Civil Disobedience

     
In today's society, there can be much corruption and disorder in the government. There are constant disagreements, feuds, and wars that occur between people and countries. Thoreau made note of this and explained that when the government rules by majority and not what is right, the other side is not being seen or heard and this leads to disaster. The other problem with this situation is that anyone who disagrees with how the government rules, is treated as an enemy. Instead, Thoreau believes that people should oppose the immoral wrongdoings and stand up for what they believe in, regardless of the consequences. Thoreau also made it clear that his idea of an effective government is one that governs the least. This means, not intervening in people's affairs and acting as a facilitator or mediator in those situations. This is a huge problem in today's government because, our president decides to intervene in foreign affairs even though past presidents have warned us not to. Ultimately, Thoreau's biggest value of a government, is to treat individuals equally and with respect and this is something that we still struggle with today.



The Mexican War occurred from 1846-1848 in a fight between the United States and Mexico. The war started after Polk was elected and there were many things that led up to the fight. The first cause was the western expansion of the United States and the idea of annexing Texas. While Texas was independent, the U.S. would not annex the state and Mexico also warned the states that if they tried to annex Texas at all that they would engage in war starting with border raids. The second cause was Polk ignoring Mexico's wishes and going ahead with the annexation of Texas. Polk occupied Texas and not only that, he tried to arrange a deal with Mexico where he would also occupy many states, (Oregan, New Mexico, California, etc.) that were already under Mexico's control. When Mexico rejected his proposition, Polk moved troops to a disputed zone that was technically a part of Mexico. He did not actually make any call to attack, but a Mexican cavalry attacked the U.S. anyway which finally began the war. The aftermath resulted in the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo which granted the annexation of Texas and Mexico agreed to sell California and the rest of of its northern territory.

               

When it comes to Thoreau's view of the government, Polk and his presidential body disregarded what Thoreau said to do. When Polk brought up his idea to occupy Texas and other Mexican territory, the house was split and resulted in a majority rule, which Thoreau disagreed with. One party did not think Polk had reasonable cause to take territory from Mexico and did not think that Polk was thinking about how the relations between the two sides would be effected. The other party supported Polk's conquest and believed that he was wise to continue expansion. Ultimately, the U.S. went to war divided and even though we were victorious, there were still tensions between Mexico and the U.S.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHO680fUhAQ