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.
In his writing, King advocates for resistance and civil disobedience, stressing the importance of challenging laws and practices. The letter serves as a testament to King's dedication to justice and equality, playing a role in the civil rights movement in the United States. By incorporating Ethos, Logos, and Pathos into his arguments, King constructs a narrative that deeply impacts readers, solidifying
King is personally more compelling, including the way he addresses his opposers and his objective and rationale that require civil disobedience. King’s reason for his fight was for the equal rights of all wronged by the unmerited laws that were in place during the time in the United States. At the end of his letter he said, “Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.” (Paragraph 39) showing his goal for the future and what he was striving for. Throughout his letter he never tries to be condescending towards the clergymen, to whom he is addressing this letter, instead laying the facts out in the letter as unprejudiced as possible, because he knows the clergymen and those against his cause will be trying to find things that are untrue.
And in order for the activists to make a change against the discrimination in the South, they need to struggle and sacrifice, not sit idly by and twiddle their thumbs. King also claims that his cause is not a bad one, and that he is in fact the middle ground. King reasons that if he wasn’t there and taking action, there would be more violence
Through words like you and moments that are beyond ordinary, King makes clear the various injustices throughout America, and that his actions were not “untimely” but long
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. In Civil Disobediance, Thoreau writes how those who break unjust laws should suffer the consequences as a protest to the laws.
The government priority is to protect its people and provide them with the rights that they deserve. Almost quite often, people disagree with some laws and these laws become unjust laws within their beliefs. Many individuals believe that the government should not interfere in their economic and political affairs. Both Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr argued for the right to free the unjust laws that the government held against its government. The two inspiration people within America's history got their rights that they thought they deserved by going outside their bubble and forcing it.
King was also an advocate of equality happening through nonviolent, peaceful protests. These monumental figures' voices shaped the course of history. Both of their texts
I agree with him that unjust laws are giving a false idea of superiority and just laws as something that will uplift other personalities, he states, “any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality” (King 3). This is important because he wants to informs his brothers and sisters that the government shouldn’t just focus only on themselves but think of the communities around them. For instance, King states “all sorts of devious methods are used to prevent negroes from becoming registered voters,” which in some countries African-Americans make up most of the populations yet their rights are taken away. Through the use of logos; the appeal to logic, King mentions, “I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit..”
The legal issue as discussed above is related to whether there is enough physical evidence to say that Scott Peterson is the murderer. His behavior, the fact that he had an affair with Amber Fray shortly before his wife 's disappearance that he continued to do so after her disappearance, and that he lied multiple times, and his going to the Berkley Marina on the day of his wife 's disappearance while the bodies of the victims were found not too far from that location, make him a very likely suspect. He also had a life insurance of 250 000$ put under Laci 's name (Dockterman, 1), and showed a behavior that would suggest him leaving the country before being tried also adds to this belief. However, there is still not direct evidence of him committing the murder so there is an issue as to accusing someone of murder and sentencing him to death with this kind of evidence, is it enough and would this be just? Moreover, the state of California considers an 8 weeks old or older fetus as a victim.
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.
Henry Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. both opposed slavery. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister, known for his leadership in the Civil Rights Movement using nonviolence. Henry Thoreau a leading transcendentalist that lived along in a house that he built himself on the shore of Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. Martin Luther King Jr. known for his memorable speech at Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.
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.
Yet that was over 50 years ago, and many people only see him as benefactor of the past and not a source of relevancy to their current lives. Today in 2016, we still struggle with inequalities rooted in prejudice, hostilities and fear. For example, black people not only make up a good source of the incarcerated population, but they are jailed at several times the rate of whites. Studies also prove that Black people are more likely to be shot by cops. However, King states that “freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed”, (Letter from Birmingham Jail, 1963).
He was stern in his speeches such as “I Have a Dream,” that they should protest peacefully. He inspired hope unlike Heston and Thoreau, probably because of his experience as a pastor. Thanks to Thoreau’s example, King was able to lead his people and give a demonstration of injustice when King also went to jail. He asked his people to “Go… back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.” Also believes that we should not permit our imaginative challenge to the decline into physical violence.
