The Book that Transformed America Resistance to Civil Government Civil Disobedience is an argument for disobedience to an unjust state by American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau that was first published in 1849 and continues to transform American discourse even today. It was Thoreaus first published book. Motivated in part by his disgust with slavery and the MexicanAmerican War Thoreau argues that individuals should not permit governments to overrule or atrophy their consciences and that