Thoreau uses the Mexican-American War as an example of civil disobedience in government. He claims that the will of the people is no longer a priority for the government. Since governments support slavery and its practice of aggressive warfare. Thoreau states that this fits his criteria for an unjust government. After six years of Thoreau not paying his taxes, that is, no longer participating in the institution, he was arrested. He did not pay his taxes because he believed the poll tax supported the Mexican-American War and the expansion of slavery in the West. However, it was discovered that the poll tax had nothing directly to do with war credits. After being released from prison, he wanted to remain incarcerated to raise public awareness of the issues related to the crisis that followed..