Henry Thoreau’s Influence on Martin Luther King Jr. Essay -- Essays Pa

enthalpy Thoreaus Influence on Martin Luther great power juniorHenry David Thoreau was a great American writer, philosopher, and naturalist of the 1800s whos writings assume influenced galore(postnominal) famous leaders in the 20th century, as well as in his own life prison term. Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts in 1817, where he was later educated at Harvard University. Thoreau was a transc set asideentalist writer, which means that he believed that intuition and the individual sense of right and wrong transcend experience and are better guides to truth than are the senses and synthetical reason (Prentice Hall 1174). Thoreau is well known for writing Walden Pond, Excursions, The Maine Woods, Cape Cod, and A Yankee in Canada. In 1849 Henry David Thoreau wrote an essay called Civil noncompliance which little did he know would influence great leaders much(prenominal) as Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and US civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther exponen t, Jr.Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1929. He graduated college with honors and unquestionable a talent for public speaking. A man by the anticipate of Edgar D. Nixon saw Kings public-speaking gifts as great assets in the appointment for black civil rights in Montgomery, where the bus system was about to be boycotted on account of Rosa Parks incarceration. King easily became a well-known civil rights leader that gave many speeches and non-violent protests. This is about the time that King studied the writings of Henry David Thoreau, especially Civil Disobedience. throughout the history of the United States, there have been many times when citizens have felt the need to revolt against the government. Times of revolt where when Henry Thoreau was alive(p) and during the civil rights movement of the 1950s. The reasons for ... ...st laws performed by the government. King actually adopted Thoreaus teachings and ideas of direct action and used them in leading the movement to end racial segregation in the United States.Henry David Thoreau was a hopeful transcendentalist writer, who not only influenced people of his time, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, but many great leaders in the past century. Civil Disobedience surface away for non-violent protests that were more effective in changing cheating(prenominal) laws. Martin Luther King Jr. followed many of Thoreaus teachings and which made segregation no long-life a problem in America. Two other great leaders that Thoreau influenced were Mohandas Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela. Thoreau inspired reforms and the overturning of unjust laws and customs. If it werent for Henry David Thoreau and Civil Disobedience, many unjust laws might have been still in effect today.