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Similarities Between Thoreau And Martin Luther King Jr

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Martin Luther King Jr VS Henry David Thoreau What is a transcendentalist? A transcendentalist is a radical logical and social movement that developed in New England around 1836. Henry Thoreau was a transcendentalist and was also a famous author where he wrote during the transcendentalist time. On the other hand Martin Luther King Jr was a person that fought for everybody to be equal. He had a speech called “I Had A Dream" Whereas Henry Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr are different as Henry Thoreau didn't pay poll taxes and was an author of the 19th century, while Martin Luther King Jr was taking part in the civil right marches and role model in the 20th century, they are also similar as they both spent a day in jail, were transcendentalists, and well educated. …show more content…

To begin with they are alike because they both broke the law. Thoreau broke the law because he didn't pay his poll tax and Martin Luther King Jr made a speeches and had marches In addition, another reason they are in the same way is that they both did it peacefully. Both Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr did not hurt anybody in the process of speaking out, but there is one difference. Thoreau decided not to pay the poll taxes and it only affected him and civil rights affected everybody. In conclusion The similarity are they both broke the law and both did it peacefully, but there are one difference. When Thoreau decided not to pay the poll tax it only affected him, While when Martin Luther King Jr and the civil rights affected

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424 Words | 2 Pages

In each writing, both display the injustice in the government from different perspectives. Both Martin Luther King Jr. And Henry David Thoreau targeted large audiences rather than small ones. They did this so that they could capture more people's attention all at once. Thoreau insisted that unfair

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443 Words | 2 Pages

"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.

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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.

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Both Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King both spend time in prison for not abiding by the law and practicing civil disobedience, although they are for very different causes. Henry David Thoreau wrote “Resistance to Civil Government” in 1849, he went to jail for not paying a tax that supported the Mexican-American War to expand American territories. He refused to pay this tax because he did not agree to expand American territories because the expansion would lead to more slavery, which he opposed. While Martin Luther King was arrested in 1863 for protesting the treatment of African Americans in Birmingham, Alabama. In jail, Dr. King experienced harsh conditions and more segregation than he did in Birmingham as a free man, so he wrote Letter From Birmingham Jail.”

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268 Words | 2 Pages

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.

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He says, “If it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law” (Par 13). Thoreau wants justice so much; he believes if you must break a law to get it, you should. From Thoreau’s point of view, he just wants the government to do what is right, he is not asking for forgiveness. King, on the other hand, thinks that people should get what they are owed, and, in this case, it is justice. He states, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (Par 6).

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644 Words | 3 Pages

Fredrick Douglas and Henry David Thoreau have the same ideas yet different experiences which shine through their writings. The main idea is that I would have had no idea that Thoreau was an abolitionist from this writing alone. This excerpt from Thoreau is extremely philosophical, as were most of his other writings, and could only loosely be applied to the issue of slavery while Douglas’ writing was strictly an autobiography. This simple difference goes a long way in highlighting their differences as rights activists. Douglas is direct and evokes change through his actions and words while Thoreau is indirect, yet he makes you think about your decisions and how they affect the world around you.

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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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By analyzing both of these writings it’s almost obvious that Martin Luther King was influenced by Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” because they both use very similar writing techniques. King also described a four step to a non-violent protest, and the first one is to collect facts to determine whether an injustice law exists. This relates to Thoreau’s critique of an unjust government because Thoreau believed that every machine had

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However, Thoreau writes to the common American people because they are directly affected by the government. He is trying to connect with the people willing to take a stand and speak out against the government with him. Also, he is writing to the people who oppose the Mexican war and slavery. Regardless of who King and Thoreau were writing too, they both delivered their arguments in an effective

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The main similarity in the writings of Thomas Jefferson and Henry David Thoreau is the idea of revolution against an abusive government. The main difference is the context in which each document was written, the Declaration of Independence as the colonies were rebelling against Great Britain and forming their own government, and Civil Disobedience as criticisms of the government developed within nearly seventy-five years after the signing of the Declaration. Both Jefferson and Thoreau share ideas of revolution, although overthrowing the government is seen in many cases as illegal. Both documents share a common theme of revolution, and both authors believe the best way to move toward a better government is civil disobedience. Jefferson and Thoreau believe that whether it is the struggle for independence or being freed from injustices of the government, civil disobedience and revolution are necessary in order to live in a society based on freedom.

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515 Words | 3 Pages

Both men were pro civil disobedience, However the two had different ways of showing civil disobedience. For example on page 395, in the first paragraph which explained that even when peaceful revolution it used a problem will always be encounter. Gandhi protested tax on salt by marching as seen in paragraph 3 and Thoreau protested tax on the voting poll according to page 395 paragraph two. Another difference between the two is that gandhi hurt people around him because he persuaded people to strike with him, according to paragraph four in the last sentence. Thoreau stood only for his beliefs, so once he ran into the law it was on him.

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Technology basically runs America as we know it today, but is that a good thing? Automation, or the use of largely automatic equipment in a system of manufacturing or other production process, is slowly replacing human hands in factories and other large businesses. Computers are taking over the kind of knowledge that people of this generation have gone through multiple years of school for, they just have all of our hard work programmed into their hardware. Automation in our country will lead to an economic collapse, taking all of our jobs and it is dumbing us down more and more each day as we go on. Rapid technological change has been destroying jobs much faster than it has been creating them.

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As their are many reasons of Gandhis and Thoreau, they both have different influences. Gandhi and Thoreau are influential people that changed history today The first things in common with Gandhi and Thoreau is they talk about the problems like the laws. Gandhi and Thoreau don’t agree in what the government does such as having to pay a lot of taxes. The only

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658 Words | 3 Pages

Thoreau had completely different views and perspectives than Gandhi. Thoreau believed in breaking the law if it is unjust or abusive. In the essay Civil Disobedience it says “I was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest”.

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