On the Duty of Civil Disobedience #317980

"On the Duty of Civil Disobedience" is Henry David Thoreau's impassioned argument for the right to oppose unjust government policies and practices. Stemming from his refusal to pay a tax that supported slavery and the Mexican-American War, Thoreau's essay defends the principle that individual conscience should outweigh statutory law when the two conflict. Advocating for nonviolent resistance, Thoreau's work is a cornerstone of civil rights movements, emphasizing that true change is achieved not through compliance but through principled dissent.