On the Duty of Civil Disobedience
By Henry David Thoreau
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience was first published in 1849 as Resistance To Civil Government. The central idea is that individuals should not permit government to overrule their consciences, and that there is a duty to refuse to acquiesce when governments seek to make them agents of injustice. Originally motivated by disgust with slavery and the Mexican-American War, the essay became popular during the Sixties as a justification for demonstrations against the Vietnam War.
- Chapter 1 Henry David Thoreau 42:23
- Chapter 2 Henry David Thoreau 38:21
