SparkNotes: Civil Disobedience: Review Quiz

What was Thoreau's view on slavery?

(A) Slavery was a necessary evil given the American economy.

(B) Slavery must be preserved because it is protected in the American Constitution.

(C) Slavery is morally desirable because of the inherent inferiority of blacks.

(D) Slavery is a moral evil that should be eliminated.

What was Thoreau's primary act of civil disobedience in his own life?

(A) Public rallies and protests

(B) Refusal to pay taxes

(C) Destruction of public property

(D) All of the above

Which of the following government activities did Thoreau NOT object to?

(A) The elimination of tariffs

(B) The war with Mexico

(C) The protection of slavery

(D) None of the above

What was Thoreau's opinion on the "right" to rebel against one's government?

(A) There is never a right of revolution because the government's power is sovereign and absolute.

(B) There is a right to revolution against injustice, and this revolution would be acceptable against the contemporary United States.

(C) There is a right to revolution when facing extreme injustice, but the United States does not fit this description.

(D) Since government is always an evil, there is a constant obligation to revolt against the state and society.

Where did Thoreau write Civil Disobedience?

(A) Massachusetts

(B) Georgia

(C) England

(D) New York

Why does Thoreau say the majority rules in democracies?

(A) The majority is more likely to be correct.

(B) The majority is stronger than the minority.

(C) To grant the desires of the majority is the only fair way of conducting government.

(D) None of the above

What are a person's duties regarding injustice, according to Thoreau?

(A) One must work to eliminate all wrongs.

(B) One must start a political campaign to reform society.

(C) One must refuse to support something that is wrong.

(D) One has no duties.

In Thoreau's opinion, what is the appropriate way to respond to unjust laws?

(A) One must be content to obey them.

(B) One must try to change the laws but obey them until they're changed.

(C) One must obey them as long as it is politically expedient.

(D) One must disobey the laws at once.

Which of the following measures does Thoreau NOT suggest to minimize the personal costs of civil disobedience?

(A) Don't accumulate private property.

(B) Be self-sufficient.

(C) Amass important political connections.

(D) Live within yourself.

What does Thoreau call on Abolitionists to do?

(A) Stop paying taxes or supporting the Massachusetts government in any way

(B) Increase the number of anti-slavery petitions to Congress

(C) Campaign for anti-slavery candidates

(D) Send missionaries to the South to convince slaveholders to change their ways

Which does Thoreau say is more important: the need to be an honest individual or the need to be a responsible citizen?

(A) Neither the need to be an individual nor the need to be a citizen is very important,

(B) The need to be an individual and the need to be a ciitizen are equally vital and must be balanced according to circumstance,

(C) A person should be a citizen first and an individual second.

(D) A person should be an individual first and a citizen second.

What does Thoreau use as a metaphor for government?

(A) A ship

(B) A machine

(C) A train

(D) A lighthouse

Which politician does Thoreau criticize in his essay?

(A) Thomas Jefferson

(B) John C. Calhoun

(C) Abraham Lincoln

(D) Daniel Webster

What does Thoreau say he learned from his night in jail?

(A) He gained a new view of his town.

(B) He realized that the State is ultimately weak.

(C) He realized that his neighbors were only friends during good times.

(D) All of the above

What does Thoreau mean when he says he refuses to sit on another man's shoulders?

(A) He refuses to support inequality.

(B) He refuses to benefit from injustice directed toward others.

(C) He refuses to read traditional literature.

(D) He refuses to perform in the circus.

Why is Thoreau impatient with politicians?

(A) They can't look critically at political institutions.

(B) There have not been any Americans with legislative genius.

(C) They forget that the world isn't ruled by policy and expediency.

(D) All of the above

For what other work is Thoreau famous?

(A) Walden

(B) Utilitarianism

(C) Self-Reliance

(D) The Federalist Papers

When did Thoreau publish Civil Disobedience?

(A) 1780

(B) 1873

(C) 1849

(D) 1900

Which philosopher does Thoreau quote in his essay?

(A) Immanuel Kant

(B) Confucius

(C) Thomas Hobbes

(D) Ralph Waldo Emerson

Which philosophy is Thoreau most closely associated with?

(A) Transcendentalism

(B) Utilitarianism

(C) Empiricism

(D) Pragmatism

What kind of a state does Thoreau imagine at the end of his essay?

(A) One that enforces conformity to Thoreau's values

(B) One that respects the individual and will even allow people to live independently of the state

(C) One that will increase the power of government in order to promote social justice

(D) One that will expand the United State's territory as part of its Manifest Destiny

How does Thoreau describe his attitude toward his government in Civil Disobedience?

(A) He looks for reasons to obey its laws.

(B) The government doesn't concern him very much.

(C) He avoids thinking about the government.

(D) All of the above

Why does Thoreau say it costs him less to disobey the law than to obey it?

(A) He would feel ashamed if he became rich under an unjust state.

(B) With the revenue from writing Civil Disobedience, he will make a lot of money.

(C) Disobeying the law doesn't have a very serious impact on his quality of life.

(D) He saves a lot of money by not paying taxes.

Which of the following leaders did Thoreau's essay have the greatest impact on?

(A) Malcolm X

(B) Joseph Stalin

(C) Richard Nixon

(D) Mahatma Gandhi

Why doesn't Thoreau value voting?

(A) Most elections are corrupt.

(B) The country would be better off with an absolute ruler.

(C) Voting leaves justice to the chance of a majority vote.

(D) None of the above