| The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002. |
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| “Civil Disobedience” |
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| (1849) An essay by Henry David Thoreau. It contains his famous statement “That government is best which governs least,” and asserts that people’s obligations to their own conscience take precedence over their obligations to their government. Thoreau also argues that if, in following their conscience, people find it necessary to break the laws of the state, they should be prepared to pay penalties, including imprisonment. | 1 |
| ‡ Thoreau himself went to jail for refusing to pay a tax to support the Mexican War. | 2 |
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| | | The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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