Though Henry David Thoreau lived more than one hundred years before the time of Martin Luther King Jr., his philosophy lingered in the minds of many individuals. Thoreau was opposed to injustice in general and refused to support or to follow the unjust laws. His idealism and anarchism influenced the thinking of King. Douglass' narrative shows how his thinking would have been similar to that of Thoreau's.

Douglass' descriptions of the cruelty lived by African Americans are filled with horrific details that would touch anyone. He believed that slavery was not only dehumanizing for the slaves, but for the slaveholders as well. Douglass uses as an example the case of Mrs. Sophia Auld. Before she became a slaveholder, she was known to be pure, kind, and generous. Her way of being changed once she became a slaveholder. Douglass witnessed himself acts of cruel brutality against one of his...