The Influence of Henry David Thoreau on Mohanda K. Gandhi Henry David Thoreau, the writer of “Civil Disobedience” influenced many to take a stand. Thoreau stated that people should refuse to obey any law they believed was unjust. In 1846 he refused to pay poll taxes because he wanted to express his opposition to slavery as it became an issue in the Mexican War, he spent a night in jail for his refusal. Thoreau never thought of jail time as punishment, and he wanted other leaders and readers to think the same. Thoreau also wrote Walden, at his personal built cabin at Walden Pond, The death of his brother John, and mentor