1. Civil Disobedience
Henry David Thoreau

2. Warm-Up
Think of groups who have been discriminated against throughout history.
Why do some people obey laws without asking if the laws are just or unjust?
What does the term “Civil Disobedience” mean to you? Can you think of any examples of civil disobedience?

3. Civil Disobedience
Only unlawful non-violent protests are considered civil disobedience.
Violent actions are not civil disobedience, even when fighting against unjust or immoral laws
Public protests intended to serve broad public interest, not individual self interest

4. Non-violent Movements
Indian Independence
Civil Rights
Anti-Vietnam War
Occupy Wall Street

5. Henry David Thoreau 1817-1862 Essayist, poet, Transcendentalist
Went to Harvard
Went to chapel in a green coat “because the rules required black”
Wrote Walden and “Civil Disobedience”
Refused to pay his poll tax
Lived on Emerson’s property near Walden Pond for two years.

6. Civil Disobedience Thoreau questions the government’s right to :
Tell him what to do
Tax him, especially when the taxes were for policies with which he disagreed
In 1846 Thoreau put his beliefs into action by refusing to pay his poll taxes
For this passive resistance, Thoreau spent one night in jail