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On the Duty of Civil Disobedience
by Thoreau, Henry David
About this book
Creators: Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau is an essay first published in 1849. Thoreau argues that individuals must follow their conscience over unjust laws, challenging the idea that citizens should passively obey government authority. Motivated by his opposition to slavery and the Mexican-American War, he contends that governments often enable injustice rather than prevent it. The essay became a foundational text for nonviolent resistance, profoundly influencing activists like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. in their struggles for justice and social change. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading Level: Reading ease score: 60.9 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read. Rights: Public domain in the USA. Downloads: 5034