Henry David Thoreau, Fredrick Douglass and Martin Luther King, Jr. all had one thing in common; they all were looking for ways to increase awareness of civil rights for blacks and to abolish slavery and segregation. They all felt that the government was being unjust on the laws of segregation and that the government was more of a political government than a moral government. Henry David Thoreau, opened the door for civil rights activist in the centuries to come, by standing up to the laws he felt was unjust. His ability to proclaim that the government was being unjust to the slaves and likewise their freedom-was done in enormous steps, by taking a stand for what he believed in.
             Thoreau was an educated man and prominent among the Transcendentalists, who were a group of writers and thinkers, which believed in something that goes beyond materialism. He all but denies his idealism in "Civil Disobedience", however while spending a night in jail; he realizes he cannot quietly accept his government's behavior in regards to slavery. After his stay in jail, he then starts keeping a journal and continues the journal throughout his life, which eventually he was convinced that he was an excellent writer and he could earn a living from this. However, he made more money from lecturing on the lyceum circuit, a popular proving ground for speakers interested in promoting their ideas.
             In "Civil Disobedience", Thoreau expresses his deep disgust with the government, a government that is not totally just, moral and respectful of an individual; a government, which is more interested in running people like machines then as humans, whether this be whites or blacks. He talks about not being able to call a government his that is also the slave's government. One of his most famous quotes is "That government is best which
             ...