... for his attacks on the social institutions he considered immoral and for his faith in the religious significance of nature. The essay "Civil Disobedience" is his most famous social protest. Walden, a study of Thoreau's experiment in living close to nature, is chiefly responsible for his literary reputation. Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts, on July 12, 1817. Unlike most leading writers of his time ... that people must be free to act according to their own idea of right and wrong, without government interference. In "Civil Disobedience" (1849), he said that people should refuse...

• Word Count: 3135
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School