The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail is a historical drama that portrays the United States during the Mexican War and Thoreau’s dedication to his ideals, which lands him in jail. The play emphasizes his struggle to maintain individuality, a struggle with which many students will identify. A moving theatrical experience, it is the most widely produced play of the 1970s.

The lessons put emphasis on group work and personal examination. Students explore the timelessness of Thoreau’s views. They draw inferences, debate, and recognize differences among ethics, principles, and morality. They establish moral criteria. They examine "Civil Disobedience," Walden, and the Transcendentalist movement.