How and why did Henry David Thoreau demonstrate civil disobedience?

Answer 1

He was a nonconformist who believed, among other things, that no one should do what is against their own will. He was trying to prove that though we live in a free country, he was more free than those who conformed and payed their taxes.

Answer 2

In 1846 Thoreau refused to pay six years of delinquent poll taxes, in opposition to the Mexican War and to slavery. He spent one night in jail and was freed when someone paid the taxes over his objections.

Answer 3

Henry David Thoreau practiced civil disobedience by refusing to pay his poll tax in protest against the U.S. government's involvement in the Mexican-American War and support of slavery. Thoreau's act was a way to show his refusal to support unjust laws and to peacefully resist government actions that went against his beliefs in individual conscience and morality.