Publisher Description
“Civil Disobedience” (also known as “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience” and “Resistance to Civil Government”) is an essay published in 1849 by American writer and philosopher Henry David Thoreau. In this essay, Thoreau puts forward the argument each of us has an obligation to resist obedience to a government that acts unjustly lest we become agents of those same injustices. Using slavery and the Mexican-American war in his examples, Thoreau combines philosophical argument with sharing his own personal experiences to encourage all to act according to their consciences in living their day-to-day life, especially when it comes to complying with government edicts.
Download and start listening now!
About Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) was an American essayist, naturalist, philosopher, and poet. Born at Concord, Massachusetts, and educated at Harvard, he began his career as a teacher. Through his older friend and neighbor, Ralph Waldo Emerson, he became a part of the Transcendentalist circle and one of that group’s most eloquent spokespersons. He is best known for his book Walden and his essay “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience.”