Thread for the Analysis of Henry David Thoreau's Writings
July 21, 2019 at 6:21 am
(This post was last modified: July 21, 2019 at 6:43 am by vulcanlogician.)
Anyone who is interested in Thoreau, this thread is for posting passages from his body of work so that the rest of us may discuss their meaning and truth value.
I'll start us off:
Thoreau was an unapologetic abolitionist "I was seized and put into jail, because, as I have elsewhere related, I did not pay a tax to, or recognize the authority of, the State
which buys and sells men, women, and children, like cattle, at the door of its senate-house." And so he was put into jail for refusing to pay his poll tax.
Why did he refuse to pay his poll tax? Well, for one thing, Massachusetts had passed a fugitive slave law. This law directed law enforcement to return escaped slaves back to their owners in the South. This meant that the taxes Thoreau paid were supporting slavery. Thoreau also thought that America's war with Mexico was unjust and ill-conceived. He realized that, in the final analysis, what was keeping things like slavery and unjust wars going was--in part-- his obedience. Thoreau points out that, by being normal everyday taxpayers, we are contributing to whatever injustice the state supports.
Thoreau wrote: "If a thousand men were not to pay their tax-bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood. This is, in fact, the definition of a peaceable revolution, if any such is possible."
Thoreau decided that he was no longer going to be a contributor to these evils. And because citizens are expected to pay their taxes, he was jailed.
Do yourself a favor and carefully read the passage below. It is Thoreau's reflection on society that he had within his jail cell.
One of the things that struck me here was: "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." Even though Thoreau was confined inside a jail cell, he considered himself more free than the townsmen outside of the cell. They obeyed. They participated in war and slavery even if (morally speaking) they opposed slavery. They were contributors... servants who were too afraid to say "No." Why? They didn't want to end up in a jail cell like Thoreau.
But Thoreau, even when confined inside "walls of solid stone" considered himself more free, because he acted freely, acted according to his principles. He disobeyed. Because, to him, obedience and compromise of one's principles is the real jail cell. If you break out of that jail cell, you are truly free.
***
So, I get that this thread isn't going to be everybody's cup of tea. If that's what's up with you, please go post in some other thread. I didn't want to get [Serious] here... but, by the same token, if you think this is a waste of time, please move along. However, if you think Thoreau is wrong about something, I'd love to hear people's objections.
***
I'm enthusiastic about passages people may post here. I look forward to Walden passages and stuff from Thoreau's journals.
I'll start us off:
Thoreau was an unapologetic abolitionist "I was seized and put into jail, because, as I have elsewhere related, I did not pay a tax to, or recognize the authority of, the State
which buys and sells men, women, and children, like cattle, at the door of its senate-house." And so he was put into jail for refusing to pay his poll tax.
Why did he refuse to pay his poll tax? Well, for one thing, Massachusetts had passed a fugitive slave law. This law directed law enforcement to return escaped slaves back to their owners in the South. This meant that the taxes Thoreau paid were supporting slavery. Thoreau also thought that America's war with Mexico was unjust and ill-conceived. He realized that, in the final analysis, what was keeping things like slavery and unjust wars going was--in part-- his obedience. Thoreau points out that, by being normal everyday taxpayers, we are contributing to whatever injustice the state supports.
Thoreau wrote: "If a thousand men were not to pay their tax-bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood. This is, in fact, the definition of a peaceable revolution, if any such is possible."
Thoreau decided that he was no longer going to be a contributor to these evils. And because citizens are expected to pay their taxes, he was jailed.
Do yourself a favor and carefully read the passage below. It is Thoreau's reflection on society that he had within his jail cell.
Quote:I have paid no poll-tax for six years. I was put into a jail once on this account, for one night; and, as I stood considering the walls of solid stone, two or three feet thick, the door of wood and iron, a foot thick, and the iron grating which strained the light, I could not help being struck with the foolishness of that institution which treated me as if I were mere flesh and blood and bones, to be locked up. I wondered that it should have concluded at length that this was the best use it could put me to, and had never thought to avail itself of my services in some way. 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 did not for a moment feel confined, and the walls seemed a great waste of stone and mortar. I felt as if I alone of all my townsmen had paid my tax. They plainly did not know how to treat me, but behaved like persons who are underbred. In every threat and in every compliment there was a blunder; for they thought that my chief desire was to stand the other side of that stone wall. I could not but smile to see how industriously they locked the door on my meditations, which followed them out again without let or hindrance, and they were really all that was dangerous. As they could not reach me, they had resolved to punish my body; just as boys, if they cannot come at some person against whom they have a spite, will abuse his dog. I saw that the State was half-witted, that it was timid as a lone woman with her silver spoons, and that it did not know its friends from its foes, and I lost all my remaining respect for it, and pitied it.https://www.gutenberg.org/files/71/71-h/71-h.htm
One of the things that struck me here was: "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." Even though Thoreau was confined inside a jail cell, he considered himself more free than the townsmen outside of the cell. They obeyed. They participated in war and slavery even if (morally speaking) they opposed slavery. They were contributors... servants who were too afraid to say "No." Why? They didn't want to end up in a jail cell like Thoreau.
But Thoreau, even when confined inside "walls of solid stone" considered himself more free, because he acted freely, acted according to his principles. He disobeyed. Because, to him, obedience and compromise of one's principles is the real jail cell. If you break out of that jail cell, you are truly free.
***
So, I get that this thread isn't going to be everybody's cup of tea. If that's what's up with you, please go post in some other thread. I didn't want to get [Serious] here... but, by the same token, if you think this is a waste of time, please move along. However, if you think Thoreau is wrong about something, I'd love to hear people's objections.
***
I'm enthusiastic about passages people may post here. I look forward to Walden passages and stuff from Thoreau's journals.
