"Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau and "Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Lither King Jr. Both had the same idea but they were shared in different ways. "Civil Disobedience" was written in the 1830's where as "The Letter From Birmingham Jail" was written nearly 100 years letter. Both pieces of writing showed civil disobedience, and they were shared in the same way, but they both had different views. In both pieces of work the authors have different views of the injustice in the government. Both men, Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau, targeted larger groups rather than smaller ones.
In his letter from Birmingham jail, Martin Luther King mentioned the three pious Jewish youths, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, as an example of the civil disobedience for the in-just laws of Nebuchadnezzar. King states “there is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience. It was evidenced sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar, on the ground that a higher moral law was at stake”. King believes that human history is full of numerous examples of breaking un-just laws as in case of the three young men’s story. They had been thrown in the blazed furnace because they did not obey the king’s order, and they didn’t worship the golden statue made by Nebuchadnezzar.
1963 could be considered the peak of the civil rights movement- with protests in Birmingham, the March on Washington, and the surfacing of Martin Luther King Jr.'s ground-breaking pieces "I Have A Dream" and "Letter from Birmingham Jail," the demand for civil rights had become a genuine American crisis. Dr. King wrote "Letter from Birmingham Jail" while he was in custody with the intention to share with fellow Americans his grievances and explain the absolute necessity for protests in Birmingham. Almost a century prior, in 1852, Frederick Douglass delivered his biting and passionate speech "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" on behalf of all the enslaved. Somewhat similar to Dr. King's letter, Douglass shares his own grievances regarding
Civil Disobedience 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.
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.
Martin Luther King Jr once stated, “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” in his Letter from Birmingham Jail in 1963. He was invoking the principle of civil disobedience. He wasn't justifying breaking laws just because, but instead, meant that you break the law and accept your punishment, in hopes that people will come to see that the law is unethical. Civil disobedience plays an important role in how our society has been shaped up until this point.
Martin Luther King Jr. once said “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws”. Civil disobedience is the moral responsibility of a person opposing the state when laws contradict superior ideas. Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. stand for civil disobedience in their works “From Civil Disobedience” and “A Letter From Birmingham Jail”. Civil disobedience has been proven to be justified throughout history and these works.
Civil disobedience is an act or way of disobeying the law/government. You don’t cooperate with the law(s). Many people don’t cooperate with a law and so they protest in a way without using violence. Protesting is part of an act of civil disobedience, it’s a way for people to show or prove their point of view. In the article “ On the Duty of Civil Disobedience” states when a person’s conscience and law clash, the person would follow their conscience rather than the law.
Civil disobedience is characterized by the refusal to conform to specific laws or refusal to pay expenses and fines as a way to protest but in a calm manner. These humble, nonviolent protests are examples of civil disobedience. The expectations of protesters as they demonstrate these rallies are to make a social, economic, or political change. Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. where both masters of peaceful protest that contend for the rights to disobey authority if there was unfair treatment. Henry Davis Thoreau was born in Concord on July 12th, 1817.
Henry David Thoreau once stated in his book Civil Disobedience, If a law “is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law” (About Thoreau). He had strong beliefs in standing firm in what you think is right. Civil disobedience is explained as a person or group of people who stand against a law that they believe in unjust (Suber). The group or individual participating in civil disobedience usually peaceful, and do not fight against any repercussions against their acts. Their purpose for doing this is usually to bring attention to the law or laws that they view as unjust.
I think of law as a system we came up with in order to be able to coexist. We tend to believe that laws are incapable of erring but what happens then when these laws endanger everything you believe in. That’s why I think that sometimes is appropriate to disobey them. Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government as a result of moral objections, especially through passive resistance. One case in which civil disobedience would be justified is when people are discriminated against.
Civil disobedience is nonviolent resistance to a government’s law in seek of change. Civil disobedience is an effective way to bring about change because it is a harmless way of fighting an unjust law or idea, it can educate people about the cause, and it has been successful many times in history. First and foremost, civil disobedience is
All human beings know about civil disobedience, some have even witnessed it throughout history. Civil disobedience is the act to fight for your rights. But there are different kinds of civil disobedient acts. One way is to simply oppose the law without breaking it. One could also break the regulation in order to make a difference.
Civil Disobedience is known as breaking the law because you don 't agree with a certain law or have a peaceful protest about that law or what you believe in. An example would be when Mahatma Gandhi walked miles to the Indian ocean as the citizens gathered more and more to fight for there Indian Independence. This occasion was called the Salt March. The reason for The Salt March was a March were all the citizens from India walked with gandhi to fight back for their Independence from the British, since it was taken away from the British.
In the “ Letter to Martin Luther King from a Group of Clergymen” Martin Luther King Jr. used rhetorical techniques such as logos and asking rhetorical questions to show his audience the value of civil disobedience. On page 7 Martin Luther King says “ Since we so diligently urge people to obey the supreme courts decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools it is rather strange and perodoxical to find us consciously breaking laws.” This is persuasive because it’s a fact, the truth. We break laws on a daily basis, minor ones, and know it but yet obeying the courts decision about segregation doesn’t phase us. This is giving a logic statement about obeying the courts decision.
