Essay on Civil disobedience

Submitted By Mrs_Nelson

Words: 436

Pages: 2

Open Document

Civil disobedience, also known as passive resistance is the act of refusal to obey the demands of a government or occupying power without resorting to violence or active measures of opposition. Its useful purpose to force concessions from the government or occupying power. Civil disobedience has been a major tactic and philosophy of nationalist movements in Africa and India. Martin Luther King Jr., Henry David Thoreau, and Gandhi are three men who put the use of civil disobedience into play very well in the past. Many people are ignorant to the fact that Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi did not teach civil disobedience first. Henry David Thoreau wrote about civil disobedience in 1849. Gandhi adapted Thoreau’s work in the struggle to get Indian independence in 1930. Like Gandhi, King used civil disobedience as a means of effectuating government change.
According to Martin Luther King Jr. “A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law.” Martin stated in the letter from Birmingham jail, Martin makes a distinction between Ius Gentium and Ius Naturalis that shares close resemblance to the philosophy of the Romans during their time. Ius Gentium is a law that is universally practice. For example, when someone buys a certain product, they have to pay for it. Stealing is not allowed, neither is murder. In the time of the Romans, however, slavery was universally used and accepted as well. Ius Naturalis means moral law. Certain things could fall under the Ius Gentium but not under Ius Naturalis. Although slavery was universally used in their time, the

Civil Disobedience

States was founded upon the principle of disobedience of the British Monarchy in order to build a nation where unalienable rights are bestowed to everyone. Citizens continually make it their priority to elect officials who have similar views in order for them to create beneficial laws, but at times some laws are deemed unconstitutional or the elected official is seen as a threat to the constitutional rights which in turn generate protests. Civil disobedience leads to a positive impact on a free society…

Words 597 - Pages 3

Civil Disobedience

To fully understand the meaning of civil disobedience first we would have to say that the meaning of civil disobedience is the denial to obey certain laws or pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest. The concept of civil disobedience evolved from the idea that there are laws of the state that don't secure citizens. This concept evolved over a long period of time and was grasped from different types of cultures. The act of civil disobedience was most effective in the twentieth…

Words 696 - Pages 3

Civil Disobedience

Americans began to resist the taxes imposed by the British. This effort culminated with the Boston Tea Party, in which Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty snuck onto a ship and dumped more than 45 tons of tea into the water. Prior to this act of disobedience, Adams had attempted to convince the governor to follow other colonies, refusing to accept the tea shipments in the first place. Despite his arguments, the governor and the consignees refused Adams, who proceeded to do what he felt was necessary…

Words 704 - Pages 3

Civil Disobedience

I am primarily dedicated to civil disobedience for the simple reason that no one gets hurt, however; the government left the ANC with no choice. I could not allow our unarmed protesters to be gunned down in the streets; thus I unwillingly was forced to respond with militant actions such…

Words 943 - Pages 4

Civil Disobedience Consequences

Native American, African American, and Immigrants. In history, Civil Disobedience is something every race does, consequences always follow civil disobedience, and today some of the consequences have changed. In the start of the United States, the country known for its freedom, was created due to civil disobedience. When the colonist refused to follow the taxes the king instructed to be collected the colonist reacted with civil disobedience. In the days when the English, French, and Spanish came to…

Words 625 - Pages 3

Thoreau's Civil Disobedience

To history, civil disobedience is the driving force that is integral to keeping a free society free. It is in civil disobedience that we find the keys to social change. From Thoreau's Civil Disobedience, one of the first intellectual writings supporting the idea, to the Black Lives Matter movement, and the Women's March on DC after President Trump's inauguration, civil disobedience is found as a prominent theme, a theme that keeps government as the tool to serve the will of the common many, rather…

Words 629 - Pages 3

Civil Disobedience Controversy

despotic rulers to contemporary civil rights movements opposing institutionalized discrimination. This demonstrates the natural human spirit of perseverance and the desire for a more just and equitable society. Disobedience has served as both a catalyst for productive change, but also a flashpoint for controversy. These points of controversy concerning both intelligent and civil disobedience raise the questions of the productivity of disobedience. Ultimately, disobedience may promote great, positive…

Words 1771 - Pages 8

Civil Disobedience Examples

obligated to do so.” I believe that civil disobedience not only positively impacts a free society, but it also helps to keep it honest and working for the people. This is shown through the civil disobedience of Gandhi, Harriet Tubman, and most recently Bree Newsome. Mahatma Gandhi was a anti-war activist who spent his life fighting racial segregation and the rule of the British over India. He is possibly one of the greatest examples of the impact that civil disobedience can have on a society. Gandhi led…

Words 701 - Pages 3

Peaceful Civil Disobedience

through civil disobedience and taking action to gain the freedoms we deserve. Peaceful civil disobedience is an effective tool that we the people can use in order to achieve the free society that our founding fathers envisioned for us. It would be counter-intuitive to suggest that civil disobedience negatively affects our free society because of our storied history. I do not know where we would be without the brave acts of so many Americans that achieved so much through peaceful civil disobedience…

Words 615 - Pages 3

Civil Disobedience Unjust

Civil disobedience as a way to resist unjust laws positively impacts a free society. Why? For three, simple reasons: it's mandatory when looking to achieve equality, it's a moral responsibility of the citizens, and it has always been a part of the democratic process. People who honestly seek change understand this, and will use peaceful resistance a means of achieving their goals. Throughout American history, and even beyond American history, change has come through peaceful resistance. They earnestly…

Words 797 - Pages 4