Civil Disobedience Styles

Reading Henry David Thoreau’s essay Civil Disobedience (1849) I find a parallelism between his thoughts and the coming of age of the United States as a nation. This piece was originally delivered as a speech before the Concord Lyceum in January of 1848 on the subject "On the Relation of the Individual to the State", and published under the title Resistance to Civil Government in Elizabeth Peabody's Aesthetic Papers, in May 1849. Thoreau wrote it from a personal experience: in 1846 he had been imprisoned for not paying his taxes as a protest for the actions of the government because he opposed slavery and the Mexican War. This essay is part of the literary period called The

What is civil disobedience? Civil disobedience is the opposing of a law one finds unjust by refusing to follow it and accepting the consequences. So many people have performed acts of civil disobedience from Martin Luther King Jr. to everyday people. But what people did as civil disobedience a hundred years ago is completely different today. It is such an important part of a free society because it helps to define what a free society is, shows the true meaning of freedom of speech, and shows the government that citizens are not willing to follow an unjust law without violence.

Civil Disobedience is classified as the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest. This idea was brought into focus in the essay “Resistance to Civil Government (Civil Disobedience)” by American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau’s opinion on the subject was that the government was involved in everyone’s business, trying to make the country better yet they had the opposite effect. His opinion was that there is a need to prioritize one’s conscious over the dictates of law. Though there are many things that Thoreau touches on, the three main issues that he discussed were The Mexican war, slavery, and the taxes that he was protesting against.

While growing up, our parents taught us what was right and what was wrong based on their beliefs and views. When we were younger, we were taught to follow and obey those who were older than us and possessed a higher authoritative status. One’s reasoning for being obedient includes: religious beliefs, background, and work ethics. Civil disobedience played a large role in America. Creating protests, riots, and sit-ins, America had many examples of disobedience. In America, we value our rights as citizens and individuals. We have the right to protest as stated in the first amendment of the United States Constitution, which is called Freedom of Speech. According to the Webster Dictionary, civil disobedience is said to be “the refusal to obey government demands or commands and nonresistance to consequent arrest and punishment.” Citizens are willing to accept the legal consequences associated with their disobedient actions. How does the law respond to people who engage in civil disobedience? Fining and jail time are the legal consequences enforced by authority but also there is a trend of change. I believe civil disobedience is justified simply by your own personal beliefs and the rights you attain as a citizen. The law is the law, if you disobey; the authoritative figure is responsible for giving a consequence.

America was founded on a principle of civil disobedience. With the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Founding Fathers set forth a powerful precedent. The Declaration said in part, that when institutions of government becomes destructive or abusive of unalienable rights, it is the right of the people to alter it or to abolish it. The history of our nation tells us that civil disobedience is a civic responsibility, and in the alleged words of Thomas Jefferson, “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism”. From the Boston Tea Party to the Stonewall Riots, the United States Constitution and advances in racial, social, and gender equality support the idea that peaceful resistance positively contributes to a freer society, and a more equitable America.

Civil disobedience has been used by the people to get the attention of their government and to hopefully inspire change. Civil disobedience is an act of refusal by a large group of people against certain laws. From Ghandi to Martin Luther King Jr, people have used civil disobedience to enact change. While the concept of civil disobedience has been around for centuries, it hasn’t been called civil disobedience until recently. Protest, rallies, boycotting and worker strikes are forms of civil disobedience. Civil disobedience has been used for social change too. For example, the suffragettes, Rosa Parks and marches to legalize gay marriage have had social ramifications. Civil disobedience can be used to change laws, it publicizes important changes but it can be overshadowed by violence. Civil disobedience is a good way to change laws because it’s usually peaceful, brings attention to controversial laws and brings about social change.

“The concept of righteous civil disobedience is incompatible with the concept of the American legal system.”

I believe that peaceful resistance to laws both positively and negatively impacts a free society. Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey certain laws and government demands one considers unjust, and accepting the consequences. The first amendment prohibits Congress to enact any law that would intervene with any person's civil rights. Though everybody knows this, why are there discussions about what people can and cannot refuse to do. Some people refuse to do things because it goes against their faith, which as stated earlier is allowed according to the first amendment. While others refuse to see what is right in front of them, in the very center of the Declaration of Independence.

Civil disobedience is the refusal to conform to certain laws as a form of harmless political protest, while being aware of the consequences that could result because of it. Peaceful resistance to laws positively impacts a free society because actions are taken due to people letting their voice be heard. While some may argue that the main reasons of this are the five basic rights mentioned in the first amendment (freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition), this issue goes far beyond that. Without civil disobedience, many historical events might have not played such an important role as they did to the point that they changed America in numerous ways; not to mention the courageous people who still take part in protests today to claim the rights they should have.

The history of African-Americans has come a long way through the years. They were first imported as slaves as property to do hard labor for their owners. With no freedom, they were forced to obey orders until a revolution appeared. It took a civil war to finally free blacks and to give them the right to be citizens of the country. It was then that the chains of slavery were finally broken, but the chain of discrimination still existed. Under racial segregation, colored people were not allowed to share public facilities and activities with white people. The Civil Rights Movement was then established with its goal to clear any segregation and discrimination against African Americans. In today’s society, discrimination has been banned, but a degree of segregation still exists in our community such as schools. Segregation has not yet ending. The civil disobedience of African-Americans can be examined be looking at its origin, the consequences they had to overcome, and the outcome after their fight to be equal.

Civil disobedience signifies "refusal to obey common laws with an end goal to actuate change in administrative strategy or enactment, portrayed by peaceful means", speculations on this term have been around for quite a while. Eminent figures like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. have took up and lectured their own particular speculations on common noncompliance. The two have there claim reasons why to rehearse common defiance however there view on it is in comparative way. Mahatma Gandhi needed to prevent South African government from making all Indians enroll with Registrar of Asiatics. Martin Luther King Jr. needed to stop the isolation of the minorities individuals in southern parts of America. While both men battled for various

Tariq Ali once said, “It was Civil Disobedience that won them their civil rights.” He said this quote regarding the negroes trying to get civil rights. Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey certain laws or governmental demands for the purpose of influencing legislation or government policy, characterized by the employment of such nonviolent techniques as boycotting, picketing, and nonpayment of taxes (Dictionary.com). In three separate cases civil disobedience was used and in both cases civil disobedience was appropriate. The first case was in “Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau” where he uses civil disobedience and does not pay for a tax he does not believe in.

1)In my perspective, I have divergent thoughts on my stances, it’s like approaching a situation where you don’t know what to do. In society’s, there are different sort of people, each person has their own rationality; different attachments; If everyone started to conclude for whatever they felt was right or wrong there would be chaos, after all we don’t live in a perfect world. In the course of history this has led to dilemmas even today in our sadistic world, people have been told that their judgment just isn’t right; there own beliefs which they have made every decision in their life just isn’t good enough for society’s set norms. I believe that we don’t have the right to ignore laws, but we have the power to fight against laws that are unjust.

Although laws and obedience are needed for a safe, structured, and organized society, where would our country be today without those who peacefully resisted unjust laws? This country's heroes are known for speaking out against things that were wrong with society, and it is still going on today. Without people who not only realize, but speak out about the things that society must change, no progress would be made in terms of a free society.

Throughout history, there have been a plethora of laws that have fallen under serious scrutiny. Whether these laws are interpreted as just or unjust depends on each individual’s moral standing. As everyone has their own opinions on what may be considered right or wrong, civil disobedience can be an issue. However, the majority of acts of civil disobedience positively impact society because this allows individuals to peacefully protest laws that they do not deem constitutional. If a formidable amount of people are against and act against a certain act, steps towards justice are more likely to be taken. Without civil disobedience, the government could pass discriminatory laws with dire consequences, and people would not have a say in how they