Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr Essay

There is no doubt that there are many similarities between Martin Luther female monarch Jr. and Henry Thoreau though they did not live in the same century. superpower himself declared that he was greatly influenced by Thoreaus hear on polished self-willed. The both complaisant right activists had similar intellects on justice in the companionship. It is as well as believed that Thoreaus pass away was in any case influenced by Ralph Emerson who initiated the thoughts about transcendentalism in him. Although some people believe that top executive was more(prenominal) influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, the great Indian leader, it is important to note that the ideas of Gandhi were based on the ideas put forward by Thoreau.Moreover, King stated that term in college, he read Thoreaus essay on elegant disobedient which inspired very strong feelings on him (Arsenault, pg 62). The main difference between Thoreau and King is the place setting in which each one of them operated. It is also important to note that King was most(prenominal) vocal a century after Thoreau had left the scene. Thoreau was an author historian and a philosopher in the 19th century. One of his most famous books other than the polished disobedient essay was the Walden which had the main theme as simple living.Thoreau was also a white American since his grandfather was a Frenchman. He was opposed to the injustices against the minority in the society in the middle 19th century which included African Americans being used as slaves and the Mexican American war. On the other hand, King was a clergyman. He is considered to be the greatest civil activists in America in the twentieth century. He was the leader of African Americans civil rights movement. In the mid 20th century, there was no slavery in the United States but the African Americans were segregated and discriminated by the dominating race.King mobilized African Americans in protest matches and civil disobedient as a way of flak e for justice in the society (Powell, pp 26). Despite the two activists working in different centuries, they changed the civil rights traditions of civil rights and reforms in the American society. Thoreau was the first person to introduce the idea of civil disobedient as highroad of pushing for reforms in the American society. Since the publication of his essay on civil disobedient in the mid 19th century, his ideas have transformed activism in the whole world.The most famous influence of Thoreau ideas was on Kings letter which he wrote while in prison in Birmingham. In the letter, King states that Thoreau essay convinced him that not cooperating with what is evil is as essential as cooperation with what is secure. This is a clear indication that Kings ideas on civil rights movement were directly borrowed from Thoreaus ideas. The letter did not only fight the idea on non violent civil disobedient in human rights protest but also expounded on the ideas introduced by Thoreau in th e 19th century (Schroeder, pp 1).Thought the two activists had different views on the rights and license of all in the society, their views were based on the same idea. The basic idea was that the oppressed need to dramatize an active role in the fight against their rights. They were more concerned about the unequal treatment of the minorities in the society either being enslaved or segregated. While Thoreau advocated for personalized rights, King advocated for public awareness of the freedoms and rights for the good of all (Chernus, pp 305).Though the letter from Birmingham by Martin Luther King Jr. was based on the same idea with the civil disobedient essay by Thoreau, the two authors were different on all aspects. However, this does not counteract the fact that both contend an important role in securing freedom for the African Americans. Thoreau aided in securing freedom for the fugitive slaves in the 19th century through his strong criticism against slavery while King led no n violent protest matches and civil disobedient against the Jim Crows laws that segregated African Americans.They both held a strong position that unjust laws should be opposed by the masses (Powell, pp 26). The effectiveness of civil disobedient and peaceful direct action in the second half of the 20th century led by King was inspired by the effectiveness of the approach in India led by Gandhi. Thoreaus ideas had been be to be effective in India. King reintroduced Thoreaus ideas into the American protest traditions which were very effective. The legacy of the two great men is still evident in the American society as well as other societies of the world today.It is common for environmentalists, civil rights activists and same sex marriage supporters to invoke the words of King and Thoreau to defend their positions (Powell, pp 26). It is indisputable that Thoreau in the 19th century and King in the 20th century played an important role in the fight for African American rights. They introduced the idea of civil disobedient in the American society which proved to be effective. Though both of them were radically different, there ideas on civil rights and civil disobedient were very similar.