In most discourse on civil disobedience, the names Thoreau and Gandhi are always mentioned. Both are credited with influencing MLK during the civil right’s demonstrations. However, i wonder if even Martin himself new the name William Whipper, who in the early to mid 19th century as a Black abolitionist advocated a non violent response to the evils of slavery? It was today, 1837, before Gandhi was born and before Thoreau published his famous essay Civl Disobedience, that Whipper published “An Address on Non-Resistance to Offensive Aggression” in The Colored American. Below is the text:
https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/1837-william-whipper-non-resistance-offensive-aggression/