for what an individual’s consionese knows is right backed up by reasoning it
the most patriotic thing an American can do.
 In the essay, Mr. Thoreau explains in detail his experience with representative democracy, in other
words a government in which the people elect officials to run the country on their behalf. However,
Thoreau writes, “A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail
through the power of the majority. There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men.” In the case of
the Mexican-American war, officials enacted the war through a series of instigated events caused by the
U.S. James Polk, the president at the time, urged troops to march into Mexican territory near the newly
annexed Texas. The actions that followed provoked what would become Polk’s argument for declaring
war. Polk’s message to congress after the igniting battle was, “Mexico has passed the boundary of the
United States, has invaded our territory and shed American blood upon the American soil…” The war
commenced thanks to his unsupported evidence for cause for war, uncertainty of facts, and the desire to
possess California for the U.S Thoreau recognised this and called to action within the essay stating that an
individual should be the basis and core of the country.

In conclusion, William David Thoreau’s essay thoroughly describes not only the faults in
representative democracy, but in those who uphold it, give in, and “wait, well disposed, for others to
remedy the evil, that they may no longer have it to regret.” In all, he what he wants us to understand can
be best said in his own words.“There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State
comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and
authority are derived, and treats him accordingly.” We must take it upon ourselves to make this true. From
the Civil Rights Movement, to the increasing rise of political and social awareness in today’s society, Mr.
Thoreau’s essay will have ever-present wisdom.

Resources:

Bailey, Tim. “The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.” The Mexican-American War: Arguments for and against
Going to War | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, www.gilderlehrman.org/content/mexican-american-war-
arguments-and-against-going-war.

Shmoop Editorial Team. “Ideology in Manifest Destiny & Mexican-American War.” Shmoop, Shmoop University, 11 Nov. 2008,
www.shmoop.com/manifest-destiny-mexican-american-war/ideology.html.

“THE Opposing Viewpoints.” The Opposing Viewpoints, umich.edu/~ac213/student_projects06/magsylje/viewpoints.html.

Wandrei, Kevin. “American Citizens Who Spoke Out Against the Mexican War.” Synonym, 21 Nov. 2017,
classroom.synonym.com/american-citizens-spoke-out-against-mexican-war-21010.html.

“What Is a Representative Democracy?” History, 25 May 2017, www.historyonthenet.com/what-is-a-representative-democracy/.

“Civil Disobedience and Henry David Thoreau” School Life Channel, director. Https://Www.youtube.com/Watch?v=gugnXTN6-
D4. YouTube, YouTube, 27 Jan. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=gugnXTN6-D4.

“Henry David Thoreau.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 24 July 2017, www.biography.com/people/henry-david-
thoreau-9506784.

Thoreau, Henry. Civil Disobedience. Civil Disobedience, 1849.

Important Quotes:
“Why has every man a conscience, then?
“In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense; but
they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps
be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well.”
“In other words, when 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, I think that it is not too soon for honest men to rebel and
revolutionize.”
A minority is powerless while it conforms to the majority; it is not even a minority then; but it is
irresistible when it clogs by its whole weight.
“Absolutely speaking, the more money, the less virtue; for money comes between a man and his
objects, and obtains them for him; and it was certainly no great virtue to obtain it.”
“I saw that, if there was a wall of stone between me and my townsmen, there was a still more
difficult one to climb or break through before they could get to be as free as I was.”
“I perceive that, when an acorn and a chestnut fall side by side, the one does not remain inert to
make way for the other, but both obey their own laws, and spring and grow and flourish as best
they can, till one, perchance, overshadows and destroys the other. If a plant cannot live
according to its nature, it dies; and so a man.”
“Even the Chinese philosopher was wise enough to regard the individual as the basis of the
empire.”Important points:
If you want action you need to do it yourself
If you want change, then don’t just talk-do
Relates his experiences of being in jail for not paying taxes