Classicly

Henry David Thoreau's influential essay On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, or simply Civil Disobedience, was first published in 1849. It argued that individuals should not let governments override their consciences in matters of civil rights, nor should they tolerate any authority which makes them an agent of injustice. Thoreau's philosophy of disobedience stemmed from his hatred for the institution of slavery and the horrors of the Mexican-American War.

These were the symbols of oppression in his day, but his philosophy would be interpreted by many to come, such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King, who would employ it to empower their people against the tyrannies of government. One of Thoreau's main points was that you serve your country poorly if you suppress your conscience in favor of the law, because your country needs citizens of conscience more than it needs mindless automatons.