1849‚ Civil Disobedience‚ took transcendentalism and implemented into society. Thoreau’s civil acts were fundamental due to the fact that he did not integrate violence or fear. Thoreau’s defiant actions‚ involving governmental issues‚ landed him in jail because he refused to pay taxes. More than one hundred years later‚ in 1963‚ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr followed in Thoreau’s footsteps by participating in acts of civil disobedience in the Civil Rights Movement. The main goal of the Civil Rights Movement
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in the African-American Civil Rights Movement‚ did not aspire to the throne but to freedom and justice for the African-American community. In this context‚ he wrote Letter from Birmingham Jail which was addressed to the clergymen who had previously sent him a letter that criticized his protestations. This letter can be in some points compared to Machiavelli’s treatise. Those points are the notions of love and fear; that of integrity; and the notion of war. Is it better for
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Tyler Shields May 3‚ 2014 Analysis: “A Letter From Birmingham Jail” On April 16th‚ 1963‚ Martin Luther King Junior wrote one of the most memorable letters in the history of Civil Rights movement. He did so while being imprisoned in Alabama. On the fourth day of his incarceration‚ he produced the most beautiful prose I have ever read‚ in order to deliver a convincing and righteous message. Four days before the letter was written‚ King‚ and many other civil rights protestors‚ were arrested
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“We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jet-like speed toward gaining political independence‚ but we still creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say‚ “Wait.” But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when
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In this letter‚ addressed to eight “fellow clergymen” from Alabama who collectively published a letter of criticism in a newspaper on the handling of protests by King and his cohorts in Birmingham‚ King gives a few different takes on the difference between a just and unjust law. They’ve all to do with‚ as King says‚ “difference made legal”; as to say‚ “An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself.” It is necessary
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were both admirable men that strived for a better government. As respected spokesmen they served as rebels against what they thought to be bad one’s stopping at nothing. Not even jail. Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. were both brilliant men. Thoreau’s "Civil Obedience" and Dr. King’s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" are perfect examples of their intellect. Looking at these documents and observing the tactics they use while attempting to move their audience toward their ultimate goal‚ one
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members of society fought for equality. Some individuals employed the use of literature as a social commentary in their fight against injustice. “The Hanging of the Mouse‚” by Elizabeth Bishop‚ “The One Who Walk Away from Omelas‚” by Ursula Le Guin‚ and “Letter from Birmingham Jail‚” by Martin Luther King evoke emotions and appeal to the society’s sense of justice. The stories portray the theme of injustice and criticize the moral life of the American society. The writers employ different strategies
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practices in Birmingham‚ Alabama. King was serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was requested by a fellow affiliate‚ The Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights‚ to participate and "engage in [what they called] a nonviolent direct-action program"(164). As King and his affiliates joined together to organize a non-violent protest against racial segregation‚ King and his fellow brothers and sisters were soon jailed by the white conservative community of Birmingham. While
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life in addition to the fact that African Americans were second class citizens as a result of Supreme Court cases and many laws enacted throughout the United States. From a jail in Birmingham‚ Alabama‚ Dr. King wrote a letter to his fellow clergymen citing the reasons why it is right to perform acts of civil disobedience. In the letter he quoted St. Augustine who said‚ “An unjust law is no law at all.” The Civil Rights movement in the United States had other heroes who defied authority because of unjust
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Analysis: Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” In April of 1963 Martin Luther King was arrested during a nonviolent demonstration in Birmingham‚ Alabama. While incarcerated‚ he came across a public statement‚ “A Call for Unity” made by eight white clergymen in attempt to criticize his work and ideas. It was then that Martin Luther King wrote his rebuttal “Letter from Birmingham Jail”‚ using rhetorical appeals to not only under mind the clergymen’s statement‚ but their moral sense
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