Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry Thoreau's beliefs on civil disobedience
...im. So he was released from prison. Another cause that he felt strongly about was the Mexican/American war. Thoreau felt that it was wrong that the United States government was sending people to be killed for no reason. All of these causes he felt very passionately about. Henry Thoreau expressed his beliefs about civil disobedience through his literature. Everything that Thoreau believed, he wrote down in journals and other pieces of literature. Thoreau's biggest love was literature and whenever he had spare time he wrote. Since he wrote a lot about his life, a lot of his literature was about civil disobedience, and how people should revolt against the government. Thoreau said that the duty of all citizens is to practice civil disobedience in order to change unjust laws. I have never declined paying the highway tax, because I am as desirous of being a good neighbor as I am of being a bad subject; and as for supporting schools, I am doing my part to educate my fellow-countrymen now. It is for no particular item in the tax-bill that I refuse to pay it. I simply refuse allegiance to the state, to withdraw and stand aloof from it effectually. I do not care to trace the course of my dollar, if I could, till it buys a man or a musket to shoot one with, -the dollar is innocent, -but I am concerned to trace the effects of my allegiance. (Weber 88) Henry Thoreau inspired many people through his actions and literature. A lot of people looked up to Thoreau because of what he did because of his beliefs. There are many famous civil rights leaders that have looked to Thoreau's literature for inspiration. For example, Gandhi had studied Henry Thoreau's works for inspiration. Gandhi was the most famous non-violent civil rights leader, possibly of all history. There were many other famous people that studied Thoreau's beliefs in hope of learning more about civil disobedience, and also what people can do to try and reform society. This is what Henry Thoreau was hoping to try and do, so that maybe things would change for the better. Martin Luther King grew up during an extremely racist time. He was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. Growing up in the south, he was segregated from society because of his color. His father was a Baptist preacher, which Martin Luther King later pursued. Martin Luther King earned his bachelors degree in divinity from Crozier Theological Seminary in 1951. He was a preacher for a long time where he learned a lot about public speaking. Later on he earned his doctors in philosophy from Boston University in 1955. Martin Luther King tried many things to make equal rights. He led many protests and marches in the hope that people would listen, and help in the fight against racism. In 1963 he led a massive march in Washington D.C., at this march King held his "I have a dream" speech. This speech has gone down in history as one of the most famous civil rights speeches ever. Also in 1963, he wrote "Letter from Birmingham Jail." This time it inspired a national civil rights movement in America. Later on in 1964, the Nobel peace Prize was awarded to him for achieving non-violent civil rights reform. On April 4, 1968 Martin Luther King was shot by James Earl Ray, on a balcony at Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tennessee. He died at the age of only 39 years old. Martin Luther King's beliefs inspired many people to speak their minds. In the 1960's Kings' ideas created peaceful turmoil between society and it's people. His movements helped blacks have more respect and rights and he brought a lot of people from different ethnic backgrounds together. He was one of the few people to practice civil disobedience in a peaceful manner. In Montgomery, for instance, the Protestors' strategy was not at first conceived of as illegal: it was almost three months after the initiation of the bus boycott that the city government ...