Civil disobedience is a form of nonviolent direct action and respectful disagreement. Martin Luther King Jr. is best known for his role leading the African-American civil rights movement and for his use of nonviolent civil disobedience to promote his beliefs. He firmly believed that civil disobedience was the way to eliminate racial segregation against African Americans. While leading a protest march through the streets, King was arrested and sent to prison. While in prison, he read an article written by a group of clergy opposing King's acts of civil disobedience, arguing that racial segregation should be negotiated in the courts rather than in the streets, and accusing King of provoking tensions useless. In response to this, King wrote a letter from Birmingham Jail, explaining that racial segregation is an injustice that affects everyone. In his letter, King lists his own criteria for acts of civil disobedience. In 1859, a white man named John Brown attempted to start a series of slave revolts by attacking a military arsenal in Virginia. His motivation was to inspire a revolution to end slavery. Brown planned to gather groups of slaves throughout his raid to continue a series of revolts. John Brown's raid on Harper Ferry in 1859 meets many of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s standards for direct action and should be considered a justified act of civil disobedience. Martin Luther King Jr. took steps to bring change to a nation in which discrimination against the African American community was the norm. King resorted to civil disobedience because he believed in changing laws through nonviolent protest and avoiding unnecessary conflict. According to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the criteria definition of direct action is "one who breaks a... middle of paper ... and should be considered as such, despite the fact that all of King's criteria n 'were not fulfilled, because John Brown was a man capable of following his heart and what he believed to be right, rather than adapting to society's norms. Works Cited Booker, Bobbi. “John Brown’s legacy will be celebrated here.” Philadelphia Tribune: 1, November 29, 2009. ProQuest. Internet. October 15, 2013. Horwitz, Tony. “Why John Brown still scares us.” American History, December 2011. MasterFILE Premier. Internet. October 14, 2013. Johnson, Greg. "John Brown leads raid on Harper's Ferry." Philadelphia Tribune: 4, October 16, 2007. ProQuest. Internet. October 15, 2013King, Jr., Martin Luther. “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Writing arguments: rhetoric with readings. Ed. John D. Ramage, John C. Bean and June Johnson. Boston: Pearson, 2012. 584-95. Print."The Raid on Harpers Ferry." PBS. PBS and Web. November 15. 2013.