Essays on Civil Disobedience

In “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. invokes passages from “The Gettysburg Address,” The Declaration of Independence, and the Bible. Why do you think he references these sources? How do these sources help make his letter more powerful? Dr. King Jr. wrote the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” after an unfair offer…

It’s our responsibility’s as citizens to not only follow the laws in place but to challenge them when we deem them unjust. By doing this we are directly committing civil disobedience. Civil disobedience is a tool that when molested can hurt the system in place but, when used justly to alter the laws inhibiting certain…

English 111February 21, 1997Is an individual ever morally justified in breaking a man made law? I firmly believe the answer to this question is yes. If the question was stated as, is an individual ever legally justified in breaking a man made law I would have to say no. There are several reasons that have…

Henry David Thoreau was born on july 12th 1817 and died in 1862 to give an idea of the time. He was a poet and philosopher who had graduated from Harvard college.He believed that the law of nature and god was more important than the law of man. He had a rebellious personality and he…

Emerson ends his essay “Self-reliance” with the following: “Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of your own principles.” Following this, some years later, Thoreau writes “Civil Disobedience” after he is imprisoned for adhering to his own moral compass, which is at odds with the state laws….

John Calvin is one of the most famous reformation theologians of the 1500’s. One of his most decorated works is the Institutes of the Christian Religion: A book rich of Christian theology and the manual for reformed protestants. A topic not widely associated with Calvin is politics, yet he offers a unique perspective on government…

There has been a long debate about civil disobedience in our country. Is it an appropriate response to things that we do not like? Or should we never engage in it? Depending who you ask, some may argue its ok when there is a need for change, whiles others state that we should never resort…

In “Civil Disobedience,” Henry David Thoreau indicates that justice will come with a price in order to be achieved. He argues, “a people, as well as an individual, must do justice, cost what it may” (3). Henry Thoreau believed that the government is the best when it doesn’t govern at all. Thoreau advocates that in…

In today’s society, it is not unusual for the common people to disagree with the forces governing them. Recent studies estimate that only one out of every five Americans trusts the government (CNN). The relating question that is more difficult to answer, is when is a simple “disagreement” enough to allow disobedience? People tend to…

The American people are the audience of Henry Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience”, and with his argument, he attempts to ignite the flames inside of each and every person to go out and question the authority of their leaders; and to specifically challenge the actions and decisions of their government. Throughout the longevity of his paper, Thoureau…