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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: The Women's Suffrage Movement

Decent Essays

We the Students Essay Throughout history, many well-known Americans have led peaceful resistance and civil disobedience efforts in order to defend their liberty, freedom, and basic civil rights. Peaceful resistance to laws does cause turmoil at the given moment but can end up being mutually beneficial for the conflicting parties. Certain instances of civil disobedience have played major roles in shaping the fabric of the nation we know today, such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s fight for civil rights in Alabama, Susan B. Anthony being arrested to draw attention to the Women’s Suffrage Movement, and the Sons of Liberty protesting British control during the Boston Tea Party. Without civil disobedience, the balance of power would lean too heavily in the favor of the …show more content…

Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King was a prominent voice on behalf of African-Americans in the fight for racial equality during the mid- 20th century. In one particular situation, Dr. King was jailed in Montgomery, Alabama, for protesting the unfair treatment of Blacks in the area. While in jail, King penned a letter to fellow civil rights leaders that were critical of his rebellious tactics. In the letter, Dr. King states that “the purpose of direct action is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation.” Dr. King believed that the only remaining option in advocating for racial equality was to peacefully violate the law in order to bring about negotiations with lawmakers. Without Dr. King’s peaceful disregard for the law, African Americans would have had to continuously endure unfair treatment and persecution while drawing little relevant attention to their issues. This serves as significant evidence to suggest that Civil Disobedience is sometimes necessary in a society, as the non-violent actions of racial equality supporters led to civil rights negotiations in

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