LITR 4232 American Renaissance 2010 final exam—Answers to Question A2

Mary Price

Passively Resisting Unjust Governments

          Passive resistance, as seen in Thoreau’s Resistance to Civil Government and Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, refers to a non-violent approach to resisting authority, generally the authority of the State or similar institution (Dr. White’s web-links). In these literary examples, the reader meets people who have a strong opposition to the way in which the unjust system of government intervenes in their lives. The prevailing complaint in both pieces is the institution of slavery. Neither Thoreau nor Stowe’s more honorable characters want to support a government that allows the slave trade to continue its brutal treatment of human beings as personal property that can be bought and sold. Both Thoreau and Stowe use their writing to show the injustices which the heads of state allow and show that anybody can use non-violent means to protest something which goes against one’s conscience.

          Thoreau takes the motto “that government is best which governs least” one step further and claims “that government is best which governs not at all.” Government is at best a convenience, but more often than not an inconvenience, and the American people get along much better when the State decides to move out of their way. Thoreau had no respect for the American government as it was at the time of his writing, pre-Civil War era. As he opposed the war on Mexico and slavery, he did not want to support the government in any way, shape, or form. He lived a life of “voluntary simplicity” in order to “reduce social and economic pressure” (Dr. White’s link). The fewer possessions, the fewer taxes one has to pay. If one wants does not want to rely on an unjust government, one lives outside the bounds of the law to the fullest extent possible.

Thoreau asks his audience, “unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?” He did everything he could during his life to disobey any law which he considered immoral and “transgress them at once.” He practiced passive resistance to the point where it nearly became active. Thoreau refused to pay taxes, and because of this, he even spent a night in jail. In the course of history, those who use passive resistance or civil disobedience to promote change must be willing to suffer the consequences. Thoreau was more than willing and marched almost happily into jail. Those who jailed him “treated me as if I were mere flesh and blood and bones, to be locked up.” Thoreau does not define himself by his bodily limitations, but transcends the flesh and views his worth as the ideals which he represents and attempts to promote.

The Quakers in Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin also practice civil disobedience when they choose to house runaway slaves. In chapter 13, Simeon Jr. asks his father, a devout Quaker opposed to slavery, what he will do if it is discovered that he helps slaves. His father replies with a smile that he will simply pay his fine and, if necessary, go to jail. The Quakers refuse to abandon their morality in favor of obeying the law, a law which supports the inhumane treatment of slaves, though they are people just the same as everyone else. One of the major tenets of Christianity is to love thy neighbor and treat others as you would want to be treated. The institution of slavery completely opposes this idea, yet the American government allowed the persecution of an entire race of people. The Quakers stood up for what their beliefs, and helped those that needed it, regardless of the law.

Even though Tom obeyed his masters and did as he was told, he quietly resisted and waited for the day when God would deliver him from his bondage. Towards the end of the novel, as Master Legree ruthlessly beats him, Tom assures him “as ye bought me, I'll be a true and faithful servant to ye. I'll give ye all the work of my hands, all my time, all my strength; but my soul I won't give up to mortal man.” Tom is a hard worker and an honest man, and only disobeyed Legree when he asked him to do something that involved cruelty towards another person. Tom exemplifies passive resistance and civil disobedience, for he quietly does as he is told until his morality is threatened. Then, no matter the consequences, he does what he believes is right. Like Thoreau, Tom transcends the flesh and blood of his body and understands that the soul is what makes a person who they are.

Through these texts, one can gain a deeper understanding of the concepts of passive resistance and civil disobedience. Most present-day Americans have heard of these phrases because of Gandhi’s influence in removing British rule from India (Dr. White’s link), but it can be difficult to see how they apply to us and our history.  By reading Thoreau, one glimpses a life dedicated to resisting government. He lives simply, trying not to acquire property or many possessions which the government can tax. Since he does not want to support the government, he certainly does not want the government to support him. Stowe shows how a higher calling provokes people to do the right thing, whether or not it lies in accordance with the law. Both writers illustrate different ways of resisting institutions which deviate from a moral code, and perhaps they can even inspire new generations to consider their own moral codes and the actions they need to take in order to live up to it.