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Primary sourceBook1849

Civil Disobedience

Henry David Thoreau · 1849

Henry David Thoreau's 1849 essay protesting taxes that supported Polk's Mexican-American War and slavery.

Thoreau wrote this essay defending civil disobedience, drawing on his own night in jail for refusing the poll tax.

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Scanned printed page 189 from 1849 Aesthetic Papers, headed 'Art. X. Resistance to Civil Government' with running head 'Resistance to Civil Government.' Body text is an essay opening: 'I heartily accept the motto, That government is best which governs least.' The page is dense serif text in two columns of prose, with no images.
Henry David Thoreau, "Resistance to Civil Government," in Aesthetic Papers, ed. Elizabeth P. Peabody, 1849.

About this source

What it is

This is an essay by Henry David Thoreau, first published in 1849 under the title "Resistance to Civil Government" in Elizabeth Peabody's anthology Aesthetic Papers. In it, Thoreau argues that individuals should follow their conscience over unjust laws and that passive obedience to government enables injustice.

Why it matters

Thoreau wrote partly in response to his opposition to the Mexican-American War and slavery, both tied to President Polk's policies. His refusal to pay taxes supporting these causes became the most famous literary protest against Polk's administration. The essay later influenced figures like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. in movements of nonviolent resistance.

Look closer

  • Why does Thoreau call the Mexican war "the work of comparatively a few individuals" rather than the whole nation?
  • What does Thoreau's personal refusal to pay taxes suggest about how individuals can respond to government policy they disagree with?
  • How might Polk himself have responded to Thoreau's argument?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Henry David Thoreau on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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