This site provides the full text of Thoreau's essay, "Civil Disobedience," in three parts. Content also includes a brief background as to how Thoreau wrote this essay and links to related sites.

This is the annotated text of Part 1 of "Civil Disobedience," an essay by Henry David Thoreau. The essay, written in 1849, is about following your conscience.

National Humanities Center lesson plan explores the criticisms Thoreau makes about a representative democracy form of government. Lesson includes interactive assignments, teacher notes, strategies for Close reading, follow-up and...

Motivated by his disgust with slavery, Henry David Thoreau wrote the essay "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience". He argues that governments are an agent of corruption and citizens should not let them overrule their conscience. Read the...

A lesson in which students examine the history of civil disobedience and analyze whether it is a viable form of protest in today's world. They will explore quotations about law versus personal conviction in order to form a group...

This site focuses on Henry David Thoreau and his nonfiction works. It includes links to a Thoreau biography and to the full text of four of his nonfiction works including On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, Slavery in Massachusetts,...

A scholarly discussion of Gandhi's strategy of passive resistance for the people of South Africa in their struggle for equal rights.

This resource offers a memoir that examines the role of armed self-defense in the civil rights movement. An excerpt from the text "Negroes with Guns", by Robert Williams is made available here, describing his approach towards civil...

Learn about the the events of the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike which drew Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Memphis, which is where he was soon to be assassinated. Excellent source of primary sources and first hand accounts of the...

What started out as a prowar inclination of American citizens at the beginning of the Mexican War soon deteriorated. Read about the opposition of politicians, clergymen, and intellectuals to the reasoning for the war, and later for the...

A nice biography on Henry David Thoreau's life, centering mostly on his literary skills.

Short biography of Rosa Parks.

Use this resource to learn about Rosa Parks, a freedom hero, and her courage in the face of adversity.

An in-depth biography of Henry David Thoreau. Includes information on nearly every known period of his life, including his life at Walden and his essays and writings.

Find out how the First Amendment serves citizens in real life by reading about Daniel Ellsberg, Mary Beth Tinker, and Alton T. Lemon, all of whom were principal litigants in landmark Supreme Court cases regarding the freedom of expression.