In my classes recently we read an excerpt from Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau. The context was that James K. Polk was elected on the basis that slavery was great, that the Mexican American War was necessary, and that we should probably fight the British again for more land. Thoreau was part of the "wise minority" as he called it who was opposed, and his advocacy of nonviolent forms of protest (in his case, refusing to pay taxes) led to him being jailed. He also influenced MLK Jr and the Civil Rights movement. Polk was a popular rat, and Thoreau stood in opposition to him then and also influenced this incredible movement over 100 years later. We don't know what kind of impact we might have.
I feel like I didn’t quite make my point. What I was trying to describe was how things were really bad under Polk, and Thoreau took action against the prevailing ideas of the day, and his impact was way more lasting.
Love this. It cut you off at the end! I wanna hear the rest of what you had to say! I see all up to “we don’t know what kind of…”
In my classes recently we read an excerpt from Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau. The context was that James K. Polk was elected on the basis that slavery was great, that the Mexican American War was necessary, and that we should probably fight the British again for more land. Thoreau was part of the "wise minority" as he called it who was opposed, and his advocacy of nonviolent forms of protest (in his case, refusing to pay taxes) led to him being jailed. He also influenced MLK Jr and the Civil Rights movement. Polk was a popular rat, and Thoreau stood in opposition to him then and also influenced this incredible movement over 100 years later. We don't know what kind of impact we might have.
Okay I see it now! We don’t know what kind of impact we might have. So true!
I feel like I didn’t quite make my point. What I was trying to describe was how things were really bad under Polk, and Thoreau took action against the prevailing ideas of the day, and his impact was way more lasting.