РефератыИностранный языкCiCivil Disobedience Essay Research Paper Throughout American

Civil Disobedience Essay Research Paper Throughout American

Civil Disobedience Essay, Research Paper


Throughout American history, it is clear that many individuals have fought for


justice in a society that has often denied it. We know this information from


documents written by these individuals expressing their feelings on a certain


subject. On the subject of human rights, two specific men have expanded


their thoughts to make a difference. The very popular Dr. Martin Luther King


Jr., whose main philosophy on civil disobedience revolved around


nonviolence, wrote a ?Letter From Birmingham Jail? to eight clergymen


informing them of the situation in Birmingham, Alabama, in April of 1963.


Henry David Thoreau, a 19th century individualist, wrote an essay called


?Civil Disobedience? in which he explained his reasons for not paying taxes


to a government that was involved in an unjust war with Mexico. Although


these works were written for different causes, the two are similar in some


ways. Both are similar in how they get the reader to see and feel what the


writter sees and feels.


Both men, King and Thoreau, used emotional appeal in their work.


This was used to gain support from the reader by creating a feeling of


sympathy to be felt by the reader. Dr. King?s most emotional section was his


feelings on segregation. His feelings were based on how it was to be black


living in a segregated environment. This was extremely important


considering that he was directing his thoughts to the eight white clergymen.


He started a paragraph referring to the impact of segregation as ?stinging


darts.? The following sentences gave examples of the segregation and what it


put black people through. In one specific sentence, King used the image of


?you? having to tell ?your? young, innocent child that she cannot go to the


amusement park simply because of the color of her skin. King wrote,


?…when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering


as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can?t go to the


public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see


tears welling up in ger little eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to


colored children…and see her begin to distort her little personality by


unconsciously developing a bitterness to white people…? Most people are


more sensitive toward young children and hate to see their feelings hurt.


Children are also a symbol of the future. Henry Thoreau also used emotional


appeal in ?Civil Disobedience.? During the time he wrote this piece, slavery


was the biggest issue among Americans. He told about the injustice in having


slavery in a civilized society. He repeatedly referred to slavery whenever he


began to talk about the government?s unjust laws. Many who believed in the


abolition of slavery may have sided with Thoreau on some of his feelings


about the government. His thoughts were appealing to many in the North or


Abolitionists. In one section of his essay he wrote, ?When the majority shall


at length vote for the abolition of slavery, it will be because they are


indifferent to slavery, or because there is little slavery left to be abolished by


their vote.?


One very common feature found in both the letter written by Dr. King


and the essay by Thoreau was t

hat prison played a role in their struggles. It


is logical appeal to the reader to know that these men were real not phony.


They truly believed in what they argued for. Both of these men were


incarcerated for doing what they believed was right. Dr. King was locked up


for protesting (nonviolently) and Thoreau was put in jail for not paying taxes


to the government which he felt was unjust. Martin Luther King Jr. decided


to spend his time in jail writing his letter to the clergymen for support. The


fact that he was prison showed the men that a fellow clergyman did in fact


need help in Birmingham, Alabama. Henry Thoreau deeply anylized his one


night experience. He gave the feeling of total seclusion from the world when


describing his jail cell. He spoke of the walls and door being solid stone and


a few feet thick. He felt that he was treated ?as if I were mere flesh and


blood and bones, to be locked up.?


Dr. King and Henry David Thoreau both also referred to the Bible or


God in their writing. King compared the injustice of the situation in


Birmingham to a similar event in the Bible. He wrote, ?Just as the eighth


century prophets left their little villages and carried out their ?Thus saith the


Lord? far beyond the boundaries of their home town, and just as the Apostle


Paul left his little village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to


practically every hamlet and city of the Graeco-Roman world, I too am


compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my particular home town.?


He also recalled that civil disobedience was also ?practiced superbly by the


early Christians who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating


pain of chopping blocks, before submitting to certain unjust laws of the


Roman Empire.? This appeals to the clergymen directly. The use of what


they primarily stand for only gives them more of a reason to help end


segregation in areas like Birmingham. Thoreau didn?t use the bible to support


his thoughts, but he did mention God a few times in ?Civil Disobedience?.


Rhetorically, Thoreau asked the question (referring to the government),


?Why does it always crucify Christ, and excommunicate Copernicus and


Luther. . .? Thoreau also wrote on Christ?s beliefs and what he said to the


Herodians,- ?if you use money which has the image of Caesar on it, which he


has made current and valuable, that is, if you are men of the State, and gladly


enjoy the advantages of Caesar?s government, then pay him back some of his


own when he demands it.?


The two men had somewhat different views on majority and minority.


King used minority as an example of an unjust law, when it is denied the right


to vote. They have no chance of even being part of the majority because they


are black. In many southern areas, this was extremely unjust considering that


blacks were not a minority, in fact they were the majority of the people in


Birmingham.


Even though there is about a 100 year difference between the times in


which these works were written, they are very similar. Both express feelings


of unjust government. Both men also spent time in jail for the cause that they


believed in. Most importantly, both were wrote to gain support from readers,


and to allow people to see their

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