A Plea For Captain John Brown

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Nicholas Baker Nature, Society and Self 09/25/2010 Summarize and Contrast In Thoreau’s essay “Civil Disobedience,” written in 1849, he explains that the real meaning of this is “disobedience of the state.” He feels that any person associated with the law is a disgrace. Much like the tax payers of Concord who care more about farming and agriculture then humanity are hypocrites for supporting Thoreau’s cause to ban slavery and stop the war against Mexico, when in fact they pay taxes to the state and government which directly helps pay for the war itself. He feels that the government is also responsible for many injustices because many government employees in fact change their positions on war and that it is “not too soon for honest men to rebel and revolutionize.” Thoreau explains that many people who do not support these laws also believe in the political way to change them, and continue to respect these laws until they are changed. He feels that the process of which is drawn out and that it may take years for laws to be changed, and that abolitionists should stand up for what they believe in and rebel against the constitution regardless of imprisonment. Thoreau was imprisoned after refusing to pay taxes, and says he felt free when he was jailed. More free then those on the outside. John Brown was an abolitionist and a prime example of what it means to employ democracy and refuse the government. “A Plea for Captain John Brown,” Thoreau writes in 1859 after the attack on Harper’s Ferry which left John Brown found guilty of murder and treason and eventually hung on December 2, 1859. Although many people see John Brown as a failure in his life, Thoreau views him as a man of great whit and courage. Thoreau wrote this essay in hopes to reconcile Brown’s reputation of being foolish and insane, and to refute any negative sayings about John Brown that the

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