Civil Disobedience Research Papers

We must be careful not to mistake for civil disobedience what is actually all too often these days, rather uncivil disobedience, in the forms of riots and looting and other forms of criminal conduct that sometimes takes place in the course of large-scale protests and demonstrations that get out of hand. The modern fathers of civil disobedience as a method of political expression and change are, of course, Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King, in the 1950s and 1960s, convinced hundreds and thousands of black Americans to peacefully agitate towards full legal and political equality in the United States. Both men -- and their followers -- faced police and military might and ruthlessness, and both suffered imprisonment, and worse, for their efforts. His followers and supporters, endured tremendous brutality and degradation, but instead of responding in the way they were being treated, they reacted peacefully, offering themselves as living sacrifices for the causes in which they believed.

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.

There are many different authors who believe that civil disobedience is not the way to go, that it does not solve anything. For example, Robert A. Goldwin writes in “The Case against Civil Disobedience” how “civil disobedience … is an altogether secondary and derivative matter…” He goes on about how civil disobedience is a way for people who want to stand up for their rights can without any harsh punishment and if these people are too scared to do anything violent. Though Goldwin makes a good point about the unimportance of civil disobedience, the fact is that civil disobedience

In the United States Constitution we the people were given a right to freedom of speech. People have taken to this right given to us by the Founding Fathers. But, one problem rises to the top with a right that has so much freedom, civil disobedience. It’s a topic that we are seeing more of in our society today. Civil disobedience is a threat against our free society due to people not taking our laws serious enough.

The United States of America was founded by rebellious English men, who would not stand for inequality. As time progressed, the rebellions shifted from wars full of bloodshed to peaceful protest and civil disobedient. Many people feel that civil disobedience is wrong ways to act on issues. A greater amount of Americans feel that civil disobedience is the strongest and most effective way to get change to the issues. I agree that civil disobedience shakes America into making a deliberate change.

The human race doesn’t take injustice lying down. Over the past hundred years, there has been many examples of people taking a stand for their own rights and freedoms through acts of civil disobedience, defined as “the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest”. While a quick glance at today’s society does show a much more accepting and proper view of people of every race, religion and sexuality, our world does not come without its injustices. I believe that these major injustices keep civil disobedience extremely relevant in our current, modern world.

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes stated "the right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins." This quote from the late Supreme Court justice perfectly embraces the essence of what civil disobedience is supposed to be. The gist of civil disobedience is peaceful protest. It is a good thing for society to speak up for what we believe in. We are a representative democracy.

This paper accentuates the essence of civil disobedience in the indelible progression of the major civil rights movements throughout the history of America and even more so, analyzes the substantial advancements in all human civil rights of the United States throughout time in respect to the prominence of civil disobedience. Foremost, this essay construes the understanding and the privileges that are associated with one’s civil rights and correspondingly clarifies the evident, underlying significance of civil disobedience with reference to the renowned civil rights leader, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Junior. To further express the significant role that civil disobedience has played in molding the civil rights in the history of America,

Civil disobedience isn’t uncommon in America, but the modern idea of civil disobedience has become flawed and distorted from its original intent. Currently, there are thousands of causes and ideals that are spastically flung around and just as soon forgotten. This is because the guise of civil disobedience is often abused by people simply to attract publicity. These methods of claimed civil disobedience often do little to nothing in working towards the goal that they claim to stand for, or their intensions are vague and unclear. For example, in the news, the most popular recent controversial example of civil disobedience is the kneeling during the national anthem before a football game. At its manifestation, this movement was intended to protest the inequalities in the treatment of races by the police especially in Chicago. This effectively accomplished nothing. It raised awareness but the majority of intelligent civilians were already aware of the inequalities. The flaw of this example is that the form of disobedience

Civil disobedience is one of our nation’s most important tools for change, and to promote a free society. Every new movement to change a law in our society can be seen as ‘un American’ or ‘radical’ at first, but even America’s free society was founded on seemingly ‘crazy’ ideas of revolution and fighting back against what was unjust. Since the Enlightenment, throughout history, people have sought change in order to make society equal for everyone, even in other countries for different reasons. Civil disobedience gets people’s attention, and forces the issue into the media spotlight, an effective way to get people to care about whatever change needs to take place. Even today, society is still moving towards change with civil disobedience, making the world better for everyone.

In recent years civil disobedience has too often escalated into violent riots, leading to the incarceration of innocent people nation wide. Civil disobedience has been seen in recent years in the forms of the protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline of 2016 and the Baltimore riots of 2015. These events are examples of, for the most part, peaceful protest and violent rioting. The Sioux tribe and Black Lives Matter movement’s use of civil disobedience implies that peaceful resistance to laws positively impacts a free society by giving citizens a way to show the government that they believe a law to be unconstitutional whether it be before or after the law is passed and utilizes our first amendment rights to free speech,

Looking closer at the time period and situation of the civil rights movement reveals that civil disobedience is in fact negative to present day society. The Civil Rights Movements used a combination of peaceful protests and civil disobedience to attain their goals. There are two reasons why civil disobedience worked back then: There was no social media and the protesters knew that they could die even if they protested peacefully. 42 people were killed because of their involvement in the Civil Rights Movement from 1955-1968. (Southern Poverty Law Center) Nowadays, a protester knows he or she will not be murdered a few days after the protest because he or she participated in it. This lack of fear empowers protesters to push further their level of civil disobedience to the point where it's an unnecessary and violent act that hurts society. Another major difference between then and now is the use of social media. “Before the advent of social media, on any given day an individual might have had the opportunity to share his or her feelings about an unfolding political event with, at most, 10 or 15 people. Now with a few strokes of the keyboard or swipes of a mobile phone, people can make their thoughts known instantly to hundreds or thousands of others. Moreover, the fact that these thoughts are spread through social networks that individuals have

Civil disobedience, then, is absolutely necessary to maintain a balance between what is and what we feel should be. With every generation, a new perspective is born. They always seem wild or even a perversion at first because society is not ready for them. It takes quite a lot of time, labor, and persistence to convince any steadfast American to relinquish a lifelong belief and adopt a “new and improved” version of

America has always lauded itself as a sanctuary to democracy and personal freedom. Like our constitution itself, this country has the adaptability to change with the times and right previous wrongs in an attempt to come as close as possible to a perfect, utopian society. Change and reform are vital to this process, allowing us to self-evaluate and improve. From Thoreau’s single night in prison to Dr. King’s peaceful marches and protests to more modern examples in light of recent political events, civil disobedience has been the method of choice to bring about this change, both at home and in other parts of the world.

In order for one to accurately distinguish and comprehend the concept of civil disobedience, we must first discuss the extremity of these passive resistances and who is allowed to overstep these boundaries. Our country is fundamentally based on Democracy, and with this the United States constitution created a decree of secured freedom and sanctioned one’s ability to express their own personal ideology. However, the vision that our founding fathers had for this country’s future has been distorted. With the alteration and revision of various laws, the U.S. government has built an even stronger and forceful domination over their citizens. When it comes