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Civil Disobedience can be compared to Thoreau's other works on non-fiction, including his well-known work, Walden, which was written shortly before this essay. Other related essays include "Life Without Principle," "Slavery in Massachusetts," "A Plea for Captain John Brown," and "The Service." Works by other transcendentalist American writers, such as those by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Frederic Henry Hedge, Margaret Fuller, and Walt Whitman are also relevant.
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The Question and Answer section for Civil Disobedience is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.
Petitioning the government is useless because it does not always result in action.
Citizens must challenge and attempt to change the wrongs of the state; it is not enough to work within the system.
Individuals have a responsibility to disobey laws that are inherently unjust and in conflict with their morals.
From the text:
I heartily accept the motto, "That government is best which governs least"; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe--"That government is...
