Henry Davis Thoruea/Compare
Henry David Thoreau was an American writer who is remembered for his attacks on the social institutions he considered immoral and for his faith in the religious significance of nature. The essay "Civil Disobedience" is his most famous social protest. Thoreau believed that each person must be free to act according to his own idea of right and wrong, without government interference. Sharing some of the same political beliefs as Thoreau, Martin Luther King Jr. was also an American civil rights leader who worked to bring about social, political, and economic equality for Africans by peaceful means. In 1963, he led a march in Birmingham, Alabama, to protest citywide racial discrimination. In the authors' essays, Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" and King's "Letter from Birmingham City Jail" both share similar feelings but also differ in some. Both believe society needs to abandon the "machine of government". Thoreau, as well as King, have similar thoughts based on the idea that the only obligation an individual has is to his conscience. Another similarity they share would be minority and the majority and the unjust ways the minority faces. A difference between the two authors would be the way they view anarchy. Thoreau believ
es society, when ready, should prevail upon themselves without a government while King believes there should be some sort of governmental guidance. Throughout the two pieces the similarities they share on ideas and beliefs can easily be noted as well as the differences. creating because they did not have the unhampered right..." Minority, although they make up the majority, have no input and therefore have no voice. Unjust laws forbid the minorities from growing. Therefore, both authors use minority vs/ majority as an example in expressing their feelings to show how unjust laws are forbidding growth of power among minorities. Both believed that individuals should do what they believe is right in accordance to their conscience. In Thoreau's words he believes "...the only obligation which I [Thoreau] have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think is right." Thoreau uses the word "obligation" to assert his right to the integrity of his own mind. He believes that an individual should refuse to obey any government rule he believes is unjust. Thoreau himself practiced this doctrine of passive resistance when, in 1846, he refused to pay toll taxes. This is similar to King's ideas, "I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the very highest respect for law." King believes that if you go against your consciences then you are being unjust to yourself. He feels that i
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1059
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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