It depends on certain situations whether peaceful resistance to laws can have a positive impact or have a negative impact on a free society. Majority of peaceful assemblies can give the group of activist their freedom of speech and views towards something they believe in. Famous public figures like Claudette Colvin and Rosa Park's civil disobedience had a powerful effect on the world. Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to move her seat for a white men while sitting on a segregated white bus in Montgomery, Alabama on December 1st, 1955. Similarly, Claudette Colvin found herself in the same predicament and she was declared the first woman to have that sort of refusal or peaceful resistance towards bus regulations back then. Even though they both knew their views were going to get them into serious consequences with the Jim Crow Laws, they spoke their views and truths about the world during that time. In Rosa Park's situation, fortunately her civil disobedience was a "peaceful resistance towards the law." Nothing seriously got out of control, too violent, or too extreme and to foreshadow when it did; the people of the African American community just stood back up and refused to let the world shut…
“If the law requires you to be the agent of injustice, then, I say, break the law” (Henry Thoreau) This famous quote is taken from the famous essay Civil Disobedience written in 1848, Civil Disobedience still stands as an expression of moral and individual conscience against a un just government. To begin, the quote written by Henry Thoreau, “If the law requires you to be the agent of injustice, then, I say, break the law” is essentially saying If following the law results in a wrong done to another person, then do not follow the law, and that morals from human to human come before government rules or laws resulting in disobedience.…
Civil disobedience as a whole acts as a means of positive change in a free society. The First Amendment of the Constitution stands as a protectant to our freedom of speech and expression. In over words, civil disobedience exists as a product of our rights as an American citizen. Without this peaceful resistance to unjust laws, we would be tied down to regulations that serve to endanger and infringe upon the freedom our founding fathers fought for. Though out history, civil heros such as Henry David Thoreau, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King Jr serve to reflect the positive impact and enhanced freedom brought to life by civil disobedience.…
Disobedience is a valuable human trait and it promotes social progress. The beginning of time starts with disobedience. Humans tend to attract to trouble like a moth to a flame. When someone is born they start off disobedient. Humans have to be taught how to behave. It is to be imbedded into our brains to make the right decisions.…
The debate was thrust into a hotbed of discussion during the peak of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. In 1964, Morris I. Leibman was an avid anti-civil disobedience activist. He argued that there is no reason for any citizen to find an excuse to break the law because when people agree to enter society, they accept the rules that society establishes. Once you break these laws, there is no purpose to society existing in the first place. He argues that if you give leeway to certain circumstances in the law, where do you draw the line? In his mind, civil disobedience is deplorable and believes it’s the wrong way to create change. Continuing with this train of thought, Herbert Storing argued that civil disobedience would likely die out because of its irrelevance to today’s problems. He found it’s attempt to combine revolution and conventional political action into one as a blend of ideas ineffective in its approach for change. Both of these men wrote their responses to civil disobedience at the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. and both agreed that black people deserved equal opportunity under the law, but they felt that civil disobedience was a regressive tactic…
Civil disobedience is a key part of the rights that all Americans now have. Civil disobedience allows for the people to take a stand against rules and regulations that they do not agree with. From movements such as ending slavery, women voting, and racial equality, civil disobedience was a major factor in getting the attention of those who had the position to make a change. Rosa Parks wouldn't give up her seat on a bus, which brought national attention to rising concerns of racial equality in the 1950s and 1960s. Martin Luther King Junior held many rallies and marches to make his point well known, and impossible to ignore by the people who had the power to change the laws of the day. From as far back as Harriet Tubman, who helped slaves…
According to the infamous essay by Henry David Thoreau, civil disobedience is the conscious and intentional disobeying of a law to advance a moral principle or change government policy. Throughout the essay, Thoreau urges the need for individuals to put their personal and social consciousness before their allegiance to their government and its range of policies. Thoreau believed that if a government is unjust, citizens should simply refuse to follow the law and eventually begin to distance themselves from their government in a variety of ways. Although published 105 years one of the most turbulent and crucial times in American history, the leaders…
Additionally, many people fail to recognize that their struggles were made worth it by peaceful misbehavior and breaking of the law. Similarly like Martin L. King Jr. and Rosa Parks, there are innumerable people who have done the same for diverse rights of the people. Disobedience has been part of our history, but no one realizes that both individuals bent laws for those they loved. Everybody has to defy the rules at some point in their life and us ourselves do not know if our acts of protest will be part of a legacy just like theirs. “Disobedience”, should not have a pessimistic connotation, but instead be appreciated as a virtuous strength and progress to change a city, a state, a country, a continent, and even the…
I negate that civil disobedience, or “the refusal to obey certain laws, demands, or commands of a government, or of an occupying international power”, according to the dictionary, should be permissible. The rule of law provides the necessary structure for maintaining justice. Civil Disobedience is not permissible for three reasons: It sabotages democratic process, is self-defeating, and although a part of history, that does not make it morally just. Civil Disobedience is not permissible because it sabotages democratic process. Deliberately breaking the law violates the procedural rules that an operating democracy determines.…
Civil disobedience is a vital and necessary part of life in a democratic system of government. It serves to keep the government from overstepping its bounds. There are times in the history of countries where the governing body has become complacent and has begun to violate the rights of their citizens. Civil disobedience is an effective way of discouraging and preventing such transgressions. Without the threat of dissidence from the public, there is nothing to keep governments honest except for the honor of those governments, which is highly questionable even in the noblest of nations. The role of elected officials in the United States is to represent their constituents, be they from their district, state, or party. If there is nothing to hold these politicians to this purpose, can we truly be sure they are ruling in a representative way and not in self interest?…
We the people. Three courageous words that set the newly American people on a mission. A mission for life, a mission for liberty, and a mission for happiness. But those noble ideals embodied in the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights are still far from being achieved, and the mission continues to this day. Freedom for America didn't free the slaves, give women the right to vote, or end religious prejudice. There is nothing about a law that makes it inherently just, and the US is no exception. As a result of this, citizens may at times come to the conclusion that certain laws are in need of changing. The intention of the documents that set up our democracy was to ensure the government would forever be by and for the people. Sometimes legal means for ensuring America stays true to its original purpose prove inadequate. If such is the case in the instance at hand, turning to civil disobedience can have a positive impact on a free society.…
Movements around the globe have stemmed from peaceful beginnings, and in the United States alone, many prominent peaceful movements have brought about some of the most prominent reforms put forth by the government. Being that no real results can be expected from mere picketing and passive proclamations from a megaphone, these demonstrations often break the law in some way, explaining where the label of disobedience comes from. Civil disobedience is an increasing practice worldwide, and it is proven to be exceptionally effective when put to the test against oppressive regimes, unjust laws, and stoic governments. It has been practiced by some of the most influential leaders of the civil rights movement in the United States such…
Civil disobedience in our country have continuously been a topic of controversial value. With two opposing sides, there are stories told by people who believe, or don’t believe, in breaking the law to get their point across. Activists and fellow civilians concerned with their life, and the lives of those who will have a voice in future, feel that clashing with what the law proclaims in order for change is mandatory. They feel as though their voices may never be listened to unless they show the world that their opinion matters. This idea of leadership isn’t freshly introduced or recent within generation, but have endlessly been acted upon by some of the most famous and well-respected names in American history.…
Civil disobedience plays a huge role in today's society. For example immigrants coming over to America causes a lot of controversy. Many people feel as though all immigrants are bad and that is not the case. While there are many people who value a dollar not many people in other countries can say the same because they don't have much of anything.When immigrants come over they are breaking the law but in some cases we've had immigrants here who have been her for years and they have not caused any problems. Stereotypes are often formed when people hear things from friends,family,radio,tv and news. When people say that all immigrants are bad it's like says all white people are bad or all black people are bad and ect. I think not letting immigrants…
This country has a rich history of civil disobedience. In fact, the men who founded our country used civil disobedience to protest against unjust laws that they felt threatened their future and the future of generations to come. Tim DeChristopher used civil disobedience to stop the auction of oil and gas leases being held by the BLM. Mohandas Gandhi used nonviolent resistance against the British who occupied India. While Henry David Thoreau not only used these methods of nonviolent protest, he actually helped to define criteria of what is to be considered civil disobedience.…