Civil Disobedience In The Civil Rights Movement 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

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.

Civil disobedience is a peaceful form of political protest for the refusal of certain laws or acts. In “Letter From Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr., segregation is explained when, “Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts…

According to document 1, children were deprived of equal rights for education because of segregation in schools. In the year of 1954, there was an event that took place that is now known as one of the greatest Supreme Court decisions in the 20th century. This was the Brown vs. Board of Education case that argued about large portions of the United States having racially segregated schools. Thurgood Marshall alongside another Chief ruled out

Supreme court, was often considered the only option for organisations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured Peoples (NAACP), however this was always a lengthy process. Although it was the most lenient of federal systems to African American civil rights and the most subject to change. Between 1937 and 1941, seven of the nine justices were changed my Roosevelt causing verdicts for blacks to begin to change. Many trials were carried out in this period that actually allowed African Americans to make advances with civil rights like the Linda Brown case of 1954, which ended segregation in schools.

This time period is in the 1800’s. Civil disobedience is the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest. Henry David Thoreau believes that violence is not the answer to any solution. He thinks that if you carry out things in a peaceful way you will get what you want more often than being destructive. He wants people to stand up for what is right because in the 1800’s people rights were a problem. Women didn’t have much rights then. Blacks didn’t have much rights then. The only people that had rights were rich white men. So it is important to stand up for what you believe and be peaceful about it so the government will have to be active and fix the problem because the government is

Civil disobedience is present in our day to day lives. During the civil rights protests occurring in Birmingham, AL, Eugene Connor was the Commissioner of Public Safety who publicly attacked African Americans with fire hoses and dogs. The Boston Tea Party was a rebellion which led to major tax reformation. Another moment in history of disobedience would be the Civil Rights movement. Oscar Wilde claims social progress is promoted through disobedience and rebellion which is valid.

Civil disobedience is the act of peacefully standing up for your beliefs; willingly accepting the consequences that go along with breaking the law that you find unjust. Peaceful and bold, civil disobedience gets your point across and makes a difference while still practicing grace and love. Many influential changes have come about because of others peacefully protesting for change over laws that took away moral rights of people. In most cases nonviolent protesting closes with the desired results (or at least a compromise) without the brutality and disgrace that walks with violent protesting.

Board of Education (1954) was one of the most pivotal cases ever tried by the Supreme Court. It wasn’t just one court case, but a collection of five cases from Kansas, Delaware, the District of Columbia, South Carolina and Virginia (National). The most famous case was in Topeka, KS, where a little girl’s parents sued to allow their daughter the right to go to school. She had to walk a great distance through dangerous conditions to get to an all–black school, when an all-white school was closer to her home. When similar accounts were reported, the Supreme Court began to question the constitutionality of racial segregation. The cases were combined to show that these issues were occurring all over the country, not just in the South, where racial discrimination was much more common. Brown v. Board of Education overturned the ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson. This court case established the “separate but equal” doctrine, with the unanimous decision that separate and equal was unjust

In Thoreau 's essay Civil Disobedience he makes the point that bystanders are just as bad as criminals and that people should stand against unjust crimes even if it means going against the law. And to some extent I do agree because in the past people have broken unjust laws and have created change. A well-known example would be when Rosa Parks sat on the bus in the "White-only" seating area, which lead to important events that helped push the Civil Rights movement forward. But I think that it depends on which laws they choose to break and how far they choose to go with it.

The Civil Rights Movement was a prime example of Civil Disobedience. African American folks were dealing with segregation and condescending from the caucasian people. There was tons of people whose lives were cut short due to another person's belief in what people should look like and how they should live their lives. The African Americans did not put up with the disrespect they were receiving.

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

Being where we are supposed to be at the prescribed time is at the core of what we are as soldiers. It is basic soldiering and, as such, must be strictly adhered to. The ability to do so exhibits discipline and responsibility.

Ban animal cruelty! Give aid to the poor! Save the rainforests! Obey the law! As a human race we must strive to fulfill these commands, for they are our moral duties and obligations. Our obligation to morality sometimes leads to a dilemma. What happens when a law contradicts the morally right thing to do? Would it be moral to act illegally by breaking the law? No matter how drastic the measure, we are still required to act morally--even if one must break the law to do so. But why is it so important to be moral that one could justify something as serious as breaking the law?

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