Civil Disobedience And Civil Rights

John Locke asserted that government must come from the consent of the governed. The Declaration of Independence professed the right of all people to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Constitution cemented the paramount prominence of general welfare for all United States citizens. Since our beginning, we the people have been a characteristically empathetic majority. But we have not always been a beacon of equality: the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, the Stonewall Riots, and even current conflicts between the police force and black Americans exemplify the occasional rift between the government and the governed.

Humanity. It is what connects everyone together, and what drives us to continue to pursue justice and change, even if it is not accepted. Time has shown us that change is possible, if the voice we use to enact it, is strong and powerful. Changing a law, a state of mind, and a country comes as a long and arduous journey, but the reason to fight is much stronger than any challenge it may come with. The Bill of Rights entitles all American Citizens to specific freedoms, including Freedom of Speech, and we, as people may speak out, if we feel we are being deprived of any of our rights.

If American people in the past had not participated in peaceful resistance, the United States would not be the same nation as it is today. Many people argue that because the United States took so long to be created, public defiance to laws should not be encouraged. However, civil disobedience to laws often positively affects the free society in many ways. Not only has this changed the United States in the past, but even now allows for people to peacefully protest for what they think is right. Civil disobedience encourages the voice of the people to be heard: for it to be acted upon.

Peaceful resistance positively affects our country in ways that are so essential to our American way of life. If America did not have a way to peacefully share their opinions and political views, opinions would rupture and would turn violent. America has a democratic process for this very reason built into it’s government. In fact, the whole government was built on the idea that the people should appoint the leaders that rule the country and if those leaders did not rule justly, to rightly replace them. Peaceful resistance is one of our rights as Americans.

What emotions would you undergo if you witnessed your family and or loved ones suffering, due to unjust laws enacted? Martin Luther King (MLK) Went through this horrendous experience. MLK wrote from his own cell in Birmingham to the clergymen to tell them why he was protesting against the unjust laws- The Jim Crow Laws. This essay will explain how MLK used cause and effect to support his reasons to protest against the unjust laws.

MLK VS. Malcolm X Revolution, rebellion, revolt, uprising, riot,, these words all mean the same thing. The dictionary defines revolution as a forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favor of a new system but also claims that revolution is a dramatic and wide reaching change in the way something works or is organized or in peoples ideas about it. Revolution is the idea that you can bring about change in order to fulfill your rights as a human being. Over the course of history there is been many revolutions, such as the American Revolution.

Although laws are put in place to protect the citizens on which it is enforced, no system of government is perfect. There are times in which laws are passed that have a controversial effect on society, be it the segregation of race or religion, or the NSA spying on US citizens. Based on this, it can be concluded that civil disobedience is a peaceful way to express the unjustness of a law in hopes of change. Rosa Parks is an excellent example of civil disobedience having a positive impact on society. After peacefully violating the Jim Crow law that enforced segregation, Parks was arrested in order to raise discourse on the treatment of African Americans in American society.

Peaceful resistance is necessary for social change. The founders of the United States believed in this idea when writing the Declaration of Independence. John Locke, an enlightenment thinker who our founding fathers took ideas from, came up with the idea of the social contract. This is the agreement that a government and its people have and when citizens feel their government is wronging them then they have the right to revolt. Civil disobedience is a form of expressing the social contract and the consent of the governed.

We the people do have the constitutional right to protest peacefully. Peaceful protest is not only legal, but should be encouraged as long as it does not hinder everyday life for everyone else. When something isn't fair, you have the right to make your claim and defend it. Everyone is equal to each other, if you truly believe that you're not being treated fairly, you have every legal right to protest with humble intentions. America was founded on the beliefs that every person is equal and has rights.

Peaceful resistance with civil disobedience has played a huge role in shaping a free society throughout our history, and not just our history as Americans either. There has been many successful peaceful resistance throughout world history. Many forms of this such as, marches,parades,sit-ins,protests,boycotting and even speeches, have positively impacted or changed a free society. I can't talk about civil disobedience or peaceful resistance without talking about one of the most famous civil disobedience leaders, Martin Luther King Jr., from 1954-1968 the civil rights movement was in effect in the United States. Martin Luther King was a major person during this time.

Peaceful resistance to laws has a positive impact on a free society. This allows the people of the community to have a say so in which the society is ran. Some people say peaceful resistance is to keep the government in check. Civil disobedience can change the society and raise awareness to disparities. Peaceful resistance is very productive to uphold a free society.

Accounts of civil disobediences have made their way into the paper many times since the start of this country: the Boston Tea Party, Thoreau's refusal to pay a poll tax, and Rosa Park's decision to stay seated on the bus. All of these examples represent a time of distress when people responded in non-violence to prove a point. But many would ask if this is really proving a point or if it is simply disregarding the law and setting a bad example? Well let me ask you this: would it be better to sit back and to hope that someone will speak out about the problem, or to go forward in violence thinking that that is the only way to achieve something? It seems that an act of non-violence is a way of being heard without coming across as irrational or

Civil Disobedience During the 1950s and before, it was a crime to be different in the United States; one was hated for being so. Simply sitting at a lunch counter or on a bus could result in a person’s arrest. Throughout history and continuing to this day, peaceful protest has effectively resulted in positive change in society. Injustice has best been remedied through nonviolent tactics than through violent ones, as violence almost always leads to just more violence.

Civil disobedience is an act or exercise that is employed so that change through direct or indirect action is taken in order to seize the attention of immoral objective found within a situation. The African Americans living in Chicago used this by exhibiting the civil movements through their visual art and music. The time period in which their art influences took place was during the Harlem Renaissance of 1920’s through 1930’s.