Thoreau found guilty of treason
... was supporting the enemy in the Mexican war. The prosecutors called Mr. Emerson to the stand. As stated by Emerson, Thoreau lived on his land while he was at Walden Pond. Emerson went on to say that he rightfully votes and pays taxes as an American citizen, whereas Thoreau does not. Also, that the taxes which he pays do not only go to support the war, but also goes to make roads and such. Next, the Monahan Law firm called Samuel Staple to the stand. Staple, a friend of Thoreau and local tax collector, was forced to arrest because Thoreau wasn’t paying taxes. “I confronted Henry while he was outside of the cobblers, and he said he would never pay the taxes which led me to arrest him” Staple said. The Us government led the jury to believe that the taxes that were supposed to be paid by the defendant did not go only towards the war, but to help the status of the country. The defense, Mr. Thoreau, was represented by the MC Law firm. The defense stressed the fact that if there was a separate tax for roads, schools, etc. Mr. Thoreau would have rightfully paid them. To start off they called Mr. Thoreau himself to the stand. He admitted to not paying taxes but stated it was to support his free right as a citizen of the US. Thoreau said he didn’t support slavery, that he absolutely hated it. So if he paid his taxes then he would be supporting the war in Mexico which would ultimately be supporting slavery, which he was opposed to. After Mr. Thoreau’s testimony, the MC Law firm called Mr. Hugh Whelan to the bench. Whelan gave his testimony where one point was stressed, that Thoreau did not support Mexico, but at the same time did not support America either. While the court was at recess I got a chance to go one on one with Mr. Whelan. I asked if Mr. Thoreau ever talked about paying taxes, “Well, not direc...