Civil Disobedience Dbq

800 Words2 Pages

Disobedience to laws and governments that we the people see as wrong is a deep-seated part of our culture. It hearkens back to the Revolutionary war which the colonies used to create this great country from a previous government that the people saw as tyrannical. But this kind of disobedience, even being somewhat rare, can be seen in many cases throughout history. A step up from this is civil disobedience. Civil Disobedience can even be found as far back as Jefferson's time when he would advocate for "threat of revolution" and forms of changing the government that were placed in the constitution like "elections, amending process" and more (Rebellion, Revolution, and the Constitution). The same document even cites him as believing that unsuccessful …show more content…

A violent revolution is very effective because it can attract attention which gives it more support, because people hear about it, and it forces the receiving end of the revolution to deal with it. The downside that comes from this form of disobedience is the harm that is resulted from it. That is why civil disobedience is so great. It, like the violent revolution, attracts attention and therefore more support. It also forces the receiving end of the disobedience to deal with it because the law is for the to deal with it. Civil disobedience can effectively attract support because of how crazy what is happening can seem, someone is making a statement and accepting the consequences willingly for their illegal …show more content…

The Act peacefully and effectively saw the goals of the participants realized with legislation like the Civil Rights Act, and the Voting Rights Act, and court cased like Brown V. Board of Education. Like the revolutions that Jefferson would advocate for the Civil Rights movement was not a "successful revolution" because it did not abolish the government, but it did get the major changes that they were looking for. This is an example of civil disobedience because, like the author of "The Case Against Civil Disobedience" points out, by taking part in illegal activities like making "use of facilities reserved by local law for whites" a participant is taking part in civil disobedience (The Case Against Civil Disobedience). The Civil Right Movement brought this country out of the legislated discrimination and gave even more people a chance to get the benefits of a free country. All through the power of civil

Show More
Related

  • Compare And Contrast Thoreau And Civil Disobedience

    1321 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mahatma Gandhi, a prominent leader in the independence movement of India once said, “Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the state becomes lawless and corrupt.”(brainyquotes.com) Gandhi states that protest and civil disobedience are necessary when the authority becomes unscrupulous. This correlates to “Declaration of Independence,” by Thomas Jefferson; “Civil Disobedience,” by Henry David Thoreau; and “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” by Martin Luther King Jr., because all three leaders felt that civil disobedience was important to help protest against an unjust ruling. Jefferson stood up to the injustice of the king by writing the Declaration of Independence and urged others to stand up for the independence of America. Thoreau exemplified

    Read More

  • Examples Of Civil Disobedience In The United States

    782 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Civil Rights Movement vs. The Black Liberation Movement

    1104 Words  | 3 Pages

    On The Duty of Civil Disobedience, written by Henry David Thoreau, explains that civil disobedience is the act of standing for your beliefs even though they are against the law. Thoreau goes on to say that the government (because it is ruled by the majority) is not always right for everyone especially the individual and the minority. Over the course of American history, there have been many different groups formed for the purpose of civil disobedience. The two that I am going to focus on are the activists of the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panthers of the Black Liberation Movement. The Civil Rights Movement began in 1954 with the case of Brown vs. the Board of Education. It was basically lead by Martin Luther King Jr. whose teachings were of peaceful protesting and boycotting in order to achieve the goals of integration and equality for Black Americans (Small). The Black Liberation Movement started a few years later in 1960 and was later taken over and popularized by the Black Panthers in 1966. The basis of this movement was not just black equality but also black independence by any and every means necessary. The Panthers wanted blacks to be in control of their own neighborhoods (Acoli). These two protest movements had similar but at the same time very different platforms. The difference their effectiveness was caused by the difference in the techniques.

    Read More

  • civil disobediance

    736 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience," he uses a hyperbole to support his belief that "one person can make a change," an idea still relevant today. Thoreau uses many forms of literary techniques such as multiple hyperbole, emotional appeals, and paradoxes. Thoreau uses these to sustain his ideas on civil disobedience. He believes if you believe in something, and support something you should do whatever it takes to help the cause. Many people in today's society believe to just go with the flow, rather than living like Thoreau has, and supporting his own beliefs no matter what the consequence. Henry David Thoreau had a lot of personal authority, he was all about his own independence. Many different people believed in being a non-conformist, and Thoreau was one of them, and he very well showed how much he supported it. Thoreau was not the only nonconformist, they're many people who followed his beliefs and they refused to be bound by anybody, or anything they did not support. Other non-conformists were Gandhi, Galileo, Malcom X and many more.

    Read More

  • Lessons in Civil Disobedience

    839 Words  | 2 Pages

    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 ...

    Read More

  • Rawls and King on Civil Disobedience

    773 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the Theory of Justice by John Rawls, he defines civil disobedience,” I shall begin by defining civil disobedience as a public, nonviolent, conscientious yet political act contrary to law usually done with the aim of bringing about a change in the law or policies of the government”.

    Read More

  • Paradox Of Civil Disobedience

    661 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Civil Disobedience

    577 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sometimes civil disobedience can become violent as in the case in South Africa during the struggle to end apartied. It started out with passive resistance, but after years of struggling with no change, a violent group was formed and was willing to do anything to get the freedom they desired.

    Read More

  • Civil Disobedience

    639 Words  | 2 Pages

    Henry David Thoreau, a philosopher and creative artist as well as an anti slavery activist, wrote his short story “From Resistance to Civil Disobedience”. In this story he’s arrested for not paying his state taxes. At the time the state was engaged in the Mexican-American War that was not only fought over boundaries expanding slavery but was also enacted by President Polk under his own decision. Thoreau thought the war was too aggressive and without just reason.

    Read More

  • Civil Disobedience

    1266 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. received a Nobel Prize and was honored by the President of the United States for his contributions to society. On the other hand, he was prosecuted, convicted, incarcerated, and had his sentence reaffirmed by the Supreme Court. These explanations seem rather contradictory. If what he did was noble, why was he jailed for his actions? When we take into account these manifestations of the government's attitude towards Martin Luther King, we can safely make the assumption that the government is not always justified in the laws that it creates. Our government's original purpose was to keep order and ensure freedom to its people. As history has shown us, as in the case of African Americans, the government will expand its role and take away liberties of the few. The individual is justified in acting out in civil disobedience when the government restricts the liberties of the individual.

    Read More

  • Nonviolence In The Civil Rights Movement

    576 Words  | 2 Pages

    When comparing the effectiveness of the nonviolent approach and the violent approach, King says, “Nowhere have the riots won any concrete improvement such as have the organized protest demonstrations.” The nonviolent approach produced progress, whereas, the violent approach did not. King points out, “The 1960s sit-ins desegregated lunch counters…The 1961 Freedom Rides put an end to segregation in interstate travel…The 1965 Selma movement brought enactment of the Voting Rights Law.” The nonviolent approach was proven effective, and to some extent, it appealed to the conscience of the government, those not involved, and the perpetrators. If people would have seen blacks fighting back, many would not have had sympathy for them. As a result, many would not have solicited their support thus making the civil rights movement as a whole

    Read More

  • Civil Disobedience

    932 Words  | 2 Pages

    The political concepts of justice and how a society should be governed have dominated literature through out human history. The concept of peacefully resisting laws set by a governing force can be first be depicted in the world of the Ancient Greeks in the works of Sophocles and actions of Socrates. This popular idea has developed over the centuries and is commonly known today as civil disobedience. Due to the works of Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. civil disobedience is a well-known political action to Americans; first in the application against slavery and second in the application against segregation. Thoreau’s essay “Civil Disobedience” and King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” are the leading arguments in defining and encouraging the use of civil disobedience to produce justice from the government despite differences in their separate applications.

    Read More

  • Thoreau and King, Jr.

    680 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are times throughout the history of the United States when its citizens have felt the need to revolt against the government. There were such cases during the time of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau, when there was unfair discrimination against the Afro-American community and Americans refusing to pay poll taxes to support the Mexican War. They used civil disobedience to eventually get legislation to stop the injustice brought against them and their nation. Civil disobedience is defined as refusal to obey civil laws or decrees, which usually takes the form of passive resistance. People practicing civil disobedience break a law because they consider the law unjust, and want to call attention to its injustice, hoping to bring about its withdrawal.

    Read More

  • Civil Disobedience Analysis

    1791 Words  | 4 Pages

    Why partake in civil disobedience? Oscar Wilde, an influential author, has an opinion on utilization of civil disobedience. “Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion. Meaning, if a person wants to change society and its actions, they must rebel against the governing body in order to create effective alterations. Many situations exist where civil disobedience advocates change. In those situations, people have rights for disobedience, but must realize consequences may result from their disobedient actions.

    Read More

  • Civil Disobedience as a Method of Protest

    875 Words  | 2 Pages

    By definition, civil disobedience means to actively refuse to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government or of an occupying power without resorting to physical violence (Wikipedia 2007). Many of the influential people in history have felt passionately about what they believe. These passions caused them to rebel against a government or authority. Many times they felt so strongly about what they believed and how they were being treated was wrong they became disobedient. They would take physical and verbal abuse for being disobedient but would never retaliate. They believed in what they thought was wrong and tried to change the way they were governed. Albert Einstein once said 'never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it.' Albert Einstein's views seem to be reasonable. The claim by Albert Einstein is accurate because people should stand up for what they believe, they should know when they are right and their government is wrong, and they should trust in themselves and their own beliefs.

    Read More

More about Civil Disobedience Dbq

Open Document