The effectiveness of civil disobedience is that challenging the unjust laws can lead to change, however this can lead to more unjust laws in an attempt to stomp out the party of people that are currently opposing the law. The colonists used petitions and refused to abide by the laws that they believed were unjust. The sheer number of people that were protesting against the laws led to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In the article “First Shots of War, 1775” the article narrates “When British soldiers arrived at Lexington the next morning, they found several dozen minutemen waiting for them on the town’s common. Someone fired” (para. 2).…
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.…
Civil Disobedience is an insightful peaceful and in many cases more effective than simple violence at addressing ills in society. If one wishes to partake in civil disobedience they must follow three rules or steps, one they must identify an ill in society usually involving governmental oppression. second they need to break said laws or or rules they see ill. And thirdly and possibly most important they must accept all punishment without retaliation or resistance. Another major factor in civil disobedience is the ability for one to gain followers who believe in and will sacrifice themselves for the cause. The tools people use to convince other to follow or believe them are called the tools of rhetoric. Rhetoric users convince other by using…
Civil disobedience, or refusing to obey the law to protest peacefully, has been one of the most effective ways of changing government policies. In many cases throughout history, fairer societies have been created after laws were challenged. For example, American colonists protested against British taxes by refusing to pay them. This eventually led to the founding of the United States. Colonists went against the law to improve their way of living and end an unfair tax. They were able to initiate change and spark…
Disobedience is a very controversial topic due to the fact that history represents such a wide range of extremities of this ideology. Disobedience can be perceived in many different ways and it can either help or destroy the structure of society. An example of disobedience in society that has proved very successful in the past is civil disobedience. Throughout history, civil disobedience has made a huge impact on the U.S. government and is responsible for several popular social reforms. Many of the world’s most inspirational leaders used civil disobedience to reconstruct society and develop remarkable social change. Examples of these leaders include Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr., Susan B. Anthony, and Rosa Parks. These people were able to…
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.…
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…
This disobedience to reach progressive change can be seen throughout history. People like Rosa Parks stood up for a cause by being disobedient towards the racist laws at play. When Rosa Parks refused to go to the back of the bus, she was jailed but her peaceful protest gave rise to the cause of segregation. This was a big issue at this time but…
To sum things briefly, the exercise of civil disobedience is not only a positive impact on a free society; it is the very ideology that a free society is founded upon. Without support for disobedience, a government breaks the agreement that it represents. By this reasoning, without the right to peacefully oppose a law while also accepting the consequences, a society cannot truly identify as…
Gandhi’s salt march in 1930 was an example of this. It brought attention to the media and made the government aware of Gandhi but no one was killed doing this. Also because Gandhi was noticed it helped him get a meeting with the government and eventually helped him free India. Civil disobedience can change segregation laws and make it better for an entire group of people. The Greensboro sit-in…
There are many arguments that civil disobedience is morally permissible within a democracy, but the most convincing argument is that the publicity of the act helps force negotiations with officials by highlighting the unfairness of an unjust or oppressive law. Sometimes, legal processes are insufficient to change a law, and complaints made are often ignored, such being the case of many voting rights protesters. Civil disobedience is used as a last resort, to force people to reconsider the status quo and address the issue at hand. An oft used example is the Civil Rights Movement. Though MLK and others engaged in peaceful protests, officials and police responded with violence in an attempt to suppress them. Their barbarity, however, brought more attention to the…
Without civil disobedience we would still have many unjust laws in place. The United states wouldn’t even be a nation without civil disobedience. Acts of civil disobedience such as the civil rights movement contributed to the rights of many and without it many people will be living under oppression and segregation. Without these acts of civil disobedience people would not be in a position to express themselves and how they feel.…
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 has the potential to positively influence a society for the better. Martin Luther King said " One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws." In this day and age civil disobedience is praised even rewarded; but, can this form of peaceful rebellion help a society. The answer to this question is, yes. There are three things that are necessary to truly have a correct form of civil disobedience.…
The Positive Impact of Civil Disobedience One way through which the society is impacted is civil disobedience. This act of opposing a law that one consider unjust can either positively or negatively impact a free society. Since the liberalization of most regions and country in the world, civil disobedience has been a key weapon in showing displeasure of unjust laws and it is remarkable that it has achieved more than it has destroyed. To a large extent, it is through civil disobedience that the two greatest evils of the 20th century – colonialism and cold war – were both overcome. Additionally most laws that oppressed a certain population such as women came to be abolished hence restoring humanity in the world.…