Civil Disobedience
Throughout American history, it is clear that many individuals have fought forjustice in a society that has often denied it. We know this information fromdocuments written by these individuals expressing their feelings on a certainsubject. On the subject of human rights, two specific men have expandedtheir thoughts to make a difference. The very popular Dr. Martin Luther KingJr., whose main philosophy on civil disobedience revolved aroundnonviolence, wrote a "Letter From Birmingham Jail" to eight clergymeninforming 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 taxesto a government that was involved in an unjust war with Mexico. Althoughthese works were written for different causes, the two are similar in someways. Both are similar in how they get the reader to see and feel what the Both men, King and Thoreau, used emotional appeal in their work. This was used to gain support from the reader by creating a feeling ofsympathy to be felt by the reader. Dr. King's most emotional section was his
The use of whatthey primarily stand for only gives them more of a reason to help endsegregation in areas like Birmingham. Henry Thoreau also used emotionalappeal in "Civil Disobedience. " Most people aremore sensitive toward young children and hate to see their feelings hurt. King and Henry David Thoreau both also referred to the Bible orGod in their writing. King used minority as an example of an unjust law, when it is denied the rightto vote. decidedto spend his time in jail writing his letter to the clergymen for support. Many who believed in theabolition of slavery may have sided with Thoreau on some of his feelingsabout the government. Both express feelingsof unjust government. They truly believed in what they argued for. In many southern areas, this was extremely unjust considering thatblacks were not a minority, in fact they were the majority of the people inBirmingham. This was extremely importantconsidering that he was directing his thoughts to the eight white clergymen. He felt that he was treated "as if I were mere flesh andblood and bones, to be locked up. He started a paragraph referring to the impact of segregation as "stingingdarts.
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