Henry David Thoreau was extremely opposed to the Mexican War and refused to pay taxes by means of protesting slavery. He addresses his experiences and views on civil disobedience, which were also revisited almost a century later in John Steinbeck’s account of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, The Grapes of Wrath. This novel reflects Thoreau’s ideas about civil disobedience such as, less government involvement is better, people should make their own laws, and they should work together to fight injustice. One of Thoreau’s principle beliefs is that the less government is involved in community affairs, the better. He is in complete agreement with the claim that “government is best which governs least… [or] which governs not at all” (Thoreau …show more content…
With this theme comes the concept of morality, or what is right and wrong. Henry David Thoreau asks if there can be “a government in which majorities do not virtually decide right and wrong, but conscience” (Thoreau 1-2). He calls for government to not be based upon justice, but instead for the individual to decipher based on their own values. This method combats injustice more effectively because conscience is the most genuine part in the decision-making process. If people put their minds together, the combination of morals and values will make for a very just society. Steinbeck illustrates this same idea in Chapter 17 when he explains how “the twenty families became one family, the children were the children of all” (Steinbeck 264). As the migrant families merge together, they become capable of defying the government and fighting the injustices imposed upon them. Because they have created their own laws, they share morals and values and have a similar sense of right and wrong. This very idea is what Thoreau believes government should be like, a combination of consciences working together as a just governing body. Therefore, everyone could agree on rules and the people would play a bigger role in the functions of