America was formed on the ideal of personal freedom and a democratic government by and for the people. The country was formed with the intent of its citizens to be able to posses the ability to address the government for grievance. Our original fathers: Adams, Jefferson, and Washington were branded as traitors when they spoke out against their native country. They were labeled as revolutionaries and renegades for something that Americans today take for granted. Those men were the first generation in a long line of brave individuals who stood up to an oppressive government that refused to work for the majority of its people. Our founding fathers showed us how vital and important it is to address the government that has failed its citizens. These men were the first to implement "Civil Disobedience", which would be later coined by Henry David Thoreau. "Civil Disobedience" has become the backbone to America's values and beliefs of freedom. From the youth protest of Vietnam and the establishment, to the emotionally driven Civil Rights movement led by the guidance of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Anne Moody, "Civil Disobedience" has rang out clear all across our country throughout our nation's existence in social protest. "Civil Disobedience" has been the main driving force behind all of the great movements of the last century, but lately the involvement of America's citizens in social protest has become lax. Many of America's citizens have lost the spirit that has created a better country for everyone. Most Americans have been lost in the idea of material wealth and are blinded to the things that happen everyday around them.
Henry David Thoreau conforms to the concept "that a government is best which governs least" (Thoreau 481). But many believe "that government is best which governs not at all" (Thoreau 481). A government in which does not govern at all would likely be the most flexible to the people's will.
