Civil Disobedience and Change Essay

     From the onset of man fighting for freedom or his beliefs, the question has always been whether one person can make a difference using words rather than wars. Philosophically, the concept of civil disobedience would appear to be an ineffective weapon against political injustice; history however has proven it to repeatedly be one of the most powerful weapons of the common man. Martin Luther King Jr. looked at the way African Americans were treated in the United States and saw an inequality. By refusing to pay his taxes and subsequently being imprisoned for a night, Henry David Thoreau demonstrated his intolerance for the American

One could argue that civil disobedience is a way in which one can utilize their right to freedom of speech issued to them in the First Amendment of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights. The right to Freedom of speech indicates that the people can express their opinions, positive or negative, and not be punished by law. Henry David Thoreau practiced the act of civil disobedience in 1846 by refusing to pay poll taxes in protest of the Mexican War. While tax evasion is a felony, many could argue that Thoreau was only employing his First Amendment right. He was expressing his opinion on the United States' approval of slave ownership in the territories involved in the war by refusing to aid in the funding of the war. He later accepted his punishment of brief jail time, and went on to publish "Civil Disobedience" in 1849. In the infamous essay, Thoreau states his belief "That government is best which governs least". He continues by saying, "Witness the Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their tool; in the outset, the people would not have consented to this measure." In these quotes, Thoreau is claiming that the government should let the voice of

Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” had a huge influence on society. Thoreau was a major figure in the American Resistance. His actions influenced riots and refusals to pay taxes. Thoreau refused to pay taxes as his own way to protest against slavery. On July 23 1846, Thoreau was arrested and put in Middlesex County jail(Morsberger). This later to Thoreau writing one of the most influential novels in the American Renaissance(Morsberger).

Civil disobedience is the refusal to comply with certain laws as a non-violent form of protest to bring change among these laws. Henry David Thoreau, a highly educated activist for equality during the 1800’s, did not believe in the war against Mexico in the 1840’s, in which he would not pay his taxes in spite of these feelings. His illustration of civil disobedience landed him in jail, where he wrote “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience”; an essay stating the human rights against the government of which they are under in the form of non-violent protest to change certain laws. Thoreau and the March on Washington, effectively illustrated civil disobedience to bring change upon everyday thought and law during the time in which the events occurred

In his 1849 essay “Civil Disobedience,” American writer Henry David Thoreau explained he had refused to pay his poll tax to the U.S. government for six years because he opposed the U.S. engaged in war with Mexico. This kind of “civil disobedience,” Thoreau

Our nation’s Constitution has been established to provide each American with the ability to vote and participate in the legislative process through democratic representation. Our democracy operates on the premise that its citizens must act within the framework of the legal system. The inadequacies a civil disobedient may find in our great American experiment of democracy while attempting to invoke change to achieve a given end may not justify civil disobedience. The constitutionalist framers established a delicate balance so that neither branch would over-exert power over a minority. It is in only extremely rare situations where all men are true citizens of a just society and are provided equal

In Thoreau’s book “Civil Disobedience” Thoreau points out that people have obligation to break laws that are unjust but to also accept consequences that come along. Civil disobedience, a term coined by Henry David Thoreau in 1849, is a refusal to civil laws or decrees in a passive form of resistance. There are many different examples of civil disobedience displayed in history. Examples of civil disobedience include sabotage of business activity such as boycotts and labor resistance, or by people simply breaking unfair laws.

In a free society, civil disobedience can bring to light certain ideas that others might not think of with their own sets of beliefs, offering another perspective to consider when deciding just how to govern a country. Looking back in our own history, our country has been formed through civil disobedience, observing acts such as the Rosa Parks incident which had fueled the Civil Rights movements years ago; even looking as far back at the Tea Party, in which that certain event had led to our eventual freedom from Great Britain. However, in our current society, certain acts that people label as 'Civil Disobedience' are actually acts that set us back as a country in terms of acceptance and forward progress.

The United States government was created with the doctrine of popular sovereignty, or the idea that government is created, sustained, and ran by the people. As Henry David Thoreau wrote in his essay on civil disobedience, “the character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished.” What we accomplish as a country is accomplished by the people, not the government. And with that in mind, civil disobedience not only has a positive impact on a free society, but is imperative to our democratic system.

America is a nation built on disobedience. We disobeyed British laws over and over, the Proclamation of 1763, the Stamp Act, the Boston Tea Party, leading up to a full blown revolution. Throughout our history as a nation, we have long employed similar acts of disobedience to promote social change, such as Henry David Thoreau in the 1840s and 50s and Martin Luther King Jr during the Civil Rights Movement. However, recently, a debate has risen up over whether the benefits of civil disobedience outweigh the liabilities. I argue that, when all legal options have been exhausted in trying to resolve an issue, than peaceful resistance towards laws, i.e. breaking them without using violence, becomes a viable option to positively reform society so long

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.

Thoreau demands civil disobedience from his fellow countryman to correct the errors of the government in regards to slavery and the war of his time. Thoreau defines this concept as a deed of willful resistance, obtained by disobeying the hypocritical laws. One deed he offers his countrymen to consider as their deed of civil disobedience, is a refusal to pay taxes. Another deed, one Thoreau highly recommends, is to avert oneself from conspiring with the government in refusing to actively participate in it. Most importantly civil disobedience is civil. Meaning that the resistance to the government is peaceful and non-violent in it’s methods.

The concept of civil disobedience has been around for ages. Evolving and changing from the time of Socrates and appearing in different parts of the world like India. Henry David Thoreau ( 1869–1948) was the person who first gave this concept a name and used it. He viewed the war against the United States and Mexico as the south’s way to expand slavery. He had already stopped paying his taxes as an act of protest against slavery but when he publicly criticized the U.S. invasion of Mexico, he was jailed under

Protest Marches in 1960's Civil Rights Movement as A Nonviolent Tactic. "We will show around the world that it is a lie that rulers have said 'black people are satisfied with the present situation'" ("Electronic Journal," 2007, para. 3). This is the part of what Martin Luther King, Jr. said to explain how his nonviolent tactics work for acquiring civil rights of African Americans. In fact, nonviolent tactics contributed to several progresses of the civil rights movement, though it unfortunately shifted to violent ways later. In searlier civil rights movements, utilizing media, protest marches had big impact on the progresses of 1960's civil rights movements, and the marches was conducted as one of the most effective nonviolent tactics,

person is not they will continue to obey because at least this way they feel as if they are a