Comparing Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau :: Compare Contrast Comparison

By acting civil but disobedient you atomic number 18 able to protest things you dontthink are fair, non-violently. Henry David Thoreau is one of the most importantliterary figures of the nineteenth century. Thoreau?s essay Civil Disobedience,which was written as a speech, has been used by many great thinkers such asMartin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Ghandi as a map to fight against injustice.Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a pastor that headed the Civil Rights movement.He was a gifted speaker and a powerful writer whose philosophy was non-violentbut direct action. Dr.King?s strategy was to generate sit-ins, boycotts, and marches.Dr. Kings Letter from Birmingham Jail was based on the principles ofThoreaus Civil Disobedience. Both Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry DavidThoreau are exceptional persuasive writers. Even though both writers are writingon ways to be civil but disobedient, they have opposite ways of convicing you. Dr.King is religious, gentle and apologetic, focusing on what s good for the groupwhile Thoreau is in truth aggressive and assertive for his own personal hate againstthe government. Both Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau have the sameideas, but view them differently. Dr. King wants to in the end raise awareness andopen doors for the better of a group. Thoreau wants more individual rights forpeople. Dr. King is explaining his view of conscienceI submit that an individual who breaks a fairness that conscience tells him is unjust, and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail to arouse theconscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing thevery highest respect for the faithfulness (Martin Luther King, p. 521).This quote shows Dr. King?s opinion on going to jail. King knows that he wasunjustly put into jail. He accepts going to jail even though he was put in jailwrongly. The community then knows of the injustice and should pressure thegovernment. The other thing that happens is King is respecting the law by obeyingit. He is a peaceful man and wants justice, but believes in following the rulespeacefully to get the job done. Thoreau feels that conscience plays a morepersonal role.Can there non be a government in which majorities do not virtually decideright and wrong, but conscience?... Must the citizen ever for a moment, orin the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has everyman a conscience, then. I think that we should be men first, and subjectafterward (Henry David Thoreau, p.581). Thoreau is skeptical why majorities make the rules.