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Thoreau And Martin Luther King Similarities

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Civil Disobedience between King and Thoreau Martin Luther King, Jr. and Henry David Thoreau were two different people living in different periods, but both their impacts changed history. Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King, Jr. are very similar, but very different people. King has lived with unfair laws and has protested against them along with Thoreau protesting taxes. Despite those similarities, King thinks citizens can find peace by fighting for their beliefs, but Thoreau finds his peace through God and nature. King and Thoreau have greatly impacted today’s society regardless of their similarities and differences. King and Thoreau both refuse to stand by-laws at some point with their actions. Thoreau has refused to pay some taxes when he says, “Condemning a government that supported slavery, he refused to pay his Massachusetts poll tax and was jailed for a night” (Exhibit B). King believes to protest the unjust laws and laws that shouldn’t be kept and stated, “The March on Washington proved to be a strong catalyst[important movement] in passing the Civil Rights bills” (Exhibit E). Both …show more content…

Thoreau was a transcendentalist and found peace in the woods, “I learned from my two years’ experience that it would cost incredibly little trouble to obtain one’s necessary food, even in this latitude; that a many may use as a diet as the animals, and yet retain health and strength” (Exhibit F). King found his harmony by affirming rights deserved such as the “Tactic of nonviolence in which protestors sit down at the site of injustice and refuse to move for a specified period of time or until goals are achieved” (Exhibit G). Thoreau found peace by connecting with God and the environment while King believes you should get justice for peace within all. Thoreau and King find their tranquility in different ways whether it's through protests or

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