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Nelson Mandela and failure to civil disobedience
Civil disobedience thoreau and martin luther king
Civil disobedience thoreau and martin luther king
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Civil Disobedience Essay
Laws are sometimes weird and silly, people break laws all the time while they don’t even realize it. In Alabama it is illegal to have an ice cream cone in your back pocket at any time. Considering this, it is right to disobey the law when one’s conscience dictates him or her to do so as demonstrated by Dr. King, Nelson Mandela, and Henry David Thoreau. These historical men used the idea of unity, freedom, and peace to explain their messages across.
MLK Jr. and Nelson Mandela relate back to Henry David Thoreau using the idea of unity.
Unity when explaining the idea on non-violence. Martin Luther King Jr. agreed with Henry David Thoreau on unity.“I have a dream that one day right there in Alabama
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little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.”(King). This quote symbolizes that everyone should join together and become united as equals. Thoreau believed in unity of one self. That no one person should be forced to become like someone else. He believed everyone should be united in their self. That no one should be forced to live a way they do not want to live. Mandela believed in unity, but in a different way. “In life, every man has twin obligations-obligations to his family, to his parents, to his wife and children; and he has an obligation to his people, his community”(Mandela). This quote illustrates that Mandela believed he was united to his family, but also to his community. He believed that he could be united not just to one thing, but to two things. He was united to his family and to his community to his people. Mandela was united to his people. He wanted them to be free. Referring back to freedom, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and Henry David Thoreau all broke the laws because they didn’t believe the laws were just.
MLK Jr. when to jail because he was protesting the treatments of African Americans in Birmingham. “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred”(King). This quote demonstrates that King believed you should not get freedom by hurting someone for it, you should get freedom by being yourself and protesting non-violently. Henry David Thoreau also believed in freedom, but in a different way. “The only obligation which I have a right to assume, is to do at any time what I think right”(Thoreau). Henry believed that he should not have to pay taxes for things he did not believe in. Henry went to prison for a day because he didn’t pay his taxes. Henry believed that he should have the freedom to not pay for things he did not support or believe in. Henry went against the law for his freedom. Nelson Mandela believed in freedom also. Nelson Mandela went to jail for 27 years because he stranded up against a government that was abusive against black South Africans. Nelson broke the law, but for a reason. Once, he got out of jail Nelson lead the way to abolition of segregation in South
Africa. “I am not truly free if I am taking away some-one else’s freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me”(Mandela). This quote illustrates that Mandela himself was free, but he did not believe he was free until everyone in his country was free. Nelson, Henry, and Martin all went to go to jail because they broke the laws of their country. They broke the laws because they were not given freedom. This relates back to Thoreau because he believed that everyone should be free, he did what he did because he thought that was right; he tried to do this though as peaceful as possible. Going back to peace, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and Henry David Thoreau believed that the world should be peaceful and non violent. MLK never when protesting used any violence. “The reason I can’t follow the eye-for-an-eye philosophy is that it ends up leaving everyone blind”(King). This quote demonstrates that Martin Luther King Jr. believed in peace not violence. He did not want people to fight each other. Martin Luther King Jr. was a non-violent civil rights activist. He used his words instead of his fist, he might have broken the law, but he broke the law peacefully. He did his protesting peacefully. He did not believe in violence just like Henry David Thoreau. “If a plant cannot live according to its nature, it dies; and so a man”(Thoreau). This quote demonstrates that if people can’t live peacefully and with other that man will not be able to survive. Thoreau believed that you should live peacefully. Thoreau did his protesting peacefully. As referred in the essay before Thoreau wanted freedom. He protested this by not paying his taxes. He did not punch anyone or hurt anyone. He did his protesting peacefully like Nelson Mandela. Nelson Mandela believed there was moral goodness in using an ineffective weapon or non-violence in general. This relates back to Thoreau in the meaning that everyone should live peacefully. They both believed that you should not use a weapon to make a point. Also this could relate back to Martin Luther King Jr. He also believed that you should not use violence to make a message to the people. Therefore it is right to disobey the law when one’s moral ideas dictates him or her to do so as demonstrated by Nelson Mandela, Dr. King, and Henry David Thoreau. These historical men used the idea of freedom, unity, and peace to explain their messages across. As a final point, law’s can be silly and can also be important. It is up to the person who is breaking the laws itself to decided when it is worth it.
Throughout a series of books, and now movies known as Divergent they hit a lot of points as to what is believed as a “good society”. In the series, Divergent all must conform and fall into a certain category Dauntless, Abnegation, Erudite, Candor, or Amity . If one fails to do so, and falls into all of the categories they are known as “Divergent," and must be killed for failing to conform to traditional society standards and rules. This relates to Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau, because he talks about humans not needing a form of structure set by a hierarchy, such as a government. A good society according to Thoreau, is one with little to no government involvement, one that respects laws to a certain extent, and one that follows
"an unjust law is no law at all."- quote by St. Augustine who was an Christian theologian and philosopher, whose writings influenced the development of Western Christianity. Martin Luther King Jr. was a baptist minister and civil rights leader that made advancements for civil rights peacefully, exclusively for African Americans in America. Mohandas Gandhi was a non-violent leader of the Indian independence movement against British rule. Accordingly, both MLK Jr. and Gandhi were leaders for civil rights that practiced and preached non-violent approaches for their freedom.Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi were both valid in their judgment to break the law for their peaceful protests.
Comparing Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience and Martin Luther King's Letter From a Birmingham Jail. The two essays, "Civil Disobedience," by Henry David Thoreau, and "Letter From a Birmingham Jail," by Martin Luther King, Jr., effectively illustrate the authors' opinions of justice. Each author has his main point; Thoreau, in dealing with justice as it relates to government, asks for "not at once no government, but at once a better government. King contends that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Martin Luther King and Henry David Thoreau each write exemplary persuasive essays that depict social injustice and discuss civil disobedience, which is the refusal to comply with the law in order to prove a point. In his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” King speaks to a specific audience: the African Americans, and discusses why he feels they should bring an end to segregation. Thoreau on the other hand, in “Civil Disobedience,” speaks to a broader, non-addressed audience as he largely expresses his feelings towards what he feels is an unjust government. Both essays however, focus on the mutual topics of morality and justice and use these topics to inform and motivate their audience to, at times, defy the government in order to establish the necessary justice.
Justice is often misconceived as injustice, and thus some essential matters that require more legal attentions than the others are neglected; ergo, some individuals aim to change that. The principles of civil disobedience, which are advocated in both “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. to the society, is present up to this time in the U.S. for that purpose.
Mahatma Gandhi, a prominent leader in the independence movement of India once said, “Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the state becomes lawless and corrupt.”(brainyquotes.com) Gandhi states that protest and civil disobedience are necessary when the authority becomes unscrupulous. This correlates to “Declaration of Independence,” by Thomas Jefferson; “Civil Disobedience,” by Henry David Thoreau; and “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” by Martin Luther King Jr., because all three leaders felt that civil disobedience was important to help protest against an unjust ruling. Jefferson stood up to the injustice of the king by writing the Declaration of Independence and urged others to stand up for the independence of America. Thoreau exemplified
The title is an important aspect that should be considered and not misinterpreted. When this essay was first published it was under the title “Resistance to Civil Government”. The resistance in his title is later used as metaphor that compares the government to that of a machine. The machine is producing injustice therefore he says “If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go; perchance it will wear smooth — certainly the machine will wear out.” He furthers this metaphor by saying “Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine.” After the death of Thoreau his essay was retitled “Civil Disobedience”. For the purpose of this essay civil is meant as “relating to citizens and their interrelations with one another or with the state”, and therefore civil disobedience stands for “disobedience to the state”.
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech may have many differences with George Wallace’s “Segregation Now, Segregation Forever” speech but they share some similarities as well. They both share a need for freedom. One wants freedom from segregation and the other wants freedom from being told what to do. Also they discuss religion and what it means for them. One uses it as slander and the other uses it to promote peace among people. Insert third point. Commentate here. Comparing and contrasting both speeches will show how alike and dislike both are.
Thoreau and MLK use many similar strategies in their writings. One uses these strategies to make their piece more effective, in my observations of the two writing I come to realize MLK's persuasive letter, Letter from Birmingham Jail was far more effective than Thoreau’s Lecture On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, and here is why. MLK’s article was more effective because he strives towards tugging on the audience's heartstrings rather than the logical side, his repetition was used more effective, and he refers back to his audience. Also, because MLK stayed more on topic and was more passionate about his piece, made his writing a more effective disquisition.
In his famous essay, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,’’ Martin Luther King, Jr. cites conscience as a guide to obeying just laws and defying unjust laws. In the same way, Henry David Thoreau wrote in his famous essay, “Civil Disobedience,” that people should do what their conscience tells them and not obey unjust laws. The positions of the two writers are very close; they use a common theme of conscience, and they use a similar rhetorical appeal of ethos.
Thoreau wasn 't one to take advantage of what the world had to offer and just took life what it was, all while following his motto of doing what was right. Thoreau sees the miracles of the world similarly to the Whitman poem because there isn 't a limit to what can be appreciated. There are quite a few modern views that compare well to Thoreau as they take that step away from society defined by technology and progression and just take a look at the bigger picture, one of these approaches is the recent Occupy Wall Street movement.
Every individual should be capable of discovering a higher truth through their intuition, however, in some cases, there may be an obstacle preventing them. According to Henry David Thoreau and his belief of Transcendentalism, people should stick up for their beliefs and embrace civil disobedience to allow their thoughts to be heard. Thoreau, for example, refused to pay his taxes for the Mexican-American war which he did not believe in. Similarly, Nelson Mandela chose to use nonviolent defiance against the South African government. Under the government's rule they applied Apartheid, which divided the population into four distinct racial groups: white, black, colored, and Indian. Strict laws and segregation were enforced on the basis of these
In his essay, “Resistance to Civil Government,” often times dubbed, “Civil Disobedience,” Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) argues against abiding to one’s State, in protest to the unjust laws within its government. Among many things, Thoreau was an American author, poet, and philosopher. He was a firm believer in the idea of civil disobedience, the act of refusing to obey certain laws of a government that are felt to be unjust. He opposed the laws regarding slavery, and did not support the Mexican-American war, believing it to be a tactic by the Southerners to spread slavery to the Southwest. To show his lack of support for the American government, he refused to pay his taxes. After spending a night in jail for his tax evasion, he became inspired to write “Civil Disobedience.” In this essay, he discusses the importance of detaching one’s self from the State and the power it holds over its people, by refraining from paying taxes and putting money into the government. The idea of allowing one’s self to be arrested in order to withhold one’s own values, rather than blindly following the mandates of the government, has inspired other civil rights activists throughout history such as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Both these men fought against unjust laws, using non-violent, yet effective, methods of protest. From these three men, we can learn the significance of detaching ourselves from the social norm; and instead, fight for our values in a non-violent way, in order to make a change in our government’s corrupt and unjust laws.
Comparing the Civil Disobedience of Martin Luther King Jr., Henry David Thoreau, and Mohandas Gandhi. From the onset of man fighting for freedom or his beliefs, the question has always been whether one person can make a difference using words rather than wars. Philosophically, the concept of civil disobedience would appear to be an ineffective weapon against political injustice; history however has proven it to repeatedly be one of the most powerful weapons of the common man. Martin Luther King Jr. looked at the way African Americans were treated in the United States and saw an increase in inequality.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was a philosopher and writer who is well known for his criticism of the American government during the time. During Thoreau’s life, there were two major issues being debated in the United States: slavery and the Mexican-American War. Both issues greatly influenced his essay, as he actually practiced civil disobedience in his own life by refusing to pay taxes in protest of the Mexican War. He states that the government should be based on conscience and that citizens should refuse to follow the law and has the duty not to participate and stay as a member of an unjust institution like the government. I argue that the notion of individualism and skepticism toward government is essential in the basis of many important reform movements in the modern society.