Black Lives Matter. Women’s Marches. In today’s society, we need not look far to see various examples of civil disobedience. Yet, there is still much opposition on the people’s right to speak up - to fight for their rights. Why is this so, when our country seems to have evolved into what it is today, precisely because of it? It is my firm belief that while the United States of America remains a free society - a democracy run by the people - the protesting of unjust laws and traditions will always have a uniquely positive impact in the country.
Civil disobedience has its roots in one of this country’s most fundamental principles: popular sovereignty. The people hold the power, and those entrusted to govern by the people must wield
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Free societies should reflect the changing needs of the people with the changing of times, which is why the Constitution has been amended seventeen times since the original Bill of Rights. Without the input of the people, these amendments would not have been made. While this country places a heavy emphasis on majority rules, it is also a protector of minority rights. Righteous disobedience gives a voice to the minority, allowing them to band together so that they will not be overlooked. A movement that is often cited as an example of this is the Civil Rights Movement. Leaders such as Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks set the example for others; being sent to jail, or assassinated, for a cause they believe in. Protesters’ sacrifices did not go to waste, with the addition of the 15th amendment on March 30, 1870. Suffragists’ long fight overcame a major obstacle with the 19th Amendment being adopted. Through these events, others witnessed that it was possible for any person to make a change, creating a ripple effect that continues …show more content…
On the word of Martin Luther King Jr., “An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a prime example of this act of disobedience, and said, “The end justifies the means, even though the means are regrettable.” He however did not question the legitimacy of the American government but rather the particular laws that he and others felt were unjust. The civil rights movement was started by Dr. King, in which he found that it would be against
It is important to notice that if civil disobedience was not effective, then it would not be continually used to disobey the law. In "The Role of Civil Disobedience in Democracy” by Kayla Starr, she explains why we have the right to participate in civil disobedience. “The U.S. Bill of Rights asserts that the authority of a government is derived from the consent of the governed, and whenever any form of government becomes destructive, it is the right and duty of the people to alter or abolish it” (Starr 1). There are many examples of how effective this act of defiance could be. During the Boston Tea Party, the citizens of Massachusetts practiced civil disobedience by throwing Britain’s tea into the Boston harbor because they did not want to pay taxes on tea. Now, you can see that the Boston Tea Party played a major role in the United States becoming independent from Britain (Starr 1). Although violating the law has consequences, in this case the reward outweighed the risk. I think that by realizing the power that civil disobedience carries, we can stand up against ...
In our country’s history, Civil Disobedience has had positive effects upon legislation and societal norms. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution states five basic forms of expression that are to be protected by the government: Speech, Press, Assembly, Religion, and Petition. The Founders, in essence, created a means by which the average citizen can achieve political and social change. Justice William J. Brennan Jr. stated in 1989 that, “If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that government cannot prohibit the expression of an idea simply because the society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.”* When citizens speak out or
Civil disobedience has been around for a long time. In Bible times Christians would disobey laws that would go against their beliefs, such as the law that they couldn’t preach. (Acts 4) Christians still disobey laws in many countries that do not let them practice their faith, some end up in jail or killed.
“...It becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another (person)...” Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence. Civil disobedience is when you exercise the right of the people and protest peacefully against the government. As we read in Jefferson’s writing, as well as Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi’s. According to our great writers civil disobedience builds a great framework to promote change.
According to St. Augustine “an unjust law is not a law at all”(p186). This belief has been shared by many influential leaders in the past, including Henry Thoreau, Mahatma Ghandi, and Martin Luther King. They all believed in a non-violent approach to solving their social grievances. In most cases their approach was successful and was noticed by society and brought about a change in the laws. This nonviolent perspective stems straight from Jesus, who says, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”(p192). Others believe that by being disobedient you are under minding the laws and thus creating chaos within society. But, if unjust laws are not brought into light or under minded, then there will be no change in those laws. Martin Luther King felt there is a misconception of time in that the very flow of time cures all ills. On the contrary, time is neutral and it can be used either destructively or constructively(p190).
The use of civil disobedience is a respectable way of protesting a governments rule. When someone believes that they are being forced into following unjust laws they should stand up for what they believe in no matter the consequences because it is not just one individual they are protesting for they are protesting for the well-being of a nation. Thoreau says ?to resist, the government, when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable.? People should only let wrong and right be governed by what they believe not the people of the majority. The public should always stand for what is right, stand when they think a government is wrong, and trust in their moral beliefs.
Justice is often misconceived as injustice, and thus some essential matters that require more legal attentions than the others are neglected; ergo, some individuals aim to change that. The principles of civil disobedience, which are advocated in both “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. to the society, is present up to this time in the U.S. for that purpose.
This is why the Civil Rights Movement came into effect. This was an effort to continue history and change a nation’s culture as seen numerous times before across the world. The protestors were mostly African American’s looking for those unalienable rights that were given to them by their Creator and called upon in the country’s original piece legislature. The men and women who took place in the events of the Civil Rights Movement were led by others who believed that Henry David Thoreau’s philosophy of non-violent protest was key to cementing their position. Those who opposed them however, were not so kind and peace-loving in their actions.
Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience, Douglass’s “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”, Harriet Tubman, and Rosa Parks portrayed cases in which civil disobedience is justified. These people go against the law is some way to do what they believe is right. They risk the chance of being punished for, not only themselves, but others too. Without these acts of civil disobedience, others would not feel that it is okay to speak up for their beliefs. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws” (Tag). Do not be afraid to stand up for what it right and against what is unjustified. It is a big responsibility to go against the law but in the end, it could very much be worth
While the government the founding fathers established had a purpose of protecting the divine rights granted to man, more issues arose due to the inability of the government to fully protect all human rights. Jefferson stated in The Declaration of Independence “that all men are created equal,” (Jefferson, 2014, p. 108). However, the government did not uphold this ideal. Martin Luther King Jr., one of the leaders of the civil rights movement, encouraged Americans to practice civil disobedience to attempt to make a change in the treatment the African-American people endured under the ideals of the government. Segregation laws were considered unjust under the divine law. They encouraged the unfair treatment of American citizens based solely on the color of their skin. A portion of the American identity established by the revolution, was an intolerance to unjust laws and actions. King explains in his Letter from Birmingham Jail that “injustice anywhere is a treat to justice everywhere,” (King, 2014b, p. 141). Therefore, the citizens had a duty to disobey injustice to achieve justice. However, disobedience only applies with unjust laws. According to King, “an unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law,” (King, 2014b, p. 144). Kings considers any law that does not align with the teachings of the Lord or the natural rights that all men possess as unjust. This echoes the ideas of the Founding Fathers that the British government defied the rights of the colonists. The American identity established during the founding of the nation, seems to accept the use of disobedience of unjust laws as a method of improving the American state. Without this disobedience, American citizens would lack an effective way to establish their dissatisfaction with the state of the
Many see laws as guiding tenets which must be adhered to in order to preserve society. However, laws are created by people, engendering a sense of uncertainty into every drafted, proposed, and ratified regulation. Although the vast majority of laws serve the good purpose of protecting the people, there are a few which warrant peaceful civil disobedience in order to convey the public’s sentiment to the legislative bodies. Indeed, America’s history has been defined by successful civil disobedience, from the Boston Tea Party to the Civil Rights Movement, and from the Vietnam War protests to today’s LGBTQ and Feminist movements. Civil disobedience takes its place alongside America’s core values of freedom, equality, and sovereignty. Additionally,
Not only does peaceful resistance positively affect a free society, it is the bedrock for its survival. When the Founding Fathers congregated to ratify the Bill of Rights, they considered those ten as unalienable because they were representative of the American people’s values. As questions about which rights are guaranteed constantly circulate, civil disobedience can be a critical reminder to lawmakers about which rights the public refuse to forfeit. In a country of such rich diversity, unanimous agreement is a profound rarity. Unrepresented citizens cannot always rely on their peers to represent the same values, and as the late Howard Zinn once stated: “Protest beyond the law is not a departure from the law; it is essential to it.” Civil disobedience grants a voice to the otherwise voiceless. Ideological minorities can voice their discontent by refusing to conform to policies that breach their moral compasses. Without civil disobedience, those unfavored ideologies would struggle to compete in the marketplace of ideas.
In y opinion peaceful resistance to laws positively impact a free society because the people got to know what they are dealing with in that they have rights .''When the bus filled up and no seats remained, the driver ordered four African Americans, including Parks, to clear their seats so that a white man could sit down. All but Parks acquiesced.Parks was arrested for her act of civil disobedience and convicted of violating the Jim Crow laws that enforced racial segregation in the South until 1965''.This show that she resented to getting off because that was not a free society that why people should resented to any right that they think it's wrong. another example is ''Security Agency programs that collect vast amounts of information about the telephone calls made by millions of Americans, as well as e-mails and other files of foreign targets and their American connections. For this, some, including my colleague John Cassidy, are hailing him as a hero and a whistle-blower.''This man is a hero even Dow adore say that he is not because he is showing
“Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves,” as stated by Henry David Thoreau. Civil disobedience has been going on for numerous of years. It has impacted America in many different ways. This has all been through the people. Some of the ways it impacted people are through voting, public humiliation, and just and unjust laws. So therefore, this can cause a lot of problems.