The Higher Law
Thoreau on Civil Disobedience and Reform

Includes thirteen selections from the polemical writings of Henry D Thoreau that represent various stages in his twenty-two years of active writing. This title offers a microcosm of Thoreau's literary career. It allows the reader to achieve a full sense of Thoreau's evolution as a writer and thinker.

These thirteen selections from the polemical writings of Henry D. Thoreau represent every stage in his twenty-two years of active writing. This edition, introduced by writer and historian Howard Zinn, is a microcosm of Thoreau's literary career. It allows the reader to achieve a full sense of Thoreau's evolution as a writer and thinker. Most famous of these essays is "Resistance to Civil Government," better known as "Civil Disobedience." Still a standard text in American high schools, it has long inspired nonviolent protest around the world. It influenced those who opposed apartheid in South Africa and motivated international anti-war demonstrators during 1960s and 1970s. "Civil Disobedience" will surely continue to influence generations of readers for years to come.

Introduction by Howard Zinn ix
The Service 3
Paradise (To Be) Regained 19
Herald of Freedom 49
Wendell Phillips Before Concord Lyceum 59
Resistance of Civil Government 63
Slavery in Massachusetts 91
A Plea for Captain John Brown 111
Martyrdom of John Brown 139
The Last Days of John Brown 145
Life without Principle 155
Reform and the Reformers 181
Index by Paul O. Williams 199