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Analysis Of Letters From Birmingham Jail, By Martin Luther King Jr.

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Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” is an essay in which Thoreau argues that people need to put their own moral conscience above the law. The essay states that it is a citizen’s responsibility to disobey unjust laws in order to promote chance in society. Thoreau’s essay has become an important part in history because it has sparked ideas and interest in other people who later chose to take action and practice civil disobedience. Martin Luther King Jr. read the essay written by Thoreau and became inspired. King would later go to jail by acting on the idea of civil disobedience. He felt as though the concepts in the essay applied directly to him and that he should take action. King was fighting against the segregation laws that were in …show more content…

built off of the ideas originally stated in “Civil Disobedience” by explaining that immediate, nonviolent action against segregation laws was an American duty. King said that any unjust laws should not be treated as laws, and should instead be disobeyed. The letter defends the use of nonviolent resistance against racism. Without the law breaking civil disobedience practiced by King and others in the movement for civil rights, the idea that segregation needed to end might not have been taken as seriously. King took drastic measures to make sure that everyone knew that what he was fighting for was a big deal. People needed to know that breaking laws was worth it if it was for a genuinely good cause that did not harm other people. The impact of Thoreau’s work was widespread and very important. His essay began to spread the idea that the government isn’t always right, and that people need to stand up for what they believe in if they want things to change. It also helped to advance other important work by inspiring leaders to take charge and fight for what is morally correct. The thoughts and beliefs from the essay are still applicable today and still influence new movements that help to change the

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f one followed the similarities of King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience," they would notice that King may have been somewhat influenced by Thoreau's essay. The two essays also have many differences that are evident throughout analysis of the two essays that divide individual interpretation of each text. But it is obvious that the overall purpose of these two essays is to persuade the audiences that civil disobedience is necessary if there is social injustice in the government that governs over people.

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Thoreau used powerful speech in his essay about the act of civil disobedience, which he himself had done. Publication was not Thoreau’s only approach in his urge for change. Thoreau targeted the legislative system through his refused to pay taxes. He believed that if because he does not support the ideas of the government then he must not pay the taxes. This non-violent resistance to obey taxation brought about the attention of the government.

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King explains why some laws are unjust. During the Civil Rights Movement, the oppressors made it their goal to degrade and in a sense humiliate the minority they were oppressing. For example, King asserts that segregation, a system put in place by the oppressors, in all forms are unjust because “segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality.” He also asserts that it “gives the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority.” King is saying that theses unjust laws are put in place so the oppressor can have control on the group they are oppressing and be able to back up through the law why what they’re doing is okay under the

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Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau Discusses Thoreau’s ideas on government and its effects on society. Thoreau’s

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Civil Disobedience Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau is an inspiring essay on unjust governments and not following peer pressure. His words are inspiring to us even today. Thoreau puts an interesting twist on individuality. Whitman talks about individuality in his essay Song of Myself. He says that you need to help others out, but make sure that you know yourself first.

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Civil Disobedience Compare and Contrast 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.

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People could portray anything in different ways. Thoreau and King both have differences in portraying civil disobedience. In Thoreau’s essay “Civil Disobedience” he begins writing about how the government rarely shows how powerful it is and instead acquires power from the people. King used civil disobedience as a means of effectuating government change and used his courage to protest against discrimination through the act of civil disobedience.

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In Henry David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience and Martin Luther King Jr's, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, both the authors explore their opinions on disobeying government’s rules and standing up for one’s owns rights and going against injustice. Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience," is written in the United States during the transcendentalism phase, around the 1837 and 1840's where most of the writers had a liberal viewpoint on topics such as women's rights and criticized the laws of government and industrialization. Most of Thoreau’s works, including “Civil Disobedience”, were inspired by the short amount of time he spent in jail. On the other hand, Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was written more than one hundred years later, in

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In Martin Luther King, Jr.’s essay, “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” and Henry David Thoreau essay “Civil Disobedience,” both share their opinions on social injustice and civil disobedience. They both believe that people can protest unfair and unjust laws imposed on them in a civil way. In addition, King and Thoreau are challenging the government with their essays, which they wrote after they got sent to jail. For protesting the treatment of blacks in Birmingham, Alabama, King spent eleven days in jail; Thoreau spent a night in jail for refusing to pay his poll tax. Both King and Thoreau’s essays present similar plans for a resolution.

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Thoreau’s ideal way to impact the government is what King followed through with in his attempt to change the social injustice at hand. Unfortunately, the great steps these leader have left behind have no face to represent and continue on with the fight in the state of our modern day society. Social injustice is alive and well within our community and Thoreau and King would most likely try to change its content in order to continue with their mission to make a society equal and suitable for

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The early 1840s till the early 1950, a person 's desire to follows laws varied. Some people didn 't question any law and just followed them to avoid any trouble. But a few people objected. Two very influential writers, Ralph Emerson and Henry Thoreau, put together their opinions to form essays. Emerson’s work as published around 1841; Thoreau’s work was published around 1849.

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In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. was sent to jail because of a peaceful protest, protesting treatments of blacks in Birmingham. Before the protest a court ordered that protests couldn’t be held in Birmingham. While being held in Birmingham, King wrote what came to be known as the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Not even King himself could predict how much of an impact this letter would have on the Civil Rights Movement. In the letter kind defended Kings beliefs on Nonviolent Protests, King also counters the accusations of him breaking laws by categorizing segregation laws into just and unjust laws. King uses this principle to help persuade others to join him in his acts of civil disobedience.

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Henry David Thoreau committed a crime in the name of civil disobedience and thus for such disobedience was imprisoned. Henry David Thoreau took a stand for what he believed, his sacrifice was significant for these 3 reasons. First, Mr. Thoreau had strong moral values which made him oppose slavery and the Mexican American war. Secondly, Thoreau’s act of civil disobedience was a powerful statement in which he peacefully refused to pay his poll tax. Finally, Mr. Thoreau willingly accepted the consequences of his actions in order to prove his point.

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In Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “A Letter From a Birmingham Jail,” he provides answers to fundamental metaphysical questions regarding the nature of the human soul. Though his letter is addressed to a group of eight clergymen criticizing his direct action campaign in Birmingham, his ultimate aim is the uplifting of human personhood. Underlying King’s letter is a philosophical, hylemorphic anthropology which puts an anchor deep into a certain conception of personhood, and binds all people who are to read it. He looks deeply at the nature of human beings, as rational creatures who are made to love and be loved, and from thence, deliberates that there is a universal Gospel of Freedom and Justice. Martin Luther King, Jr. asserts that there are universal principles justifying what actions are morally right and wrong, just and unjust.

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In “A Letter From A Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King Jr defends his use of nonviolent protest in order to accomplish racial equality. In the letter, Dr. King uses ethos, diction, and allusions when defending nonviolent protest which makes his argument really strong. His goal is to make the clergymen help him fight racial equality. He uses ethos to build up credibility.

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