What is the relation of individuality and society in "Civil Disobedience" and "Self Reliance"?

For Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, society
is often the adversary of the individual.  For Emerson, society "everywhere is in
conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members."  Society would control the
ideas of men so that men conform to those of the majority who rule.  With the
consistency demanded by society, Emerson notes, "a great soul has nothing to
do."

Likewise, Thoreau feels that many men lived lives of
"quiet desperation" when they conform.  For, there are not able to live life
"deliberately" as they should if they live lives of conformity.  In
Walden, Thoreau writes,

readability="7">

The surface of the earth is soft and impressible
by the feet of men, and so with the paths which the mind
travels.

Since man's mind is
so impressionable, it should not be subjected to the power of the mighty; rather, it
should be able to be in communion with nature and learn on its own.  In Civil
Disobedience, Thoreau writes that government and
society

"no
pure right over my person and property but what I concede to
it."

The progress of
government, Thoreau continues, "is a progress toward a true respect for the individual."
But, like Emerson, Thoreau sees only "a State" [society] that holds too much authority
over the individual.  For this reason, Thoreau feels
that

readability="5">

Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. 
The obedient must be
slaves.

Both Emerson and
Thoreau believe in the importance, the very divinity of the individual.  Those who would
be men must fight against the control of societies that demand conformity, rather
than the individualism which makes one truly a man.