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Thoreau Compare And Contrast Essay

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Recommended: Concequences of civil disobedience

2. Thoreau refers to civil disobedience not merely as a right but as a duty to emphasize the need for individual to have the capability to defend their honest thoughts. As it states, “I think we should be men first, and subjects afterwards” (Thoreau 941). Thoreau wishes for the individuals in society to be able to preach their truth, even if it means to display non-conformity to the government expressing unjust laws. 4. The two government policies Thoreau most objects to is the creation of the Fugitive Slave act and the reasons of starting the Mexican war. Furthermore, “...but a hundred thousand merchants and farmers her, who are more interested in commerce and agriculture than they are in humanity, and are not prepared to do justice to the slave and to Mexico, cost what it may” (Thoreau 943). The results of the American pride, laziness, and greed for riches causes the outrage of the need for slaves. While the Mexican war let the majority feel a sense of artificial patriotism and an external appearance of a freedom filled country to foreigners. The outcome of the individual’s decisions is internally deteriorating America; causing more problems than resolutions. 6. In paragraph 36, Thoreau distinguishes among different types of …show more content…

In Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter to Birmingham Jail” both have a purpose of expressing nonconformity towards the government by rebellions and protests of men for their rights. In “Civil Disobedience”, “...I think that it is not too soon for honest men to rebel and revolutionize” (Thoreau 942). In addition, in “Letter to Birmingham Jail”, “Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue” (King 263). Both Thoreau and King express a belief system that for anything to change, one must be able to speak the truth and lead the people to create a greater force to defeat the

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Henry David Thoreau’s book “Civil Disobedience” (1847) and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” (1963) both are written to expose unjust laws in the United States while having considerable differences in their tone. Thoreau and King both challenge the common majority to resist injustice and they both went to jail to support their cause. Although, Thoreau’s book has a negative tone that is simply angry and contains negative allusions, King’s tone is very “disappointed” for the fact that his allusions insue a greater emotional effect on the reader. 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

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