Peaceful Resistance To The Law In The United States

During the 1950's through the 1960's the civil rights movement was taken place in America. This movement was lead by Martin Luther King Jr. Although, what King did was amazing, I am astonished in how he achieved it. King was able to bring equality to the African American Community through non-violent protests. For a long time in my life I thought to get what you want in life you had to be behind the gun and not in front of it. But now, I see that violence only creates violence and true change comes from non-violence. I am writing this paper to argue that Martin Luther King's non-violent protest are more successful than violent protest.

As stated before civil disobedience allows for minorities to have say when it comes to making laws. Other forms of protest like legal protest, boycotting, and protest with permit are not as good. These methods are not as likely to get the attention of the majorities because you are not putting yourself at risk and not showing how bad the law is. They also cost money and time for the person to use these forms of protest. If a person performed civil disobedience and got arrested for it, the majority can then see the effect of the

America is a free society, but the result of that is some people are unhappy with the laws put in place to ensure said free society. When that does happen, those people tend to resist the laws to show their discontent to the government. They can either violently resist, which is illegal and penalties are high, or they can peacefully resist. Peaceful resistance, or civil disobedience is quite popular and has proven to be successful. It is also legal and as long as you don't break any laws in the process, cannot be stopped without a valid reason. Peaceful resistance and civil disobedience in America impacts a free society in many ways, more of which are positive and benefit that free society.

“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color” (Kaepernick, Colin). The flag protest has been a protest existing for a long time but, recently sparked lots of controversy. Although kneeling during the national anthem may seem disrespectful are often seen as a disrespect to the flag and troops, a inefficient way to promote a cause, and anger many people in shows division in the country, it can show that the ideals of freedom is justified, it generates conversation and awareness about topic, and is a legal form of peaceful protest.

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter” (Bailey). The US Constitution provides all Americans with the right to peacefully petition the laws made by the government in the First Amendment. Without the right to petition, American schools would still be segregated between African Americans and whites and most women would still mainly be housewives. Some of the everyday things experienced in America were once fought for tirelessly by protesters. Protests have changed the country and often have a ripple effect in society and in government. Ripple effects stemming from protests cause one thing to lead to another until the problem is resolved. The Boston Tea Party, The The Women’s Suffrage Movement, and The March on Washington were the most influential protests in American History.

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

Thousands of dedicated people march the streets of a huge city, chanting repetitively about needing a change. They proudly hold vibrant signs and banners as they fight for what they believe in. Expressions of determination and hope are visibly spread across their faces. These people aren’t using weapons or violence to fight for their ideas; simply, they are using civil disobedience. Civil disobedience is nonviolent resistance to a government’s law in seek of change. Civil disobedience is an effective way to bring about change because it is a harmless way of fighting an unjust law or idea, it can educate people about the cause, and it has been successful many times in history.

Peaceful Resistance no matter what way you look at it, it 's still going against someone whether it involves words or actions, resistance still causes more conflict. The last 5 years we have had people say they want change through these “peaceful protest” but these peaceful protests have done nothing but turn to violent riots were theirs damage to vehicles, business families rely on destroyed, bystanders hurt, officers killed and our country torn apart. Back when Martian Luther King Jr was around and he had his Peaceful Resistance or rallies for equality, they were peaceful and brought our country together with something that needed to be changed, but the protest we’ve had the last 5 years… he would be ashamed of. Peaceful Resistance to laws does negatively impact our free society in America.

Peaceful resistance to laws positively affect a free society. Throughout history, there have been multiple cases of both violent and peaceful protests. However, the peaceful protests are the ones that tend to stick with a society and are the ones that change the society for the better.

From the beginning of mankind’s recorded history, opposition to established governing bodies have always been recorded. Whether through coup d'etat or a peaceful protest, resistance to authority always causes change in some way. The United States Government changes; laws are meant to change as well. America prides itself on the history of its peaceful protests and revolutions, demonstrating positive effects on a free society. Because peaceful resistance wasn’t creating progressive change, radical disobedience was the key to change in the 1700’s during the American Revolution. In 1765, British Parliament passed the Stamp Act which required a stamp on all paper used by British colonists. Subsequently, the Stamp Act Congress met in New York City, in order to peacefully document all their grievances with the act. They stated “it is the right of the British subjects in these colonies, to petition the King, Or

"If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so."-Socrates. Peaceful resistance to laws positively impacts a free society because the society is not free unless it's able to check the government. As long as the protest of the law remains peaceful it is a good thing. It is the public telling the government that they will not let them gain to much power and crush their human rights.

Perhaps its most notable appearances were by Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. King stated in his famous letter from Birmingham Jail that he was there “because injustice is here” and that he would sit in there if it meant defending what was right. Over the course of his life, King was jailed 29 times for offenses relating to his peaceful protests, but kept protesting nonetheless because he knew he was right in his actions and was willing to make others listen even if that meant taking the consequences. Rosa Parks took a similar mindset a few years prior when she stated, “You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right” about her willingness to be jailed for her cause. It is looking at amazing figures like these who have broadcasted the practice of civil disobedience for the world to see, not with their words, but with their actions, that give justification to peaceful resistance in the face of authority. And it is based on historical examples like these that I come to my conclusion that peaceful resistances are an essential part of any healthy, free

steps to better our society despite risking their lives and putting the lives of their family members at risk. Peaceful resistance and civil disobedience, as weak as it may sound can just be as powerful as the sword itself. Notably, we are fortunate enough to have had so many notable precedents where acts of peaceful resistance have successfully impacted society and made a mark in history. These remarkable figures have shown that acts of peaceful resistance can be just as significant and positively impacts a free society. Speaking in terms of today’s society, opposing laws that one believes to be unjust seems to be more effective because our citizens are aware

Men make laws to instill order in a society and prevent chaos in any shape or form. Naturally, laws will always be somewhat unjust because it is impossible to consistently construct laws that directly and equally benefit all members of a society. There will always be a majority that makes the laws and a minority that has to obey the laws. Although laws are usually the standard of morality by which we live by, they must be disobeyed in certain situations. These situations are, but not limited to, an undemocratic formation of aforementioned laws, laws that are inherently unjust according to human law which can be synonymous with God’s law. However, laws should get their legitimacy from religious backing, but the legitimacy should come from either the inherent goodness or