Mahatma Gandhi's Role In Civil Disobedience

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Our second president of the United States, John Quincy Adams, said, “if your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” At the time he wrote “Self-Reliance,” little did Ralph Waldo Emerson know that his words would inspire future civil rights leaders. Likewise, Henry David Thoreau probably had no idea that his refusal to pay a poll tax which resulted in his incarceration and subsequent publication of “Civil Disobedience,” would be the key to unlocking the potential of two great men, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.
Emerson believed that everyone should “trust thyself”. This motto ties together the first section of his essay. He believed to rely on others judgment is cowardly, without inspiration or hope. “Let a man then know his worth, then keep things under his feet,” shows for people who want to achieve the …show more content…
Gandhi was thrown in jail and while he was serving his time, he read the essay, “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau. This essay acclaimed unjust laws and that is exactly what Gandhi believed he was thrown in jail for- he was required to, as an Indian, register with the police and be fingerprinted, however, he stood up to this “unjust law” as well as many other Indians. Gandhi adopted the term, “civil disobedience” to describe his strategy of non-violently refusing to cooperate with injustice, which in turn connects him and Thoreau. Thoreau was influenced by Indian spiritual thought and American romanticism, while Gandhi received influence from Jainism. The two were both influenced by cultural ways, in turn connecting them to each other even more. As for political views, the government was making people pay a poll tax to the church, and Thoreau believed this was wrong, so he refused to pay. Gandhi, being the man he was, refused to pay taxes put on salt, do he lead a protest known as the “Salt
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