Thoreau, Gandhi, And Mandel Heroes Of His Nations

There are two people that are similar in a way, but also very different. Two do not have to believe in the same religion nor do they have to have the same lifestyle. They can compare negatively or positively in such a way that others may not understand. This is where Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Henry David Thoreau come in. The two compare and contrast with each other in more ways than some would ever think of.

Nelson Mandela did some helpful things in his life but other people thought it was unacceptable and so he went to jail for no reason. Nelson Mandela was a great leader and left a legacy by winning epic political battles, by making everyone have their rights, and he was president not for the rich stuff but to help out with people’s health, housing, and education. In these next paragraphs they will talk about Nelson Mandela’s childhood. Also about his life in jail and why he went to jail. Lastly, about his president life and how he became president.

In the 1930’s it was rare for a black South African to attend college. But Mandela not only attended, he graduated, got a degree from law school, and set up a practice in Johannesburg which he hoped could support his small family. Yet apartheid was always a humiliation to him. When the Afrikaner, or Dutch South African, Nationalists came to power in the 1948 election, the segregation habits of the past three hundred years became law. Hoping for a brighter future, Mandela joined the African National Congress (ANC) and became its first Youth Leader.

“To deny people their right to human rights is to challenge their very humanity. To impose on them a wretched life of hunger and deprivation is to dehumanize them. But such has been the terrible fate of all black persons in our country under the system of apartheid (“In Nelson Mandela’s own words”). Nelson Mandela was a moral compass symbolizing the struggle against racial oppression. Nelson Mandela emerged from prison after twenty-seven years to lead his country to justice. For twenty-seven years he sat in a cell because he believed in a country without apartheid, a country with freedom and human rights. He fought for a country where all people were equal, treated with respect and given equal opportunity. Nelson Mandela looms large in the

The idea of creating protest based on one's belief has been around for thousands of years and has continued to be spread throughout the world ever since Henry Thoreau published his essay “Civil Disobedience” back in 1849. Civil right leaders including Martin Luther King and Gandhi were inspired to revolt against the government based on their evaluation of the well known essay written by Thoreau. The interpretation of “Civil Disobedience” was acted out through peaceful protest towards the government. Although the objective was to create peaceful protests towards the government, occasionally the move would initiate violent acts. Thoreau did not believe in these violent acts because he thought that if he was going to be punished for something that he believed in, then he would rather just be thrown in jail considering his home life was worse than what prison life would be. Non violent acts were also encouraged by Gandhi and King, a trend that they all followed along with by accepting any penalties towards them while protesting. This trend has followed over to our present day movements around the world including protest towards military funerals, as people are going to continue to protest these funerals even though new restrictions have been put into place in order to try and stop the rioters. Civil disobedience has led to many modern protest including the protest against military funerals, which is a great example of the power of civil disobedience.

According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, the definition of civil disobedience is the “refusal to obey governmental demands or commands especially as a nonviolent and usually collective means of forcing concessions from the government.” Men such as Henry David Thoreau, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. have all used forms of civil disobedience and nonviolent protest to make changes in the world. These changes have made huge impacts on our societies and how we are able to live our everyday lives. Without these three men and their practice of civil disobedience, the world would be a very different place.

These huge happenings both removed the global communist threat and freed people from injustices, which created an illusion that the entire world was listening in on South Africa, expecting a revolutionary change. From the very beginning protesters, especially Nelson Mandela himself, were influenced by Gandhi and his Satyagraha campaign in India as it was in several ways a similar fight. They both took place in countries that had been colonised by Great Britain, they both fought against the discrimination and oppression of the population and were both led by world-renowned leaders that shared fundamental ideas of unity and compassion. However, Gandhi’s philosophy wasn’t something Mandela followed meticulously. One of the major differences between their methods of ruling is that Mandela used violence at times, as it came to a point where he saw it as a necessity. It is important to note that without Gandhi’s fight in India, the protesters in South Africa may never have had motivation enough to see the potential they held, and what a difference they could make by

Henery David Thoreau, Nelson Mandela, Mohandas K. Gandhi were all men who fought in their own way for equality. David fought with the government because he was against the Mexican American war and also was against the poll tax that had been set by the government right after the war. He thought that the people themselves were capable of making good decisions for themselves and come to an agreement with everyone else in the state. Although the government would not allow it he would notice that the people would not let the government abuse their rights. Henery was put in jail for one day because he refused to pay the tax poll the government force them to pay and he saw the beauty of his community not letting that happen.

These men both were fighting towards the idea of civil rights, however to what extent and focused towards who were a bit different. For example, Thoreau in his writing “Civil Disobedience” he focuses on the control and denial of rights that the government held to its people. He shares his clear thought on government, “I heartily accept the motto “That government is best which governs least,” and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe “That government is best which governs not at all”; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the

Specific Purpose: To inform my communication studies 192 with a general understanding of the life and outstanding impact that Nelson Mandela has left on the world.

The life story of Nelson Mandela has long become a legend, a story that transcends race, borders, culture, or language. He is one of the greatest leaders to ever step foot on this Earth. He was willing to give up his own personal freedoms for the good of his people. Still, his decisions at major points in his lifetime hold lessons for individuals who are inspired of becoming good leaders. Many leaders are inspired by the actions and decision-makings abilities of Mandela. He kept the interest of others before his own. This is what made Nelson Mandela a great leader, and worthy of winning a Nobel Prize. From the decisions he made, and his life experiences while fighting for human rights, one can conclude that Mandela is truly

One large problem that occurred because of apartheid and was the cause of many protests was from 1961-1994, 3.5 million colored people and their families were forced out of their homes while their property was sold for very low prices to white farmers. This was just one example of events that were completely unfair to the colored population. Nelson Mandela was the person who stopped these acts from happening. In 1994, Mandela became the country’s first colored president. Instead of trying to make the people who put him into jail for 27 years suffer in consequences, he embraced them and used peace to unite everyone as equals, and not oppressing the people who had oppressed him for most of his life. Apartheid was a very rough time for anyone who lived in South Africa before Nelson Mandela and his peace helped to stop it.

Nelson Mandela was the man who abolished Apartheid, freeing South Africa from the binds of racial segregation forever. However, it was not an easy road and Mandela needed patience, strength of character, focus, passion, understanding, perseverance, and most importantly, forgiveness, to achieve this. For more than forty years, black South Africans were subject to the harsh racial segregation of the Apartheid system; despite making up over 70% of South Africa’s population, they had little to no rights.

Imagine being systematically oppressed from the moment you exited the womb. All your civil rights, based on the amount of melanin in your skin. Drinking from the wrong water fountain, could even get you thrown into jail. Coincidently; this was the life, of black South Africans from the moment of Dutch colonization in 1652, to the first true democratic election in 1994. Apartheid, meaning “separateness” in Afrikaans; was legal segregation enforced by The National Party (NP) from 1948 to 1994. It legally imposed preexisting policies of racial discrimination on the Majority of the South African population. The entire basis of the racist policies, was the darker your complexion the less legal rights you had. Presumably this injustice, could have continued much longer if it weren’t for all involved in the fight against the NP, however the man who arguably contributed the most, was Nelson Mandela. He ended an apartheid, with both his philanthropy and political prowess. He united a nation that used to be segregated; which seemed a daunting task at the time, but through the sweat and bloodshed he achieved the impossible. This alone exhibited his heroic characteristics, but to be more precise: both his actions and inactions lead to his success. Furthermore, Mandela was both a strong leader and forgiving at the same-time. Being in the forefront of the abolishment movement, was an extremely risky move during the apartheid. He risked his life for what he believed in, and this personal

I have always thought that Nelson Mandela has been one of the most important people in history. I find it very fascinating that one man could end the Apartheid and that is why I want to find out more about this. South Africa is a country with a past of enforced racism and separation of its multi-racial community. The White Europeans invaded South Africa and started a political system known as 'Apartheid' (meaning 'apartness'). This system severely restricted the rights and lifestyle of the non-White inhabitants of the country forcing them to live separately from the White Europeans. I have chosen to investigate how the Apartheid affected people’s lives, and also how and why the Apartheid system rose and fell in South Africa.