Please summarize Henry David Thoreau's essay "Civil Disobedience" (also known as "Resistance to Civil Government").

Henry David Thoreau's belief in "non-conformity," is seen
in, "Civil Disobedience"—standing up to the government if
necessary.

Thoreau was arrested for not paying a tax—on
principle. "…some one interfered, and paid the tax…" and he was released, and so wrote
"Resistance to Civil Government" initially to "argue the moral necessity of resisting
the institution of slavery."

Thoreau makes his stance clear
from the very beginning of the essay:

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I HEARTILY ACCEPT THE MOTTO, “That government is
best which governs least”…[moreover] “That government is best which governs not at
all...”

The government was
needed to an extent, but should not be an entity that controlled
the will of the people, but rather served the people. People
created the government, but often did not have the opportunity to use it for their
good:

...[it]
is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through
it.

Thoreau argues that often
times the government becomes a tool of the few rather than the
"arm" of the population as a whole. Special interest groups rob the people of their
power, which is counter to the principles of those who created government in
the first place. In this way, the government which was conceived for the
best of all purposes has lost its " href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/integrity">integrity."

Thoreau
insists that the accomplishments of the country have been achieved by the efforts of its
people, its individuals—keeping the country's people free,
educating, settling the West, etc.—and might have done more had the
government been used as it should have
been.

Thoreau sees the hand of government too heavily put
to use where it should not be. He does not press for the absence of
government, but change:

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I ask for, not at once no government, but at once
a better government.

Arguing
again for the right of the individual, Thoreau asks:

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Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the
least degree, resign his conscience to the
legislator?

Thoreau calls for
the conscience of men to act, as not seen in government,
specifically regarding slavery:

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I cannot for an instant recognize that political
organization as my government which is the slave's government
also.

And while a man may
argue against what the government does, he must be sure his
actions support those
words:

...I
must first see, at least, that I do not pursue [these wrongs] sitting upon another man's
shoulders.

And...

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The soldier is applauded who refuses to serve in
an unjust war by those who do not refuse to sustain the unjust government which makes
the war...

Thoreau calls upon
the people to stop the "machine" of the unjust government. The single act is
powerful:

For
it matters not how small the beginning may seem to be: what is once well done is done
for ever.

Thoreau reflects
upon his own imprisonment brought on because he would not pay a tax, insisting that jail
only controlled his body—not his mind or will.

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As they could not reach me, they had resolved to
punish my body…

He simply
refused to pay a tax he did not believe in. In the scheme of things, government rules
him a short time before he dies.

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It is not many moments that I live under a
government, even in this world. If a man is thought-free...unwise rulers or reformers
cannot fatally interrupt
him.

He
will be ruled by his conscience:

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...even such as I am willing to submit to,— for I
will cheerfully obey those who know and can do better than
I...

Thoreau calls for men to
submit to conscience first, and government second.