Thoreau Civil Disobedience Analysis - 812 Words

Henry David Thoreau’s â€Å"Civil Disobedience† and Martin Luther King’s â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail† both present similar ideas, as the latter was inspired by the first. This set of principles and ideas is still in being carried out in our nation today, however it is necessary for more people to adopt this way of thinking. Thoreau explains throughout how an individual must conduct civil disobedience to begin a change that is morally correct. He talks a lot about the government and heavily criticizes it as the main cause to incite civil disobedience. It is mostly political and governmental reasons that Thoreau believes should be opposed. Thoreau directly states this, â€Å"All men recognize the right of revolution; that is, the right to refuse†¦show more content†¦Dr. King takes a lot of inspiration in the principles that Thoreau presents in Civil Disobedience and applies them to his own situation. He applies the idea that morally wrong laws should be disobeyed to his own argument of the purpose of the protesting. Martin Luther King Jr. says that, â€Å"one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws† (King 93). With this statement he is using on of Thoreau’s main points in civil disobedience, that of not following laws based on the right or wrong. Another way Dr. King appl ies the principles of Thoreau is belief that laws voted by majority are never just. This applied through the argument that segregation laws were made by the majority and have kept the community oppressed, â€Å"a law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, as a result of being denied the right to vote, had no part in enacting or devising the law† (King 95). He is throughout the entire letter attempting to justify the civil disobedience to those who do not agree with this method saying it is, â€Å"†¦activities unwisely and untimely† (King 85). But Martin Luther King Jr. uses the same points Thoreau does successfully. In our country today, we continue to see civil disobedience being carried out in the same manner as Thoreau and Dr. King. Recently we hear about more and more protests on the news of people taking the initiative to create a change which would probably be commended by Thoreau if he were to see. Laws that discriminate others, opposing political Show MoreRelatedThoreau Civil Disobedience Analysis963 Words   |  4 PagesThoreau’s philosophy regarding civil disobedience. In Thoreaus work, â€Å"Civil Disobedience,† Thoreau makes points that clearly justify Antigone’s actions. One such case is when Antigone goes to give her brother a proper burial. Another one of these cases occurs when Antigone is put into jail for being honorable. Finally, an example of Thoreau’s idea of civil disobedience is epitomized when Antigone refuses allegiance to a government that she views as unjust. According to Thoreau, Antigone’s actions wereRead MoreThoreau On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience Rhetorical Analysis1250 Words   |  5 PagesThroughout the duration of the Mexican American war, beginning in 1846, many attempts were made to gather support for the conflict. One citizen, who resided in Connecticut, showed much more drastic distest to this war than many others. Henry David Thoreau took both passive and active efforts to voice his antagonism to the conflict by refusing to pay a tax that he believed supported the ideology behind the war that the United States was partaking in at the time. Later, he contrived an essay that outlinedRead MoreAnalysis Of Civil Disobedience By Henry David Thoreau1886 Words   |  8 PagesAfrican slave trade that culminated in the American Civil War, the loss of one of the greatest presidents in U.S. history, Abraham Lincoln, and, more fittingly for this paper, the emergence of American transcendentalist writers. 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However, his life in the woods was not one of heavy duty work and he often was supported with objects and material possessions, contrary to what many of hisRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem Civil Disobedience By Henry David Thoreau1219 Words   |  5 Pagesignorant to the problems others faced. In the essay â€Å"Civil Disobedience† by Henry David Thoreau, Thoreau spent a night in jail for refusing to pay his taxes. After his night in jail, the author has a perspective change about the people around him (his â€Å"neighbors†) and the state. Before he went to jail he thought of his neighbors as friends who were civil when it did not cost them anything and he believed they shared common be liefs. 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In The Role of Civil Disobedience in Democracy† by Kayla Starr, she explains why we have the right to participate in civil disobedience. â€Å"The U.S. Bill of Rights asserts that the authority of a government is derived from the consent of the governed, and whenever any formRead MoreHenry David Thoreau s Civil Disobedience1013 Words   |  5 PagesIn Henry David Thoreau’s â€Å"Civil Disobedience†, Thoreau makes the claim that the best form of government is a government that doesn’t govern at all. Thoreau’s paper pushes for the people to begin following the will of their conscience rather than blindly and foolishly follow the unjust idea of â€Å"majority rule†. Throughout the paper Thoreau makes a point of stating that â€Å"majority rule† is simply the will of the upper-class being forced into action o ver the rights and wills of the poorer minority. ThisRead MoreThe Effect Of Transcendentalism : Henry David Thoreau1654 Words   |  7 PagesThe Effect of Transcendentalism: Henry David Thoreau Transcendentalism is the American literary, political, and philosophical movement of the early nineteenth century that was rooted in the pure Romanticism of the English and the German (Goodman). Ralph Waldo Emerson is considered the father of Transcendentalism because his literature is the first to praise the notable spirituality of nature. The basic belief of the movement is to live authentically; being true to oneself (Day). The movement itselfRead MoreCritical Analysis Of Henry David Thoreaus Civil Disobedience984 Words   |  4 PagesHenry David Thoreau (1817–1862) was an introspective who desired only a simple life and wandered the woods of Concord, Massachusetts journaling. How, then, did he influence such political icons as Mohandas Gandhi, Leo Tolstoy, and Martin Luther King Jr.? The answer lies in â€Å"Civil Disobedience† (1849). â€Å"Civil Disobedience† is an analysis of the individual’s relationship to the state and focuses mainly on why men obey laws even when they violate their own conscience. It is not an essay of abstract