How Does Civil Disobedience Cause Change

If slaves never disobeyed the former laws defending slavery, there would still be slavery in America. As a human being, one disobeys purposely to make an impact on certain issues or events that society disagrees on and that is how progress is made. Disobedience is indeed a valuable trait that promotes social progress.

Civil Disobedience is an important moral responsibility of a citizen, however it should not get to the level of illegal activity under any circumstances, because great reform can be brought peacefully not violently. In the title named "On Civil Disobedience" by Mohandas K. Ghandi once said: “No country has ever become or will ever become, happy though victory in war”(Mohandas K. Gandhi , 148). Even that long ago, when war was at high, and people embraced it, he knew that the only thing war brought was death, and depression among civilians. This method of civil disobedience has only resulted into more wars, and no real solutions. The most efficient way to the be civilly disobedient is to be peaceful, but willing to stand up for your cause.

Martin Luther King Jr once stated, “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” in his Letter from Birmingham Jail in 1963. He was invoking the principle of civil disobedience. He wasn't justifying breaking laws just because, but instead, meant that you break the law and accept your punishment, in hopes that people will come to see that the law is unethical. Civil disobedience plays an important role in how our society has been shaped up until this point. It is out of the selfless act of heroes and heroines of civil disobedience such as Mahatma Gandhi that the society is enjoying the fruits today. This speech is going to demonstrate how civil disobedience has played roles in social reforms, containing unjust rulings

By analyzing statements of Dr. King’s word, his words shows very powerful message across the nations because his strong words motivated people to choose right path and fight for their rights. He states that the person, who breaks laws through non-violence, shows the greatest respect for the laws. By his statement, I believed that Dr. King. trying to shows an individual who follows the rule of civil disobedience will greatly shows the respect for laws; even though an individual will punish by the worse consequences. A person who has to willing to accept the result from the direct actions, self-purification. Negotiation, than she /he will be loyal to the rules

Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey governmental laws in order to do or change something (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Sophocles’ Antigone and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” both described civil disobedience within situations which they were the oppressed. However, Antigone and King engaged in civil disobedience in different ways. Antigone chose to disobey the law solely because of her religious views, she knew that her disobedience could lead to others’ suffering, but she was unwilling to abandon her plan, and her attitude toward the people against her was crude and stubborn. King, in contrast, based his disobedience more on logical reasoning and allusions, then he proposed a nonviolent action so his disobedience would not hurt others, and he respected those who were against him with his collected tone throughout the letter.

A more historic example of civil disobedience is the Civil Rights Movement. Black people were subject to brutality, mistreatment, and were even seen as lesser in the eye of the law. So they did something any American would do: they stood up for themselves, braved through it all, and spoke. Using no violence, their movement succeeded, having a significantly positive impact on society. No matter what one thinks, those in the Civil Rights Movement, and those people out there right now, marching, are doing what our forefathers did- standing up for what they think is right, and being

slaves and were proud activists of racial equality. Rosa was brought up to be an activist of racial

These men have indirectly instilled a cultural pride, confidence to African Americans globally. Their actions inspired a revolution to make changes towards how people of various walks of life view each other. Martin Luther King, Jr. did numerous things to bring greater equality to America and to ensure civil rights for all people regardless of ethnicity . The major contributions that Martin Luther King did were to bring publicity to major civil rights activities and efforts. He both stressed and demonstrated the importance of non-violent protest and resistance.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a man that was willing to do anything to end segregation of the white and black people. He would be the man to dare and break the unjust law that was set upon colored people. He would do so by not promoting violence or any acts of harm toward others. Kings states, "One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws." King's words, correspond with the above assertion, of how he was going and able to break the unjust laws put on African Americans in the nineteen sixties. To King nonviolent means of protest are the most effective way to bring about change, and also the best way to give others an understanding of why the change is necessary.

Peaceful resistance is a necessity and an integral part of a society because without the ability to peacefully resist the society is not truly free. The use of peaceful resistance has been a common way of expressing a person or group of peoples ideals since Henry David Thoreau wrote his essay called Civil Disobedience in 1849. Thoreau was a famous American writer and philosopher, and the essay talks of how he believes people need to put one’s morals and ideas over laws they may find unjust (Saxby). This is the basis and definition of what peaceful resistance is. The United States Constitution puts emphasis on the individual and if an individual believes in an ideal that goes against a law, they should be able to peacefully resist, especially

Being disobedient has made a difference in people’s lives. It changed that not following the rules isn 't that horrible of an idea. It 's sometimes the best way to go. We made many events by being disobedient. Martin Luther king Jr. has made a difference by standing up for what is right and he disobeyed the law. He had to disobey the law for what he believed is right and followed his beliefs. He made history by standing up for what is right, and from on he had changed people 's lives. Also, Henry David Thoreau has made a difference in life. He has made a difference in slavery and also in civil rights.

Many people often believe disobedience will lead to a catastrophe and should be avoided. People are upset when others disobey the rules and think they should be punished. Monarchs have been known to either destroy someone's reputation or execute someone who doesn't obey them. Other people, such as Henry David Thoreau and Oscar Wilde, believe defiance can lead to improvements. It can lead to freedom or the creation of a new society. The outcome of disobedience is always unpredictable. Disobedience doesn't always lead to death or someone's independence. The consequence of disobedience is always uncertain and two examples of this are Shays’ Rebellion and Dance Moms.

People's justification to engage in civil disobedience rests on the unresponsiveness that their engagement to oppose an unjust law receives. People who yearn for a change in a policy might sometimes find themselves in a dead end because their “attempts to have the laws repealed have been ignored and legal protests and demonstrations have had no success” (Rawls 373). What Rawls says is that civil disobedience is a last option to oppose an unjust law; therefore, providing civil disobedients with a justification for their cause. Civil disobedience is the spark of light that people encountered at the dead end and they hope that this spark of light will illuminate to show that an unjust law should not exist at all. Martin Luther King, Jr, in his “Letter from

Civil disobedience is the deliberate action against an unjust law to invoke a positive change in government and society. Civilians have the right to refute these types of unjust laws to eliminate inequality and government’s unjust nature by following conscience before laws for moral guidance. As demonstrated in Antigone, this is depicted by the daughter of Oedipus, who disobeys Creon’s law for the greater good because of the laws unjust nature. In Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau, a naturalist, promotes this concept as well through his philosophical standpoint of the flaws of the government. Lastly, in Dr. King’s letter he qualifies the idea of civilians disobeying their government through non violent campaigns to stand up against

During the 19th century, a Mexican-American war took place in the United States. A few people saw this as an act of violence against the weak in the country. Henry Thoreau was one of the people who believed this war was wrong. He refused to pay taxes to the government because of the war even though he could afford to pay them. Because it was illegal to refuse to pay taxes owed to the government, Thoreau was put in jail. Later, his tax was paid by one of his relatives and he was released. After he got out, he wrote an essay “Civil Disobedience” which explained why it is sometimes important to refuse to follow a law if it’s unjust.