Preview

Civil Disobediences Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
707 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Civil Disobediences Essay
In the past, we’ve seen incidents where large hordes of people march in unison, carry banners and shout slogans to bring attention to an issue. These incidents are known as civil disobediences, an act performed by a group of people, usually civilians, to protest a law imposed on them by a governing body or fight for something they believe in. This act differs from something like a violent protest or a revolution is that civil disobediences firstly put emphasis on the rule of law while disobeying the one specific law they seek to abolish. Second, the people that practice civil disobedience will plead guilty to any violation of the law. The third and final principle of civil disobedience is that it tries to convert the opponent by demonstrating …show more content…
On that afternoon, black leaders met to formed the Montgomery Improvement Association and elected Martin Luther King Jr. as president of the group. African Americans ensured the sustainability of the boycott by organizing carpools, lower taxi fares to bus fare prices and simply walked to their destinations. Finally, on June 5, 1956, a Montgomery federal court ruled that the law imposed on segregating seating on buses violated the 14th Amendment and integrated the bus system on December 21, thus ending the boycott. Throughout the protest, no blood was shed by the protestors to achieve their goal, instead, they used other more peaceful methods to do so, preserving the peace and prosperity of the society. In conclusion, we can see civil disobediences can positively impact a free society by raising awareness of an issue or law and prompting action from a governing body. This allows the voices or the people to be heard, giving them more perceived power to alter the law imposed on them. Besides that, civil disobediences are also away for people to protest for something without having resort to violence, shedding blood of both civilians and armed personnel. This way, local governments can listen to the people’s demands without having to take drastic action and suppress the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Henry David Thoreau takes the motto "A government that governs least governs best" (1) to heart in his essay "Civil Disobedience". Throughout his controversial masterpiece, Thoreau criticizes the government for having too much power and interfering with the American population, but he also blames the governed for mindlessly obeying any law that is passed. Thoreau uses countless literary devices in order to make the touchy opinions presented in "Civil Disobedience" easier to understand and more convincing. Through use of innumerable similes and metaphors, Thoreau makes his arguments and ideas easier to understand, and effectively convinces anyone who reads his essay that the government is "each instant losing some of its integrity" (1), and that it should be done away with immediately.…

    • 396 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Henry David Thoreau, was an unconventional thinker who expressed his ideas about major issues such as war, slavery, wealth, taxes, friendship, vegetarianism, and the lessons that nature can teach. Thoreau was an important transcendentalist writer in the early nineteenth century. During the Mexican American war, Thoreau refused to pay a poll tax and while he was in a protest against slavery, he was arrested. He was thrown into jail for one night and later writes about how the government could be better. I agree that Thoreau’s ideas about how a government should be more better is a excellent postulation and I would further add the government today in the twenty first century still hasn’t even changed at all.…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Henry David Thoreau sets the tone throughout the document "On Duty of Civil Disobedience" by maintaining a very serious tone. Thoreau states his opinions regarding how the United States government should be run. He also points out how unjust occurrences and regulations stifle the minds of the US citizens.…

    • 624 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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.…

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The idea of civil disobedience brings much controversy when it’s being discussed. Many distinctive perceptions have been made regarding the topic, but a substantial amount of people have seen Henry David Thoreau’s assumption in his essay, Civil Disobedience. In his essay, Thoreau theorized, “That government is best which governs least.” The population of the United States is politically divided due to the fact that different groups and cultures of people have conflicting viewpoints on topics like these. Some of the population agrees with Thoreau, that there should be a more just government that what exists. Recently, there has been an uprising in the nation due to a protest made by a football team. Many people of America are debating the meaning…

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It becomes a kind of despotism where we seek to silence rather than engage.” Civil disobedience is a necessary part of free society, as it provides an avenue from which all people can make themselves heard, regardless of political power or economic status. Furthermore, it is necessary to keep the spirit of the first amendment alive, as peaceful protest is a way in which people exercise their right to free speech; without peaceful resistance to laws, little progress would be made in a free society, and the views of the majority would be imposed on the rest of the population. Acting as a catalyst for change, peaceful resistance one ingredient of the recipe that drives a free nation towards growth and…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power Civil disobedience is a symbolic or ritualistic violation of the law, rather than a rejection of the system as a whole. Non - violent resistance is the practice of achieving goals such as social change through symbolic protests. This a really interesting discussion due to the fact that it has so many layers which could change the way you think about the initial question entirely. For instance since the nation is free it would be reasonable that breaking the law would be a way to exorcise your freedom, laws are usually set to either prevent controversy or conflict. For the sake of the argument…

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Civil disobedience is a form of protest in which protesters deliberately violate a law” (suber). It is a way for society to reform itself to reflect its current values while maintaining its fundamental ideals. Some may argue civil disobedience is a “slippery slope” leading to anarchy or it cannot be justified in a democracy. Civil disobedience, while not optimum, is a way to accomplish change with the intent of reform and stabilizing communities.…

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Peaceful resistance to rules and regulations among society goes down historically as something so inevitably iconic as an occurrence known as civil disobedience. It is no doubt that civil disobedience, the act of opposing a law deemed unjust and peacefully disobeying it henceforth, spurs such great controversy in our society. Civil disobedience impacts society in a positive manner that does not hinder nor deteriorate the good name of the just nation that is home, but moreover poses as an influence for what is better accepted by humans as lawful.…

    • 799 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Additionally, many people fail to recognize that their struggles were made worth it by peaceful misbehavior and breaking of the law. Similarly like Martin L. King Jr. and Rosa Parks, there are innumerable people who have done the same for diverse rights of the people. Disobedience has been part of our history, but no one realizes that both individuals bent laws for those they loved. Everybody has to defy the rules at some point in their life and us ourselves do not know if our acts of protest will be part of a legacy just like theirs. “Disobedience”, should not have a pessimistic connotation, but instead be appreciated as a virtuous strength and progress to change a city, a state, a country, a continent, and even the…

    • 553 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    They allow a free society to question its morals and ethics. While the response to the civil disobedience may be violent or harmful to the protestor, history certainly shows this to be a powerful tool for change. When the results of these examples and others are analyzed over time, the benefits to society in the form of equal rights, freedom of speech and fair policy are evident. The moral and ethical strides made by these examples over time make it hard to prove peaceful resistance is anything but positive for a free…

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    History will reveal the major part civil disobedience has played on overcoming governmental injustices. Today, people know Gandhi’s Salt March to Martin Luther King’s demonstrations. Gandhi’s actions helped gain India’s its independence and King’s tactics were instrumental in winning rights for black people in the United States. Others situations include the successful protest of 1998 rioters in Indonesia against the despotic system of government under the Suharto regime.[3] In the US during the early 1900s strikes organized by mistreated workers led to the introduction of labor unions, end of child labor and improved job benefits.[4] Those in the opposite mindset believe that civil disobedience is counter-productive and that the court system should combat unjust laws. However what all these causes listed above has in common was that, “there was no other avenue open to redress grievances” making civil obedience the only way to protest…

    • 799 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Woman's suffrage was made possible with the use of civil disobedience. Segregation laws were abolished with the use of civil disobedience. Same- sex marriage was accomplished with the use of civil disobedience. All these examples make up one answer; Civil disobedience does positively impact a free society.…

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    For many years people have been taking and having to follow laws may they be just or unjust. A natural response for every individual if not most, is to simply go along with these laws. However, there is a debate on whether we should challenge these laws through civil disobedience or not. Ultimately, it is the duty of moral citizens to engage in immediate civil disobedience in response to recent police shootings, which can be can be considered an abuse of power by the government.…

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays