It was this experience that Thoreau wrote about in an essay called "Civil Disobedience." In this essay, he argued that being moral and just came before allegiance to government. He wrote “If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law." He also felt that voting was not enough to ensure that the right thing be done. He wrote that "even voting for the right is doing nothing for it… A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance…" He felt that one had a moral responsibility to resist unjust laws. Which line from Part 1 best explains Thoreau's message? Thoreau began speaking against slavery in public, echoing the voices of freedmen like Frederick Douglass He was reportedly furious that any tax was paid on his behalf It was this experience that Thoreau wrote about in an essay called "Civil Disobedience." He felt that one had a moral responsibility to resist unjust laws.