Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?
We have qualified writers to help you.
We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.
You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)
NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.
NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.
Letter From Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King and Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau were written in 1963 and 1849 accordingly. The premises of these writing are slightly different: King’s letter was an answer to his illegal imprisonment for conducting non-violent protest aimed at drawing public attention to the issue of racial segregation among Birmingham’s city officials while Thoreau’s essay was written as an opposition to slavery and the Mexican-American War. Despite this fact, both King and Thoreau had a common goal to expose the unjust laws that govern a society of civil resistance to unjust laws
It should be stressed that both King and Thoreau opposed the existing forms of governments, condemning the unjust, immoral laws that suppress people’s freedom, trying to implement their ideas in life through calling for civil resistance and non-violent means of struggle. United by the similar idea, both authors approached it differently resorting to various techniques while claiming civil resistance.
Both authors called for changes in the society that would foster justice and morality in it. However, Thoreau was intending to stand his point of view, to express his beliefs towards justice, while King provides a direct attack and severe opposition towards the clergymen structuring his letter so that refutes any their false statements, allegedly, based on moral and just laws. However, Thoreau states that only by civil disobedience and resistance, by overthrowing a government people could establish moral and ethical norms while King focuses on unjust actions of government and church towards black people persuasively explaining the fallacies of the existing system of laws. Moreover, Thoreau concentrates on actions that should be done to fight unjust laws, while King focuses on the underlying reasons that make a law immoral and unjust.
It should be pointed out that Thoreau’s and King’s views on citizens’ positions in the fight for justice are similar. Both authors emphasized the necessity of non-violent civil actions against unethical laws. Thoreau stated that it is people’s duty and obligation to claim for their rights and resist governmental inefficiency by acts of total civil disobedience. One of the ways, Thoreau offers is refusing to pay taxes to the government.
Similar to Thoreau, King is convinced that people should not resort to violent actions. But addressing clergymen, he stresses that suppressed Afro Americans would have no choice but to act violently against the injustice towards them. According to King, the only way to reduce the tensions between suppressed citizens and government is through non-violent protests and boycotts that would draw attention to a burning problem in society.
Despite both Thoreau and King, call for non-violent actions, they express their viewpoints differently. King makes use of a persuasive, gentle tone concentrating on the non-violent solution of confrontation as opposed to Thoreau being aggressive and assertive in expressing his beliefs in rejection of unjust government. Another difference between these two writings is the authors’ views towards the position of group and individual within society. While Thoreau lays emphasis on the importance of the results of civil oppression for an individual, King views improvements in the law system that would be beneficial for a group rather than an individual.
The approach towards obeying the law is also different in the writings in question. While King accepts going to jail intending to draw a wide response in the society towards the injustice of government, Thoreau appeals to people to act and stand for their principles and rights without any procrastination.
All things considered, it should be stressed that both Thoreau and King were passionate advocates of justice and morality in society and though different in some points, they both made a great contribution to the improvement of society.
Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?
We have qualified writers to help you.
We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.
You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)
NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.
NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.