Similarities Between Martin Luther King And Thomas Paine

Martin Luther King Jr. was a minister and an activist in the 1930s-1968. He believed in racial equality, and fought his entire adult life for this freedom. In “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” King writes to those who are calling his actions “‘unwise and untimely’” and he explains the heinous crimes that are taking place in Birmingham, as well as, how he plans to right this wrong. Thomas Paine was a philosopher and writer in the nineteenth century. Many of his writings took place during a time of conflict, for example, Common Sense was written when the thirteen colonies were debating fighting for freedom against Great Britain. As seen with King, Paine fought most of his adult life for a cause he believed in, freedom. Paine spoke to the people …show more content…
Paine and King both wrote to the people as a to reach out and rally their respective group together. The difference lies in the way King executed his revolt; King led many peaceful marches, gave many speeches, and even encouraged the boycott of certain businesses. When King wrote to his followers, he kept the people focused on their goal- freedom from segregation. Paine had that similar approach, except, instead of going from town to town fighting for freedom, bit by bit, he wrote once, to all Americans about why they should fight against the crown that has trapped them for so …show more content…
This basis is nonviolence. King was a strong believer that peaceful marches and powerful, moving speeches could change the mind quicker and more efficiently than any act of violence could do. Paine had this same belief, but he also believed that if one was in danger, then it was his or her moral responsibility to do whatever it takes to stop the one causing the harm. Both writers were granted with their desired result; King and his followers dissolved mass segregation in America and Paine influenced enough people to fight for freedom, which America obtained in 1783 when the Treaty of Paris was