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Examples Of Transcendentalism In Civil Disobedience

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Peaceful resistance to laws was prevalent throughout the history of America; back then, it galvanized the government into actions like a catalyst. Once upon a time, the transcendentalists believed that people ought not to blindly follow their government if the laws were unjust. One of their leaders, Henry David Thoreau, encouraged American citizens not to pay taxes. Outcome? Well, he went to jail due to his lack of paying the poll tax. Did he regret about it? As a transcendentalist, Thoreau felt the same as long as his soul was free, or he was even in a better mood, singing and dancing behind bars. “Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison,” according to his essay “Civil Disobedience”. Soon more people started following Thoreau’s doctrine, including Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.” These words, spoken by Rosa Parks, instigated a great civil movement. Not to mention Dr. King’s famous speech “I have a dream”, which exemplified his strong will for equality. The idea of civil disobedience effectively improved the circumstance of African Americans. …show more content…

It increased greatly in brightness, grabbed everybody’s attention, but it was accompanied by a catastrophic explosion. Although civil disobedience claimed to be “peaceful”, it sometimes turned out to be violent. The protest after President Trump’s Inauguration did not demonstrate “peaceful resistance”. Instead, the protesters were armed with crowbars and threw objects at people and businesses, destroying storefronts and damaging vehicles. Alas, for those protesters, when hatred was evoked by their leaders, properties became the barriers to their

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