Question

adapted excerpt from on the duty of civil disobedience by henry david thoreau thoreau wrote this influential essay in 1849 because he was disgusted with the us governments refusal to end slavery and with its participation in the mexican - american war. the practical reason why a majority are permitted to rule is not because they are most likely to be in the right, but because they are physically the strongest. can there not be a government in which the majorities do not decide right and wrong, but conscience? - in which majorities decide only those questions to which the rule of expediency is applicable? why has every man a conscience, then? it is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. the only obligation i have is to do at any time what i think right. how does it become a man to behave toward the american government today? i answer that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it. i cannot for an instant recognize that political organization as my government which is the slaves government also. all men recognize the right to resist the government when its tyranny or its imbecility are great and unendurable. but almost all say that such is not the case now. but such was the case, they think, in the revolution of 1775. if one were to tell me that this was a bad government because it taxed certain foreign commodities brought to its ports, it is most probable that i should not make an ado about it, for i can do without them. but when a sixth of the population of a nation are slaves, and a whole country is unjustly overrun and conquered by a foreign army, i think that it is not too soon for honest men to revolutionize. what makes this duty the more 3 select the correct answer. which statement summarizes thoreaus rebuttal to a counter - argument he mentions in the excerpt? a. people should not help to stop rebellions in the south or fight in mexico. b. now is not the time to resist the government, because it is not behaving tyrannically. c. it is the duty of every american to right any wrong they see in their government. d. there is more reason to rebel against the government now than there was in 1775.

Explanation:

Thoreau believed in the duty to right wrongs in government. He was critical of the US government's actions regarding slavery and the Mexican - American War. He thought citizens should act according to their conscience when the government is in the wrong. Option C reflects this idea that it is the duty of every American to right wrongs in the government.

Answer:

C. It is the duty of every American to right any wrong they see in their government