In The Case Against Civil Disobedience the unknown author claims in his very first sentence that “the most striking characteristic of civil disobedience is its irrelevance to the problems of today” and that it is “the resort… exercised because the subject cannot or will not take up the rights and duties of the citizen.” What he fails to realize is that the rights and duties of a citizen is to keep an eye on the laws that rule the land and to revolt when those laws become unjust. It’s all part and parcel to the social contract thought up by Locke and heavily leaned upon by Thomas Jefferson. As Henry David Thoreau says in Civil Disobedience, “a corporation of conscientious men is a corporation with a conscious.” Civil disobedience can never become irrelevant because corruption will forever attempt to corrode even the best intentions of a government and so there will always be a need to revolt when unjust laws get pasted.…
All American citizens give up some of their personal liberties for the good of society: it is the basis of the constitution and every law. When citizens feel a law is unjust, they have two options: follow it or fight it. While the usual method of fighting it involves legal challenges or petitioning legislators, civil disobedience has achieved much notoriety after its famed success during the Civil Rights movement. The Framework for a Free Society describes a free society as one in which government “is constrained by the rule of law under which every individual and entity is treated equally.” A free society stresses toleration and respect of differences in belief and culture. Thus, peaceful resistance positively impacts a free society as it…
James A. Baldwin, an American novelist and social critic, stated that, “I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.” The right to stand against our country and protest against what’s wrong makes us powerful diverse people. We, the American people, are in charge of our country and we must make her forever progressive and right. Part of this forward motion is civil disobedience. Civil disobedience was used to create our nation, exercise our civilian powers, and is still used today to eradicate benighted ideas and laws.…
Subpoint A: Civil disobedience has played an important part in the shaping of the United States. The United States is a constitutional republic, which is a not a direct democracy but a derivative of one. The Boston Tea Party is one example. It was an act of civil disobedience to protest the oppressive British government. Another example is Harriet Tubman’s Underground Railroad. Tubman illegally did the moral thing by helping many slaves get to freedom. The Women’s suffrage movement. Thousands of women braved arrest and prison to gain their democratic right of voting. The civil rights movement, the introduction of labor laws and unions, environmental demonstrations, anti-war protests, all these are examples of civil disobedience. Civil disobedience has been proved time and time again to be effective in the United States, a model for democracy.…
With recent, record-breaking protests such as the ones on the weekend of January 20-22 (as well as pre-existing ones such as the North Dakota Access Pipeline protests), more and more people are participating in the phenomenon that is peaceful resistance and protest, and, as officials say about the Women’s March during the weekend (to connect with an example), “not a single arrest was made” (Seipel, “The Hill”). Again, there are direct results, as the NDAP protests caused alternate considerations by the Army regarding the pipeline (Brodwin, “Business Insider”). The United States was a country created on the basis of revolution; the Declaration of Independence is the archetype document of resistance; even the Resistance in Star Wars is viewed as good with their attempts at disobedience. Thomas Jefferson sought for the balance of the inherent right of revolution with the need to conform to the set laws that exist to protect the well-being of all; with civil disobedience, Jefferson’s ideals are ensured. No one is claiming to be above the law, nor are they attempting to usurp the standing government. The people only want the efficient, peaceful change and positive transition that can only come from the peaceful resistance to laws. Peaceful resistance to laws positively impacts society as it brings about the change without violence and needless bloodshed and fighting and challenges thinking from different viewpoints in a mental and emotional standpoint that…
The idea of civil disobedience brings much controversy when it’s being discussed. Many distinctive perceptions have been made regarding the topic, but a substantial amount of people have seen Henry David Thoreau’s assumption in his essay, Civil Disobedience. In his essay, Thoreau theorized, “That government is best which governs least.” The population of the United States is politically divided due to the fact that different groups and cultures of people have conflicting viewpoints on topics like these. Some of the population agrees with Thoreau, that there should be a more just government that what exists. Recently, there has been an uprising in the nation due to a protest made by a football team. Many people of America are debating the meaning…
Martin Luther King, Jr’s message in “A Letter From Birmingham Jail” and Henry David Thoreau’s in “Civil Disobedience” are similar with minor differences. Both men agree it is a citizen’s duty to disobey an unjust law. King and Thoreau equally manifested their ability to protest by taking a peaceful approach, also accepting the repercussions that followed. King and Thoreau are prime examples on whether one is bound to always obey the law is increasingly important during periods of grossly immoral legislation and unjust institutions. King and Thoreau believe it is a citizen’s duty to navigate through legislature with their moral compass, however Thoreau does not believe…
The purpose of both Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is to talk about the injustice law in the society. Thoreau explains how the government is run by the majority “because they are physically the strongest” (941). Thoreau believes a society “in which the majority rule in all cases cannot be based on justice” (941). Thoreau suggests to the audience that it is necessary to “resist” the injustice “for the most part” (942). Similarly, King states that “one has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws,” and that “conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws” (265). Through non-violence protest, both Thoreau and King are encouraging their audience to take the duty of civil…
“It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen” (Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics). Although civil disobedience may cause divisive rhetoric and chaos, nonviolent resistance positively impacts a free society by providing an impetus for progress and starting a dialogue about injustice. Our nation was founded on principles of civil disobedience. In Federalist #51, James Madison proclaimed, “If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” Instead, it is up to humankind to ensure that our government protects the rights of all people.…
Some argue that civil disobedience represents a genuine cause, but reject the methods of direct action simply as disruptive, immoral, and an illegal standard to combat inequality. Civil disobedience is stigmatized to be corrupt and ineffective; however, I believe these labels do no justice to the cause the act of civil disobedience embodies. Unfortunately, the reality becomes a simple and cruel true: Justice prolonged is justice denied. Not everyone is granted the luxury of timely inalienable rights. Had it not been for those who protested and engaged in the Boston Tea Party how long would have the conversation or much less the American Revolution been delayed? Had it not been for Rosa Parks and the countless others who engaged in civil disobedience how long would it have been before society was desegregated at the choice of the oppressor? When one engages in peaceful civil disobedience, one is given the platform to address the…
It took years for rights to be expanded to others. One of the greatest examples of civil disobedience to allow for the expansion of civil rights is through Martin Luther King Jr.'s history of protesting segregation against black people. In my early education, I was aware of King's importance to civil rights but never understood what he had to go through in order to create a change. By being introduced to Letter from a Birmingham Jail in high school, I finally recognized that before he had a dream of equality King had to have the action of protest. Throughout his letter, he emphasizes the distinction between just and unjust laws. As King states, "An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law" (King, 1963). Americans must understand that civil disobedience should only be exemplified when there is a moral purpose behind the desire for…
Many people think that civil disobedience is simply a way of expressing your opposition to a law through a publicity stunt. However, civil disobedience is much more than this. Civil disobedience leads to a more positive society where people can feel open of expressing themselves against unjust laws or actions of government. The action of civil disobedience makes a free society where, in Adlai Stevenson’s words, people find it more “safe to be unpopular”.…
Martin Luther King Jr. once stated “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” It was this disobedience that drew attention to the cause, in his case racial equality, that was being fought for. Peaceful organized…
In the present state of America, the question concerning the efficacy of disobedience is a prevalent and impassioned topic. The fact that this question even needs to be posed is an American tragedy; what could be more patriotic than standing up for the beliefs and rights of others? From America’s conception, it was upheld by the great protectors of liberty that civil discord bettered the nation and that ideology has been maintained and preserved amongst that group for more than two centuries.…
In a free society, it is inevitable for reform to occur.It is a common theme across world history for people to peacefully challenge the decisions of those above them.From the plebeians disobeying the laws of Ancient Rome to the Indian Independence Movement, civil disobedience has been among us for so long, and each society is able to build off its predecessors’ mistakes.Henry Thoreau inspired generations to come in his essay, “Civil Disobedience”, and the effect of it was widespread.In fact, while in jail, Mahatma Gandhi picked up a copy of Thoreau’s essay and was able to utilize the tactics discussed by Thoreau to successfully challenge Britain’s control over India.That movement created a template itself as the Civil Rights movement of the…