Summarized by
Cleangov
The individual does not have an obligation to obey the State unless the individual has consented to grant that power to the State. The individual especially should not obey the State if the person feels the state is in the wrong and the individual feels morally obligated to do the right thing.
The individual should be willing to be imprisoned or even killed if that is the consequence of standing up for what is right, and refusing to support a government that is wrong.
He especially feels it is wrong to pay taxes to a government that is doing wrong, in his case supporting the enslavement of Blacks and invading and conquering Mexico, that such payments give tacit approval to a government doing wrong.
He doesn’t feel any obligation to do the work necessary to amend laws or change the character of government more to his liking, other than writing this book and refusing to pay a poll tax for six years and spending a night in the local jail. (Someone else paid his tax and he was then let go.) He didn’t feel any obligation to spend a lot more time in jail, to set an example for his fellow citizens.