Individualism vs. Collectivism

Henry Thoreau in "Civil Disobedience" repeatedly stresses the importance of individualism and how individual sovereignty will allow the machine of government to run frictionlessly. Thoreau writes that the basis of America is founded on individualism - those who practiced different religions made the decision to move to new land. It seems logical that the power of the individual moved pioneers across the Atlantic. This, however, is not entirely true; it was, instead a violation of the social contract that forced people to move. The social contract clearly states that when a government misuses its power the people are forced to either replace it or overthrow it. When England prosecuted individuals based off their religious background, the people decided to replace the corrupt government by creating their own in America. As the social contract is heavily based off of popular sovereignty, the direct opposite of individual sovereignty, the power of the individual is not the foundation on which America stands on. Rather, the social contract acts as the foundation of the United States, as it does for most other countries. Furthermore, Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence was largely based on popular sovereignty and the social contract:

"Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government."

Jefferson believed that the people's majority is the central ruling power of the government. The government acts as a servant to the people, and when the government begins to override the people's wishes, it is the people's duty to replace the government. Unlike individual sovereignty, popular sovereignty truly gives power to the people, allowing for a government that is both powerful yet malleable.