"On Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau

This essay by Thoreau is amazing. Although a little long, once a reader delves into the writing, eye-opening information is found. The ideals of Thoreau are still carried on today and have impacted many important figures. Mohandas Gandhi was impressed by the essay and wrote a translated synopsis for it. Martin Luther King, Jr. was also so moved by the essay. The essay was published at 1849 in a magazine. Thoreau wrote it while in jail for having refused to pay his taxes. He disapproved of giving his money away to the Mexican-American War, a war that would spread slavery's territory into Mexico. A well-known line from the essay is, "That government is best which governs least." Many see this ideal as a bit anarchist, but Thoreau simply meant that a government is best when it doesn't interfere too much with its people. At that time, when government officials didn't even require search warrants and homeowners had to house and feed any soldier that demanded them to, this was a big problem. The ideals of the First Amendment have been brought up by works like this essay. Henry David Thoreau impacted many to petition for their rights and beliefs and has impacted our system of government today.