What Is Emerson's Concept Of Civil Disobedience

Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, politician, social activist and writer who would lead the independence movement of India to free the country of British rule (“Mahatma Gandhi,” 2017). He would prove that a single person could change the course of history and take on the entire British Empire. Gandhi’s principles of nonviolence and civil disobedience are attributed to his success in gaining independence for India. The act of passive resistance allowed Gandhi to generate more support for his movement for independence while making it difficult for the British to find reasons to arrest them. He argued that although violence could be more effective than peaceful

“If you make laws to keep us suppressed in a wrongful manner and without taking us into confidence, these laws will merely adorn the statue books. We will never obey them”(1). Mohandas Gandhi expressed this in his writing “On Nonviolent Resistance”. “Civil disobedience” is when people use their voice by protesting, non-violently, to stick up against unjust laws and unjust movements. The truths and values are proven and brought to attention in the writings of Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, and Henry David Thoreau. Civil disobedience can be the solution to unjust laws and violence around the world.

In the modern age of America, there are many people who have read and abided by the beliefs of civil disobedience. Civil disobedience is a philosophy created by Henry Thoreau that states one must not conform to certain laws for a variety of reasons, which was also an ideology utilized by Martin Luther King Jr. The world has witnessed many acts of disobedience from the masses, and have thus portrayed the idea that this belief still operates successfully. The ideology that surrounds civil disobedience also strongly influences the individual in a particular society, which also depicts the principles of this belief have adjusted to the modern world. In the new age of America, the beliefs of Thoreau and King are still prevalent and found in society due to the influence it has on movement that brings change; thus, illustrating that American citizens commonly refer and utilize this belief.

Civil disobedience has been an act practiced by free societies across the globe. It has been a highly controversial topic in the Unites States over the years, as some believe the so-called "peaceful resistance" exemplifies too much defiance to the government. However, most believe that performing civil disobedience exercises many rights incorporated in the Constitution. Civil disobedience positively impacts a free society by allowing its citizens to express their opinions in a matter which draws the attention of the government, and heightens public awareness.

He outed the moral and political philosophy of satyagraha, or nonviolent resistance, which he had developed while in South Africa. His message to Indians was simple: develop your own resources and control the instincts and activities that encourage membership in colonial economy and government, and you shall achieve swaraj or self-rule. Faced with Indian self-reliance and self-control pursued nonviolently, Gandhi claimed, the British eventually would have to leave. When the Depression struck India in 1930, Gandhi asked for his people not to use salt showing his new way of civil disobedience. Salt symbolized tasked the Indians' defeat to an alien government. To break the colonial government's control, Gandhi began a 240-mile march from western India to the coast to gather sea salt for free. With him were seventy-one followers representing different regions of India. Thousands of people met around and encouraging them to hold independence from British rule. (Pollard, Rosenberg, Tignor 2015 Pages

nonconformist” (Self-Reliance, 15), he took off the idea and went on to express the bold statement, “Imitation is suicide” (Self-Reliance, 3). David Henry Thoreau has beliefs similar to Emerson on the topic of conformity: “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he

M.K. Gandhi was an Indian who protested successfully against Britain and ultimately influenced future events around the world. Gandhi’s most successful tactic to gain Indian independence was “Satyagraha” or passive resistance because the majority of society would disagree with the opponent, they will continue to protest no matter what, and it was successfully used in the Salt March. Firstly, using this tactic, about 80 Indian citizens were publically brutalized by British authorities which greatly influenced the world against them because an eyewitness wrote and sent thousands of newspapers, talking about British police brutality, around the world. For example, in Source 3 the text says, “Webb Miller’s eyewitness account was published in over a thousand newspapers around the world.”

     Emerson’s writing focused on nonconformity and individuality. In his essay "Self-Reliance," he wrote, "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind," and, "Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist."

Nonconformity is someone who does not follow the generally accepted beliefs, customs, or practices. Although it is easy to conform, it is hard to be yourself, “It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude…” (Emerson 11). Emerson stated in his essay that a man must follow their own ideas and not conform to society like everyone else. He also believes that when you are self-sufficient it gives you the freedom to find out who you really are and this is when you become fully independent. When you conform to society you are like everyone else and that can make you happy, but all of the fame and fortunes can make you corrupt. That is why Emerson believes that living a life of nonconformity is best for one’s overall happiness. “Is it so bad then to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh” (Emerson 11). As Emerson compares these different philosophers, he explains that although nonconformity creates misunderstandings, it is also what makes you greater and different.

From the time we are children and throughout the duration of our lives, we are told to abide by certain sets of rules. In most situations this is a perfectly acceptable expectation; speed limits, remaining quiet in libraries, and waiting until the age of twenty-one to drink are all reasonable things to ask of people. After all, these rules and laws are put in place to ensure a peaceful and safe society. However, when these rules begin to infringe upon the rights of certain groups, some citizens turn to civil disobedience as a form of protest. While some may argue that civil disobedience is nothing more than a violation of the law, it has also proven to have a positive impact on society, in more ways than one. Used by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin

Gandhi is considered by many around the world as the father of the Indian independence movement. Gandhi spent over 20 years in South Africa working to fight discrimination. It was in South Africa that he developed his concept of Satyagraha, a non-violent way of protesting against discrimination. The first time Gandhi used Satyagraha was in South Africa beginning in 1907 when he organized opposition to the Black Act. In 1907, the Black Act was passed, requiring all Indians to keep registration documents on them at all times.

In “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson and “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau both authors voiced their opinions on society and what is expected from citizens. Emerson’s essays focuses on the need for individuals to dodge conventionality and false uniformity, and instead follow their own guts and thoughts focusing on one self more. Thoreau’s essay is more focused on patriotism, those who not fully support the rejection of government, but resistance to those laws that he deemed to be unjust or immoral.

Emerson highly values the mind of all the individual. He speaks positively about the capabilities of one’s thoughts. He advises that we “should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within” (Emerson 19). Emerson encourages one to pay attention to “gleam of light” because what may come from it might be great. He even says that the light is worth more than “the luster of the firmament of bards and sages” (Emerson 19). Emerson suggests that one’s own thoughts are worth more than the “firmament” of “bards and sages”, who are very smart people. He places the human mind on the same level, if not even higher, than the sages. The only flaw that Emerson saw was that people always wanted to conform to what other institutions thought and said. They would never challenge those thoughts, even if they were incorrect. Emerson said that “so much force is withdrawn from [one’s] proper life” when one conformed to the institutions (Emerson 23). He shows that conformity will ultimately lead to a dull life. A place where Emerson saw where there was a lot of conformity was within a

In South Africa, he involved himself in an attempt to end discrimination against the minority Indians residing there. During this course, he developed “satyagarha”, which translates into “soul force”, or an approach of non-violence resistance, against the British governments in South Africa. In the years following the World War I, Gandhi became a leading figure in India for his struggle to achieve independent from the mighty British rule. His willingness to tolerate the punishments and the prison confinement earned him the title of “ Mahatama”, a “great soul” in India in 1914. (Mohandas Gandhi, 2015)

Civil disobedience is tantamount to raising the red signal against democracy when the latter deviates from the right course in accordance with the views of exponents. It can be considered as a kind of opposition or rather a very advanced shape of political and social resistance. Civil disobedience is not a commonplace form of political opposition, not because it is a negative form of political resistance, but because it occurs very rarely. It can be regarded as the most sophisticated case of the embodiment of democracy. Therefore, it is difficult if not impossible to imagine a democracy without the freedom of opposition including the right of civil disobedience. Freedom of