Henry David Thoreau, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Frederick Douglass

Carllene Brooks
March 18, 2016
Professor M
Politics


Task: Summarize the three articles



         Paul Wellstone once said, " Politics is not about power". This quote means that when studying the art of politics, it doesn't mean you are trying to learn the ropes of obtaining the most power. Politics in my opinion is a term used when someone is trying to understand the ropes of trying to make the government as well as our nation a better place. If I had to rephrase the quote I would say politics is about understanding the government and the rules that apply to it.
     To begin with, for this weeks blog, we read three different articles from three different historical figures. The first article was from Henry David Thoreau called " Civil Disobedience, 1848". In his speech he proposed that one's conscience should focus over the way the laws are being dictated. He goes on to criticize Americans social institutions and their polices. Throughout his speech Thoreau addresses some valid points that many politicians and government officials would often ignore. For example: He argued that the government rarely proves itself useful and that it derives its power from the majority because they aren't the strongest group. This statement goes for how today's government is run as well. Whenever an issue arises, the government is sometimes hesitant on fixing the problems ( depending on the severity of the problem). Thoreau is a strong believer in honesty and on effective ways of helping American citizens. He feels that when a government is not honest, the people should refuse to follow the law and distance themselves from the government in general. I think Thoreau's ideas are similar to that of some of the candidates in the presidential race. Primarily similar to the ideas of Donald Trump. Trump is a strong believer in eliminating negativity and focusing on how we as a nation can come to together and be more self sufficient and not worry about irrelevant factors.  One statement that Thoreau resonated with me was " A person is not obligated to devote his life to eliminating evils from the world, but he is obligated not to participate in such evil". ( www.sparknotes.com) Basically Thoreau is saying that no man or woman for that matter is obligated to devote their energy to the corruptness or evils that are occurring around the world. However he goes on to say that we have the choice on whether or not we want to participate in such evil behaviors.  Not only does he propose that we aren't obligated to participate in such evils, but he also dissociates himself from the government and refused to participate in his institutions. This means that he removes himself from a situation if he feels that the government is up to no good.
     Meanwhile, in Elizabeth Cady Stanton's " Declaration of Rights and Sentiments, 1848",  was created around the same time as the women's rights convention. Stanton's rendition of he Declaration was similar to the ideas of the original American Declaration of Independence. The sentiments demanded equality with men before the law in education and employment. Her speech was geared toward men allowing women the equality rights for obtaining employment opportunities as well as educational. According to www.infoplease.com, their were two statements  that really caught my attention. The first statement was " He denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education, all colleges being closed against her". This statement is solely focused on equal educational opportunities for women.  During the 18th century women weren't allowed to continue their education; due to the fact that the school district was predominately run by men. However eventually with the publishing of Stanton's speech, the issue was later resolved.  The solution was " That the equality of human rights results necessarily from the fact of the identity of the race in capabilities and responsibilities.  This means that human rights was based on your gender. Being male or female during these times really made a difference as far as equality in employment, education, as well as social status.
     In like manner, the last speech that we analyzed was Frederick Douglass' " A Lecture on the Anti- S;avery Movement 1855." This speech was an inspiring story because he really went through a lot of hardships during his youthful life. When he escaped slavey, he became one of the leaders of the anti slavery movement. His main goal in his speech was to obtain the natural rights for citizens to be equal and to put an end to racial inequality. One thing that many did't know was that Douglass' gave his anti slavery speech to a group of women. During this time, many women in the north were working together to put an end to slavery. One step they took was by joining reform groups were they learned the knowledge of organizing political skills and establishing social networks. ( for example: protests, articles in the newspaper and giving speeches. )
    In closing, we can see that the three different perspectives seen in these speeches all relate to one thing: which is obtaining equality as a natural American citizen.