Thoreau's Civil Disobedience, Vs. Martin Luther King Jr.

Henry Thoreau and Martin Luther King both wrote persuasive discussions that oppose many ideals and make a justification of their cause, being both central to their argument. While the similarity is obvious, the two essays, Civil Disobedience by Thoreau and Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr. do have some similarities. King tries persuading white, southern clergymen that segregation is an evil, unfair law that ought to defeat by use of agitation of direct protesting. Thoreau, on the other hand, writes to a broader, non-addressed audience, and focuses more on the state itself. He further accepts it at its current state, in regard to the battle with Mexico and the institution of slavery. Thus that a person ought to do as he does and not agree to pay taxes to the state that is in support of such evil customs or practices. While both King and Thoreau triumph in their establishment of a firm perception of what they strongly have faith in, they both are successful in their efforts to persuade through different means. Regarding the manner in which King draws emotional appeal through passionate speech, we also see with Thoreau when he makes apparent that he is devoted in what he stands for. Thus attracting more appeal through being more troubled and concerned instead of being innocently optimistic and hopeful. Nevertheless, similarities weigh against differences as both King and Thoreau give reliability to the moral

In 1849, Henry David Thoreau’s essay, Resistance to Civil Government was published. In this essay, Thoreau discussed the importance of using civil disobedience in hopes of creating a more civilized government. Around 100 years later, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter to some clergymen about why blacks should have the same civil rights just like everyone else called, Letter from Birmingham Jail. King was greatly influenced by Thoreau and many of King’s ideas were acquired from principles used in Thoreau’s essay. Compare and contrast how these two men were similar and different when it came to their beliefs of civil disobedience.

What makes a government and society moral and just has been a reoccurring question and issue throughout time. Henry David Thoreau, an American transcendentalist, stressed civil disobedience and greatly showed his disbeliefs on the Mexican-American War in his essay, “Resistance to Civil Government.” Through comparing the nation's political authority to a machine and not paying his taxes as a method of protest, Thoreau manages to coax the “true citizen” to stand up against unjust government.

Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience”, published in 1849, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, published in 1963, have profound similarities while still having underlying differences.

In the dictionary civil disobedience is the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest, but Thoreau and Martin Luther King have their own beliefs to civil disobedience. In Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” he writes about the need to prioritize one’s conscience over the dictates of laws. Martin Luther King uses civil disobedience as something that effectuates change in the government. Both Thoreau and Martin Luther King has similar yet different perspectives on civil disobedience.

Throughout history there have been many political changes that are either supported, or not, by citizens. In the given passage from, "Civil Disobedience," by Thoreau, a perspective of disagreeing with the government ways, is provided. Thoreau explains how a government should be in comparison to how it really is by utilizing his words to set the tone and mode, imagery to achieve his audience's understanding, and diction to make his writing scholarly.

Values are a set of principles that define a person at the essence and reflect what they hold to be truly important. They act as like a compass, providing a sense of correctness when on the right track, or internal nudge to correct one's path when drifting off course. In Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, Henry David Thoreau is a unique character who strives to live a life in alignment with his values, even if it means going to extreme lengths. The belief that spiritual welfare is of greater importance over financial prosperity and the emphasis on the power of the individual are two out of seven Transcendental values that have the greatest influence on Henry David Thoreau’s actions. Throughout the play, the

In my opinion Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. have very similar purposes in their writings. Both author 's are writing to protest unfair laws. But they also have very different audiences.

Resistance to Civil Government (Civil Disobedience) is a dissertation written by American abolitionist, author and philosopher Henry David Thoreau published by Elizabeth Peabody in the Aesthetic Papers in 1849. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was born and lived almost his life in Concord, Massachusetts. After finishing public and private school in Concord he attended the prestige Harvard University. He excelled at Harvard despite leaving school for several months due to health and financial setbacks. Mr. Thoreau graduated in the top half of his class in 1837. Mr. Thoreau argues that people should not allow any government to control or atrophy their thoughts or beliefs. Mr. Thoreau was an also remained a devoted abolitionist and has written

Martin Luther King Jr., a man that led a movement of peace and equality for all walks of life, faced much criticism during his time in Birmingham, Alabama. He was jailed for participating and leading a peaceful protest after a judge ordered that he could not hold a protest in Birmingham. King called Birmingham, “the most thoroughly segregated city in the country”, and that led him to reach out and to bring out the flaws of racial injustice to national attention. These events led up to King composing the historic 1963 essay, Letter from Birmingham City Jail, King’s essay was written on all sorts of paper from the margins of newspaper all the way to paper scraps; however, that letter was a humble response to the eight clergymen who condemned

King and Thoreau’s arguments share many similar points regarding unjust laws. Thoreau is expressing his grievances in regards to the U.S - Mexican war and its direct perpetuation

Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested for breaking an unjust law against political demonstrations and his constitutional right to contact a lawyer was denied. After jail, Dr. King wrote a speech to argue that he and his fellow demonstrations have a duty to fight for justice. In the letter from Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King states that we are responsible for justice in the world. Justice isn’t about obeying the laws but having unjust laws will only harm and result in conflicts. Martin uses persuasive elements such as connotations that puts an appropriate tone to his speech and vivid language to show that he is speaking directly to those who accused him of being guilty.

In Self-Reliance Emerson’s prison is a figurative allusion of the conformity of society. In Thoreau’s Resistance to Civil Government Thoreau literally gets placed into prison. However, in Thoreau’s text prison is correspondingly a metaphor for society and its continued conformity. In both texts the writer’s persuasive tone beseeches the reader to not consent to the social-contracts of society. In Emerson’s Self-Reliance and Thoreau’s Resistance to Civil Government prison is a symbol of being confined in a society that does not accept individualism, but rather accepts and requires the majority and conformism of all citizens and men.

An Identity of Rebellion America was founded upon the principle that all humans possess innate rights, given by the Creator of the universe. In 1776 when Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence, he illustrated that, “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable

The transcendentalism time period is described as a time that stressed equality, social responsibility, and the power of the individual. Although this time period had many influential authors, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau were two of the most influential writers of this era. Throughout both Self Reliance, written by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Civil Disobedience, written by Henry David Thoreau, the lesson of non-conformity to society and the idea that it is each person’s social responsibility to stand up for themselves is discussed.