Final answer:
Thoreau provided examples of slavery and the Mexican-American War as unjust government policies in his essay 'Civil Disobedience,' which led him to embrace and practice nonviolent resistance through civil disobedience, influencing future civil rights leaders.
Step-by-step explanation:
In Henry David Thoreau's influential essay, "Civil Disobedience," he presents two primary examples of what he considered unjust policies of the government: slavery and the Mexican-American War. Thoreau was a staunch opponent of slavery, which he saw as a moral abomination and an example of extreme government injustice. He also took issue with the Mexican-American War, viewing it as an unjust act of American aggression. These two cases of government action led Thoreau to refuse to pay his poll tax, a form of protest for which he was willing to be imprisoned, exemplifying his commitment to civil disobedience in the face of laws he believed were immoral.
Thoreau's advocacy for civil disobedience was predicated on the belief that individuals have a moral duty to refuse support to a government that engages in unjust policies. His writings have famously inspired other leaders in nonviolent resistance movements, including Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr..