Resistance to Civil Government, also called On the Duty of Civil Disobedience or Civil Disobedience for short, is an essay by American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau that was first published in 1849. In it, Thoreau argues that individuals should not permit governments to overrule or atrophy their consciences, and that they have a duty to avoid allowing such acquiescence to enable the government to make them the agents of injustice. Thoreau was motivated in part by his disgust with slavery and the Mexican–American War (1846–1848).
Thoreau seems to be one of those people that I could probably agree with but not get along with. Book-length Walden had moments of truth and beauty but was often a scatter-brained rant. Essay-length Civil Disobedience was much better organized and argued. End notes for both were helpful.
