Civil Disobedience Essay

Civil Disobedience is defined as refusal to obey civil laws or decrees, which usually takes the form of direct action (Grolier’s Encyclopedia Online 2). Thoreau wrote that people practicing civil disobedience, break a law because they consider the law unjust. People want to call attention to its injustice. Thoreau voiced civil disobedience as, “An expression of the individual’s liberty to create change” (Thoreau 530). Years later Martin Luther King Jr. took the same idea of direct action to protest the injustices brought upon black Americans in the United States. One major example was the Birmingham bus boycott. Blacks where treated unjust and often had to give up their seats to whites, and had to listen to racial slurs made by the bus driver. King like Thoreau, did not take a violent approach, he often used sit-ins and rallies to unite the black community (Encarta

Civil disobedience, the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, or commands of a government, has proven in the past to be a very effective tool. In the case of civil disobedience the laws are being violated in order to change a law that is

Henry David Thoreau was a philosopher, poet, and essay writer who lived from 1817-1862. His essay “Civil Disobedience” was written when the Mexican American war was happening and slavery was still being allowed. Thoreau made his essay trying to convince the people of that current United States to rebel against the government when the government is being unfair. His purpose was to create a community which was aware of the government and fight for others not just care for themselves. He did this to get people to care for the mexicans and the slaves who were being mistreated. Throughout the essay Thoreau sounds concerned for the people of his time who do not care for the mexicans or slaves. To convince his audience that we need revolution audience he appeals to their logic by using rhetorical strategies, like extended metaphors, rhetorical questions, and oxymorons.

Civil disobedience has been used all throughout history in all corners of the globe, even though there are many who oppose this act and view it as violating the law. Anti-civil disobedience believers think that “there can be no law to which obedience is optional…” (Liebman). This point of view can be respected, because we as a society would like to believe that the people who abide by the law are the most moral and just citizens in our community. Unfortunately when we look back at history, we can see that this is not the case. For example, during the Albigensian Crusades, Christians were told to turn in their fellow Christians as heretics to burn, so that they could “save” all of Christendom. This was the law that Pope Innocent lll put in place

From Cherokee Indians refusing to abandon their homes in 1838 to the Sit-ins of the civil rIghts movement in the early 1960s, people have been using acts of civil disobedience to stand against injustice they saw in their communities. Although there are many examples of people abusing this benefit and causing more grief and shame than progress, many have used it to their advantage to bring about positive change for the greater good of society, therefore acts of civil disobedience can positively impact a free society if they remain peaceful, respectful, and justified.

stated, “History is the long and tragic story of the fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily.” There are many instances throughout history where civil disobedience was practiced because the society did not agree with the laws in place. One of the first examples of civil disobedience throughout history is the Boston Tea Party. These citizens seemed to have met all four of King’s requirements for a nonviolent campaign. They had their facts prepared because they were living through it; they tried to negotiate but Britain would not listen to their needs; they self-purified and created a plan; and then they took direct action. The citizens of the colony of Massachusetts trespassed onto a British ship and threw many pounds of tea overboard to fight for their right not to be taxed without representation in Britain. These protestors were breaking the law to fight for their rights and freedom; therefore making the act justifiable. Another example in history of civil disobedience is the Holocaust. The laws set in place by Germany were not in accordance with the beliefs of many people throughout the world during that time. Citizens who did not agree with what Germany was doing would protest by hiding Jews or other targeted minority groups in their homes. These people knew they were risking their own lives for this cause, but did not care about getting caught. These people just had a higher moral code than the law, and

Civil disobedience has been an act practiced by free societies across the globe. It has been a highly controversial topic in the Unites States over the years, as some believe the so-called "peaceful resistance" exemplifies too much defiance to the government. However, most believe that performing civil disobedience exercises many rights incorporated in the Constitution. Civil disobedience positively impacts a free society by allowing its citizens to express their opinions in a matter which draws the attention of the government, and heightens public awareness.

The Nazis purposefully left Jews uninformed, venerable, afraid and in chaos. Their extreme circumstances left many Jews to make decisions that no person could reasonably believe they would ever have to make. When faced with the question “why are you Jews so passive?” Calek Perechodnik thought, “This really surprised me because as far as I was concerned, there was nothing that could be done.” Perechodnik was a ghetto police officer one morning the SS surrounded his ghetto and began shooting people indiscriminately and barking orders.

The Nazis even had to arrest the Danish police because they thought that they were allowing the resistance to occur. This showed that not following the Nazis can save many Jewish

Civil disobedience is the act of resisting unjust laws; it is commonly, though not always, nonviolent. In his interview on Civil Disobedience, Howard Zinn explains, “Direct action means acting directly on the object of your protest or the source of your grievance… another form of direct action is nonviolent (that is, avoiding violence against human beings) action” (Zinn). Zinn explains that there are different forms of civil disobedience. One could

Published in the year 1776, common sense is an open challenge to the British government and the royal monarchy of that time. Paine spoke the language of a common person and worked for the independence of Great Britain. Paine states his opinion by arguing at the American Independence beginning with the theoretical and general reflections about religion and government and move on to the specifications about the situation in the colonies. By doing so, he aims to persuade the people to become more patriotic and join the fight against the British to become an independent nation. At the same time, Thoreau was one of the exciting practitioners of writing and was an intuitive genius. He worked hard to revise as well as refined his material.

I like your introduction to the research paper; you may want to state a few examples within the introduction of what civil rights are being abused to help present your thesis. Perhaps, something shocking that makes us want to read more.

The theme isn't just civil disobedience. The theme is about rights, laws, freedom, and segregation. All those things go into civil disobedience but be able to look at them   separately before putting them together. This report includes “On Nonviolent  Resistance” by Mohandas Gandhi, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther   King Jr., and the poem “Civil Disobedience” by Eric Cockrell. Just because the phrase    “Civil Disobedience” looks wrong and violent, looks can be deceiving. Civil disobedience, a nonviolent way to protest, is the best method people could've been   blessed with, but that's an opinion. Is segregation really a disease to the mind, body, and   soul?  Is civil disobedience a method that could be used to solve it?

The American duty requires to use voices, symbols, strength, and intelligence to unite and prosper against an unjust authority. Recently, different organizations continue to express their wants and changes to the government through peaceful protests. Civil disobedience strives to develop in America, however improvement continues to happen. The advantageous duty conveys civil disobedience. With Henry David Thoreau’s pivoting piece about individualism and protesting, Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter towards equal rights and rebellion, the developing civil disobedience continues to fulfill the American society.

person is not they will continue to obey because at least this way they feel as if they are a