Civil Disobedience Or Peaceful Resistance

Peaceful resistances to unjust laws both positively and negatively impact a free society. After there has been enough national attention over these protests, large opposition can ensue violence. No matter how careful, meaningful, or powerful the peaceful protestors are there has been a backlash of violence from many different parties. Civil disobedience has been a predominant way minorities have fought for their rights. Women and African Americans have been protesting since the beginning of the United States through civil disobedience.

Civil Disobedience is defined as refusal to obey civil laws or decrees, which usually takes the form of direct action (Grolier’s Encyclopedia Online 2). Thoreau wrote that people practicing civil disobedience, break a law because they consider the law unjust. People want to call attention to its injustice. Thoreau voiced civil disobedience as, “An expression of the individual’s liberty to create change” (Thoreau 530). Years later Martin Luther King Jr. took the same idea of direct action to protest the injustices brought upon black Americans in the United States. One major example was the Birmingham bus boycott. Blacks where treated unjust and often had to give up their seats to whites, and had to listen to racial slurs made by the bus driver. King like Thoreau, did not take a violent approach, he often used sit-ins and rallies to unite the black community (Encarta

Civil disobedience has been used to peacefully protest for change for decades. The idea that it is acceptable to rebel against injustice is one that is fundamental to the very start of our nation. The American Revolution, while not a non-violent rebellion, is an example of fighting for something that is believed to be right. It is from here that the idea of civil disobedience stemmed, and from here which it grew. Henry David Thoreau illustrated the need for civil disobedience when he said, “The authority of government… [,] to be strictly just must have the consent of the governed.” The changes that have been brought about by this kind of peaceful protest have changed our world for the better. I believe that civil disobedience is something that

Civil disobedience is defined as the “refusal to obey civil laws in an effort to induce change in government policy or legislation, characterized by nonviolent means”; theories on this topic have been debated for centuries. (American Heritage Dictionary 3rd Edition pg161) Henry David Thoreau was well known for his refusal to participate in the political systems or activities of his era, not only by refusing to pay his poll taxes for six consecutive years, but also by announcing that he did not wish to be regarded as a member of any incorporated society. In Civil Disobedience, Thoreau stresses the need to prioritize one’s conscience over the dictates of laws. A person should not be obligated to devote his or her life to eliminating evils from the world, but is only obligated not to participate in such evils themselves. He argues that the government rarely proves itself useful and this derives from the power from the majority because they are the strongest group, not because they hold the most legitimate views. Justice is the quality of being just, impartial or fair. Thoreau doubted the effectiveness of reform within the government, and argued that voting and petitioning for change served useless. He felt that justice had different standards for each different group. Which raises the question, is justice fair for everyone? When a government is unjust, people should

Civil disobedience has always been a popular way to refute an idea in society. The most famous person that encouraged civil disobedience was Mohandas Gandhi. Gandhi was famous for encouraging this behavior stating that “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” Gandhi was a perfect example of how to deal with a life threatening problem in society: Oppose your unfair leaders with peace; simply disobey them, because in order for them to be “leaders” they need society. In order for them to be “leaders” they need a society that cooperates. If you take this away from unfair leaders, then they will crumble. The basic ideology behind civil disobedience that many get wrong is that there is a mutual relationship between political leaders

From Cherokee Indians refusing to abandon their homes in 1838 to the Sit-ins of the civil rIghts movement in the early 1960s, people have been using acts of civil disobedience to stand against injustice they saw in their communities. Although there are many examples of people abusing this benefit and causing more grief and shame than progress, many have used it to their advantage to bring about positive change for the greater good of society, therefore acts of civil disobedience can positively impact a free society if they remain peaceful, respectful, and justified.

If we take a closer look at civil disobedience, we can better understand what it means, its goals, and its outcomes. Civil disobedience predominantly exists as direct and non-violent government defiance. Instead of voicing an opinion with a vote or a simple conversation, civil disobedience stands up for what is right using an individual’s whole influence. Therefore, some sacrifices regarding the legality of actions are made in order to preserve the integrity of the mission. In other words, why should a protester follow the law that they are trying to alter? That doesn’t make much sense, therefore civil disobedience allows unjust laws to be broken for the greater good. This method is very effective if, for example, a minority is attempting to

Throughout history Civil Disobedience has had nothing but positive impacts for our nation. The people are trying to improve the government the only way they know how. In 1847 Henry David Thoreau, a philosopher, wrote in his essay on civil disobedience “I ask, for not at once no government, but at once a better government.” A great example for a leap for rights would be the Montgomery Bus Boycott. On December 5th of 1955, African Americans took a vow not to take the bus as a silent and peaceful protest for segregation seating, this lasted 381 days. Finally, the U.S Supreme Court integrated their bus system. The boycott was only the start of the American Civil Rights Movement. Segregation was a big problem that we don't see much these days because people

To this day there are people fighting for the rights of people of colour in groups such as Black Lives Matter and for the rights people in the LGBT+ community. Some people who are advocates for these things can and do use civil disobedience as a way to raise awareness and protest. Acts of civil disobedience can attract much more attention than a regular protest, which can help shed light on these important issues. Misogyny, racism, xenophobia and homophobia are all still very real issues in today's society, and civil disobedience (if used properly) can be as powerful of a weapon now as it was fifty years ago to fight for the equality of all

Using civil disobedience to solve an issue may require mass protests. Using protests shows that many are on your side, and that may bring your opponent down. Some protests may not be a march, for instance, the Boston Tea Party. On December 16, 1773, colonists dressed as Native Americans and raided British Ships in the Boston Harbor. This was because the colonists were very frustrated with the Tea tax. At that time, tea was like a necessity to the colonists and the British. The problem for the colonists was that the British were the ones who controlled the tea. The British East India Company was the company that imported tea. The Boston Tea Party was a huge protest against the tea tax. On that day, 116 people threw the tea on the British ships overboard (“Participants in the Boston Tea Party” 1). This resulted in harming marine life, loss of British tea, and the contamination of the water. These negative results made the British notice the colonists’ problem about the tax and how the colonists feel about the way they are treated by the

Civil disobedience is possibly the most influential form of protest in order to change of laws. Throughout our nation's history there have been multiple examples where the people would disobey the regular norms of society to force a change in law. Even when we started off as colonist, the people refused to pay unjust taxes on British imported goods just so Great Britain could pay for their costs on the Seven Years' War. The people or the colonist, as I should say, thought it was unfair for the them be taxed as they had no representation in England to represent the people. Another peaceful protest would be the sit-ins at Woolworth. At this event, young African Americans went to a diner and sat at the front counter. This would never happen because

Civil Disobedience is a practice that's being used as far back as times of discrimination against blacks in the south. Even though slavery had been completely gotten rid of in the United States, the south still hated blacks with a passion. This led to the creation of Jim Crow laws, laws that looked as though they were helping blacks but really hurt them. Blacks had finally had enough and decided they would try and get equal rights one way or another, so they started politely disobeying the laws. In the 50's, a black man named Homer Adolph Plessy sat in a white train car because of the law he heard about, "Equal protection under the law" and he was arrested for doing so. This led to the creation of the "Separate but Equal" law.

On The Duty of Civil Disobedience, written by Henry David Thoreau, explains that civil disobedience is the act of standing for your beliefs even though they are against the law. Thoreau goes on to say that the government (because it is ruled by the majority) is not always right for everyone especially the individual and the minority. Over the course of American history, there have been many different groups formed for the purpose of civil disobedience. The two that I am going to focus on are the activists of the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panthers of the Black Liberation Movement. The Civil Rights Movement began in 1954 with the case of Brown vs. the Board of Education. It was basically lead by Martin Luther King Jr.

nonviolence and civil disobedience. He once said “nonviolence is the greatest force at disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of men.”

One of the well-known cases of civil disobedience is Rosa Parks. She refused to move out of her seat so that a white man could sit down. Although she went to jail she stood up for what she believed in. This was considered one of the first demonstrations against segregation. As Rosa Parks stated ” you must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right” this means that if there is something that is completely unjust one has