Civil Disobedience's Influence On Civil Rights Leaders

Michael Thomas
Dr. Khuta
English 122
18 February 2015

The Impact “Civil Disobedience” had on Civil Right Leaders

The American government never thought their people would ever go against the laws they thought were fair and civil. As far back to the mid 1800’s society has always showed signs of being civil and disobedient at the same time. Until Henry David Thoreau came into the mix with a dislike of having to pay taxes on something he did not believe in. Henry knew his rights as an American and under stood his first amendment and sought action. Henry David Thoreau wrote “Civil Disobedience” during the Mexican War in 1846 a time when many people from the north thought the war was a stratagem to aid the spread of southern slavery.”Civil
One of the most loved and famous civil rights activist in America was Martin Luther King, Jr. Even though Thoreau and Kings Movements slightly differed from each other one can only assume that King must have studied Thoreau in one point of his life. You can tell that Martin Luther King Jr didn’t just follow the content from Thoreau but in the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” King followed the style that Thoreau wrote in “Civil Disobedience”. The same way that Thoreau asked questions to his audience king asked questions to his by writing “Why direct action? Why sit –INS, marches and so forth? Isn’t negotiations a better path?” (Martin Luther King 226). Martin Luther King also follows Thoreau style when he writes “A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God” (Martin Luther King 228). Martin Luther King and Henry David Thoreau was similar not just because they stood up for what they belief in but their writing styles were the same. They both expressed their ideas by giving a detailed description of their current situation they was in. In their essay/ letter they both quoted other civil activist in their work. Like Martin Luther King Jr another man adopted Henry David Thoreau format in “Civil Disobedience” That man was named Ghandi. Ghandi
Henry David Thoreau did just that when he made the sacrifice to stand up for what he believed was the wrong doing of the American government in 1846. Easily henry could have paid the taxes and skipped the one night in jail, but he choose not to. If Henry David Thoreau would have paid the taxes there would be no essay titled “Civil Disobedience”. Without “Civil Disobedience” it would have been harder for Martin Luther King and Gandhi to succeed in their own civil right endeavors and everybody else that used “Civil Disobedience” as a format or structure. It’s great that we as society have teachers and people that come after us that we can use their work and elaborate on their work to continue on making this government a better place to live with no second