"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, &c. In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgment or 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 same 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." This means that the men or citizens serve the state, but not as men. Men being people with thoughts, a conscience, and ideas. But machines and wooden men on the other hand do not have these characteristics. Horses and dogs do not have the privilege to hold the characteristics of men either. These animals are used by ones higher than themselves and commanded to do chores without a thought or a question. The machines, wooden men, and

animals are used in comparison to the men that serve the State. "A wise man will only be useful as a man. And will not submit to be 'clay,' and 'stop a hole to keep the wind away.'" The key term in this phrase would be "MAN". Which is singular and meaning only one person. "Clay" in this phrase means a whole bunch, put together to create something else. Also, meaning that it would be molded by a higher authority and the small piece of clay, or man, would not have a say in the production or the outcome of the situations. (224)

"Unjust laws exist; shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded , or shall we transgress them at once? Men generally, under such a government as this, think that they ought to wait until they have persuaded the majority to alter them. They think that, if they should resist, the remedy would be worse than the evil. But it is the fault of the government itself that the remedy is worse than the evil. It makes it worse." (228-299) This paragraph states that the majority of people do not speak out, instead they wait till they have many people to back them up. Therefore, the government is not a good one because not many people try to better it. " Cast you whole vote, not a strip of paper merely, but your whole influence. A minority is powerless while it conforms to the majority; it is not even a minority then; but a irresistible when it clogs by its whole weight."(231) In this statement it is a message to the citizens. Telling them that they should not just cast a vote and not care enough to follow up and make sure what you believe in is heard.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1111
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)