Peaceful Resistance In The Civil Rights Movement

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Freedom is the underpinning of The United States. The structure of our society depends on the freedom given in our government. In pursuance of a free nation, the founders of America created the Bill of Rights to ensure that it would remain free for generations to come. In the first Amendment, the founders believed it was necessary to institute the right to petition in order to guarantee that America remains the land of the free. The right to petition had led to the reformation of unconstitutional laws. Throughout America’s history, peaceful resistance to laws positively impacts a free nation shown in response to british acts, in the Civil Rights Movement, and in the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Before America was a nation, nonviolent protest …show more content…

The Civil Rights Movement was a movement which aimed to constitute equal voting rights as to Whites for African Americans. Leaders correlated numerous marches and boycotts to petition for their rights. One extremely popular petition was a march on Selma, Alabama, arranged by Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to gain national concern for voting rights (Kindig). King had “met with government officials to try to ensure the marchers would not be impeded” (Mach). On Sunday, March 7, 1965, 600 protesters met to take part in the march (Mach). Though the march was meant to be irenic, state-troopers and police soon showed up and ordered the marchers to go back. When they refused, “officers shot tear gas and waded into the crowd, beating the nonviolent protesters with billy clubs and ultimately hospitalizing over fifty people” (Kindig). This event, which soon became known as Bloody Sunday, shocked America. The protest ultimately gained many supporters to the Civil Rights Movement. “Bloody Sunday was a turning point for the civil rights movement” (Mach) and on August 6, 1965, “the Federal Rights Act” (Kindig) was finally passed. As demonstrated, peaceful protest had helped bring America to an equal state …show more content…

Though peaceful protesting, citizens are able to amend and rectify their government into the one they aspire to have. Colonists strived for a government where they are represented and through peaceful protest, they managed to repeal the act. In both the Civil Rights Movement and the Woman Suffrage Movement, peaceful protest was used to spread public awareness which was essential to each movement. Through peaceful protest, citizens are able to influence their own government to augment their freedoms and those of

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