Civil Disobedience
why did thoreau not pay his poll tax and was was his punishment?
punishment
punishment
Thoreau believed this poll tax supported the Mexican-American war and, by extension, the expansion of slavery into the Southwest. Thoreau went to jail but a woman, reported to be his aunt, promptly paid Thoreau's taxes and Thoreau was let out the next morning. Apparently, he did not want to leave jail.