How does Thoreau weigh his imprisonment Henry David Thoreau viewed his night in jail as a moral test not a punishment In Civil Disobedience he describes the event calmly and thoughtfully His imprisonment helped him understand the real nature of government justice and freedom Calm Acceptance Thoreau was jailed for refusing to pay the poll tax that supported slavery and war Yet he did not feel guilty or afraid He wrote Under a government which imprisons any unjustly the true place for a just man is also a prison For him prison was a badge of honor not shame Discovery of True Freedom Inside the cell Thoreau felt freer than his townsmen outside The State could punish his body but not his spirit He said I was not born to be forced I will breathe after my own fashion The thick prison walls only showed him how weak the State