I have paid no poll tax in six years. I was put into a jail once on this account, for one night. -Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience, 1849 Use the except to answer the following question. How did Thoreau justify this act of civil disobedience?
Thoreau justified his act of civil disobedience by stating that he did not believe in supporting a government that he deemed unjust. He believed that the poll tax was used to fund immoral practices such as slavery and the Mexican-American War. Thoreau argued that it was his duty as an individual to take a stand against these injustices by refusing to financially contribute to the government through tax payment.
