In the 1960s, John Lewis and his fellow civil rights activists were influenced by Thoreau's beliefs presented in "Civil Disobedience." In what ways did these civil rights activists follow the principles professed by Thoreau in his essay? Cite evidence from both reading selections to support your answer.

Thoreau defended the non-payment of taxes to a government that influenced wars in "Civil Disobedience". This influenced John Lewis and his fellow activists who decided not to pay taxes to a government that did not consider them citizens, separated them from the rest of society and did not allow them to vote.

Explanation:

In "Civil Disobedience" Thoreau expressed how wrong it was to pay taxes to the US government, which would use taxes to finance wars and not to promote good to society. For this reason, Thoreau decided to stop paying taxes and was arrested for it, but he felt that the arrest was beneficial because it drew attention to the cause he was raising.

Lewis, along with some friends, was a black law activist and decided that he would not pay taxes to a government that subjugates blacks, does not treat them as citizens, does not allow them to vote and separates them from society. He was also not afraid of being arrested and saw prison as a boon to the cause.

in paragraph 6 of "sinners in the hands of an angry god" by jonathan edwards, he talks about how doing good things alone will not save men from going to hell because they're at the mercy of the will of god. "spiritual reform" provides men with a false sense of safety.

wordsworth tends to see nature as 'out there'; a presence which surrounds humans, and contributes to human life, but is different from humans. if you look at a typical wordsworth poem (there was a boy, ye knew him well ye rocks) - wordsworth talks about nature as something that needs to be learned about and understood, nature is different from us.  

if you look at a byron poem (the isles of greece is a good one) - byron looks at nature mainly for what it already means to man. wordsworth will look at a landscape and see the mountains, trees, valleys, and rivers as almost spiritual presences - wordsworth wants to get to know nature.  

byron will look at the same landscape and he will want to know who lives there, what are the villages? are there any farms or mines, is there some history?  

wordsworth looks at nature for what it is; byron is forever asking what it means.  

wordsworth thinks that humans are part of nature; byron thinks that nature is part of being human