Rhetorical Analysis On Civil Disobedience

As an individual, Henry David Thoreau prioritized his own conscience over the beliefs of others. He believed that majority rule was an ineffective form of governing since the majority was not always correct, and he believed man comes before government. In hopes of persuading others to see the faults in majority rule, he discussed it in his writing called Civil Disobedience.

Thoreau was a rebel and proposed the idea of civil disobedience as one of his tactics to ensure that everyone only supported what they believed was right. His rebellious tendencies were destined to make him oppose any form of government in which each individual voice was not represented. Due to his belief that the majority was not always correct since only certain opinions were accounted for, Thoreau believed their power had come from another source, their large numbers. He wrote, After all, the practical reason why, when the power is once in the hands of the people, a majority are permitted, and for a long period continue, to rule is not because they are most likely to be in the right, nor because this seems fairest to the minority, but because they are physically the strongest. The dismissal of so many opinions and beliefs in

He wrote, 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. Thoreau’s statement asserted that if you believe something is right, it is your own responsibility to see that action carried out. By allowing your beliefs to be put into action through the mass majority you are not likely to see them done since large groups of people tend to lack high moral standards. Therefore, Thoreau approved of following your own conscience and acting upon what you believe is right, rather than leaving the actions up to the chance that the mass majority will side with