Assignment #7
"The mass of men serve the state thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies. They are the standing army; and the militia, jailers, constables, posse comitatus, etc. In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgement of the moral sense; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well. Such command no more respect than men of straw or a lump of dirt. They have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs. Yet such as these even are commonly esteemed good citizens" 

 What this passage is stating is that the men who are serving the state are being used as tools. They are not desired for their brains, only for their body because their body can be shaped and molded into what ever weapon the state needs for that time. The author goes as far as to compare them to materials for building such as wood or stones this is because these materials are easily manipulated. So men who serve the state basically serve the same purpose. They are what ever they are needed to be for the time and the basically are the backbone of the state. They do these things not for any sort of glory or acknowledgement its actually the opposite. They are regarded as lesser men for being nothing but tools, dogs of the state.


Part I







Benjamin Lay, a Quaker strongly opposed slavery. He saw it as a crime unforgivable by god. This is because he believes that god created all men to be equal so if they are equal why are some men slaves while others are free. This can be related to what Thoreau believes because he believes in civil disobedience so he would support the claims of the Quaker and goes so far as to tell them to challenge the in-just system, in a nonviolent peaceful way.






Harriet Tubman could be considered a patriot by many. This is because she risked her life innumerable amounts of times and face immeasurable odds to help save her fellow slave. She escaped slavery and she could have thought of only her self and sought refuge somewhere safe but no. She thought of those who were still in bondage and she wanted to save as many people as she could. This takes Thoreau's idea and expands it because not only was she disobeying the government but she was basically stealing the property of slave owners and cutting them loose. She embodied civil disobedience and was a hero and the Moses of the slaves.

 Part II


John Brown was a man who held 21 men, 6 slaves and 15 white men on raid of a federal armory. he did this in order to lead an armed insurrection throughout the south in order to free slaves. Thoreau's idea's were blown greatly out of proportion here. He would not have been okay with leading an armed insurrection even though its end results could prove to be fruitful. He would have wanted a less violent aprroach, bloodshed should be a last option if one at all.