Civil Disobedience

Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau (1849)

"That government is best which governs least." Thoreau's essay on the moral duty to resist unjust government — written after spending a night in jail for refusing to pay a poll tax in protest of slavery and the Mexican-American War.

Historical Significance:
Originally published as "Resistance to Civil Government" in 1849, this short essay became one of the most influential political texts in world history. Thoreau argued that individuals have a moral obligation to disobey unjust laws, even at personal cost. Mahatma Gandhi read it in a South African prison and credited it as a major inspiration for his campaign of nonviolent resistance. Martin Luther King Jr. read it as a student at Morehouse College and later wrote that it was his "first intellectual contact with the theory of nonviolent resistance." The essay has influenced every major civil rights and protest movement since.

This public domain classic was originally published in 1849. Free to read and share.