Henry David Thoreau was an American essayist, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, and historian, two of his greatest works are: "Resistance to Civil Government" (also known as "Civil Disobedience") and "The Mask of Anarchy". His ideals can be summarized by this statement: “the Government should not have more power than the bestowed by its citizens”.
Henry David Thoreau was even imprisoned for refusing to pay taxes in protest for the Mexican-American War and the slavery.
Thoreau was an idealist; he opposed the oppression and tyranny from the government and I think that more people like him should exist for we need more free thinkers to defend the common citizen from the oppressive government we sometimes have.
Thoreau doubts the effectiveness of reform within the government, and he argues that voting and petitioning for change achieves little. He presents his own experiences as a model for how to relate to an unjust government: In protest of slavery.
The statement that best describes Thoreau’s views on petitioning the government to effect change might be this one:
<em>"government should be based on conscience and that citizens should cease associating with an unjust government."</em>
