Civil Disobedience Examples

Civil Disobedience has been around for hundreds of years. This a practice first put into play by a man by the name of Henry David Thoreau who believed that if you didn’t agree with a rule then you should act against it in a nonviolent way, and be willing to accept any punishment that comes with it. His teachings were followed by famous activists such as Ghandi, and Martin Luther King Jr., and many others.

Henry David Thoreau wrote Civil Disobedience, which is about him trying to persuade citizens that their obligation is to contravene and correct the unfair laws of the government. Thoreau begins Civil Disobedience with the view point “That government is best which governs least”

In the modern age of America, there are many people who have read and abided by the beliefs of civil disobedience. Civil disobedience is a philosophy created by Henry Thoreau that states one must not conform to certain laws for a variety of reasons, which was also an ideology utilized by Martin Luther King Jr. The world has witnessed many acts of disobedience from the masses, and have thus portrayed the idea that this belief still operates successfully. The ideology that surrounds civil disobedience also strongly influences the individual in a particular society, which also depicts the principles of this belief have adjusted to the modern world. In the new age of America, the beliefs of Thoreau and King are still prevalent and found in society due to the influence it has on movement that brings change; thus, illustrating that American citizens commonly refer and utilize this belief.

I believe civil disobedience is the refusal to obey certain laws, usually without violence, but only if it’s to make a point. In Thoreau’s essay about civil disobedience, there were points made which I agreed with, but there were things that I disagreed with. Some points he made that I agreed with was that if someone wants something to change, they should do something and do it wholeheartedly. An additional point he made which I agreed with was to depend and think for one’s self. While he’s made points which I agreed with, there’s one I didn’t which was when he said that the military was programmed to do whatever the government says.

Typically, when civil disobedience comes up, we look to the long line of heroes who put their lives on the line to help define what civil disobedience meant and how it could be successfully used in order to effect change. Gandhi, Susan B. Anthony, M.L. King and Mandela, are among the many men and women who fought great injustices in the past by taking a stand and calling attention to an unjust law. They used civil disobedience against the established order of things as a tool to not only

Civil disobedience, according to Henry David Thoreau in 1849, is the act of disapproving a law and accepting the concomitant consequences. Thoreau’s

Civil disobedience is the refusal to conform to a society or a set of laws. Civil disobedience has come a long way from its beginning. It has been developing and will continue for generations to come, as it is considered a duty of a person. The opinions and beliefs of civil disobedience cultured in our society by both Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. are still present in our modern-day society; nevertheless, these opinions and beliefs still need to be expanded in order to keep up with the fast-growing population.

Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey civil laws in an effort to induce change in governmental policy or legislation. Thoreau 's infamous ideas on "Civil Disobedience," written in 1849, have been monumental in the fight for change. It has helped influence change anywhere from the 1940s fight against Danish resistance, to the 1950s and McCarthyism. Thoreau 's words have helped lead the way to freedom. It has made the people of the world think about how they are being governed and how they are being treated. Thoreau 's message of freedom in “Civil Disobedience”, transcend his own time to be so influential to those throughout history for three main reasons which are that he is read around the world, it had to do with helping yourself, and he connected it to real life.

In Henry D. Thoreau’s essay “Civil Disobedience”, he talks about the how every human has knowledge that can recognize and understand the truth of how the government mostly rules our mind, body, and conscience. Urging people to resist governmental polices with which many people disagree but many don’t do anything and just go with it. Instead people would just sit there, and just wait to see what happen. Thoreau’s Civil (non-violent) Disobedience (not obeying the government) is important because it shows and tells us that the government need to stay out of our business, and doesn’t need to order us around.

Civil Disobedience In Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau, Thoreau discusses his feelings on the proposal that people need to openly resist the government. Thoreau explains that a government shouldn’t intrude into men’s lives, that the government is only an expedient, meaning it’s merely a means to an end. He describes the need for a government thata leaves the people of the United States alone, that “…government is best which governs least”. Thoreau supports his ideas stated in Civil Disobedience by criticizing the current (current during the time) faults in the United States government.

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.

Henry David Thoreau’s Influence on Modern Civil Disobedience Civil disobedience, as defined by Meriam Webster, is the refusal to obey laws as a way of forcing the government to do or change something. The United States was founded in part by civil disobedience, such as refusing to pay British taxes or house British troops. It is natural that such a country would cultivate a man such as the author Henry David Thoreau. His monumental essay “Civil Disobedience” was instrumental in inspiring some of the most influential movements of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Examples of civil disobedience and peaceful protests such as Gandhi’s Salt March, Martin Luther King Jr.’s Civil Rights Movement, and Cesar Chavez’s United Farm Workers Union

Civil Disobedience is an essay by Henry David Thoreau on the place of civil disobedience in society. It analyzes men in society, the folly of majority and most importantly of all, it analyzes good citizenship. It looks at what it means to be a good citizenship and the most recurring theme is self-reliance. He discusses obedience to principle, independence from the government, and intolerance of injustice, which are all just kinds of self-reliance. Self-Reliance produces good citizenship.

Time and again, humans have rattled the bars of injustice within their societies. With fire and sword they have attempted to melt and slice these bars to achieve some degree of dignity and freedom. Yet, ironically, it is with this fire and sword that they force others behind similar bars of injustice. Only those who understand that violence and physical force are not keys to freedom truly break free; and it is the actions of these that prove and ensure the dignity and development of the free if flawed, society in which we live. This is civil disobedience.

Webster's dictionary defines civil disobedience as "refusal to obey governmental demands esp. as a nonviolent and usu. collective means of forcing concessions from the government." Henry Thoreau wrote an essay titled Civil Disobedience that has through the years become the authoritative argument on the subject. People as distinguished as Martin Luther King and Gandhi have used this essay as a cornerstone in their respective movements. However, I see Thoreau more as a hypocrite and an anarchist. While his goals might have been noble, like most theorists, he does not take into account the realities of the world we live in. I will convince you in this essay that Thoreau's argument was not valid for several reasons, but mainly due to his