How Martin Luther King JR. and Henry Thoreau compare 

Above is a video about Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther kings activism in defeating segregation is well known. In his letter from the Birmingham jail he refers to conscience as a guide to obeying just laws and defying unjust laws. In comparison, Henry David Thoreau also believes in disobeying unjust laws in his writing "civil Disobedience. " King, like Thoreau, was willing to suffer for his views, especially when he found himself faced with punitive laws denying civil rights to all citizens." (page 375 in " A World of Ideas") . The only difference is that Thoreau wanted the Government to "stand by" and let the people govern themselves. Martin Luther king only wanted the oppressed people to have the same freedom as the oppressor. I do believe Martin Luther could have read "Civil Disobedience" simply because his values ran along the same line as Thoreau.  

Cicero's "Defense of Justice"

Cicero believes that justice always changes through time, and everyone always has a different opinion about it. “Justice is not one static thing, it changes over time and in different places because its not like a rock, tree, or color.” Humans are the reasons for unjust laws. They didnt just appear. " But the point is that laws are not imposed on us by

nature—or by our innate sense of justice. They are imposed by

the fear of being penalized. In other words, human beings are

not just, by nature, at all" We, humans, are the cause for our own destruction"