...Civil disobedience is the idea that people should respectfully and peacefully resist laws they find immoral. The idea Began in The Mexican American War when the abolitionist Henry David Thoreau refused to pay taxes. He thought that the war would help expand slavery as most of the land won in the war would become slave states. Many would use This idea throughout U.S. history. Civil disobedience has been a positive way to impact a free society. One example of this was the walk out movement in East Los Angeles. The movement began when Mexican American students left Homeroom before roll call. As school funding was determined by attendance rate. The students did this because the school board would not hear their demands. After a week of protests...
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...30 April 2013 Civil Disobedience When should civil disobedience be justified? Civil disobedience is defined as the refusal to obey government laws, in an effort to bring upon a change in governmental policy or legislation. Civil disobedience is not an effort to dissolve the American government, because without government our society would result in chaos. Sometimes, when there is an unjust law and the government won't take the initiative to fix it, the public must act as civil disobedient to bring awareness and fix the unjust law. There have been times when citizens have felt the need to revolt against the government because of an issue that is unjust. There were such cases during the time of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau made such actions to prove their point. Civil disobedience is justified when its goal is to obtain equal rights and service for everyone, without causing physical damage to people and their property, and without breaking the just laws that are already enforced. It should only be practiced when the government fails to uphold justice and fix laws that don't allow everyone the equal rights already given to some. In his essay, "Civil Disobedience" Thoreau wrote in 1849 after spending a night in the Walden town jail for refusing to pay a poll tax that supported the Mexican War. He recommended passive resistance as a form of tension that could lead to reform of unjust laws practiced by the government. He voiced civil disobedience as "An expression...
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...English 2010 7 December 2012 The Bhagavad- Gita: Influence on Civil Disobedience Advocates Civil disobedience can be described as the nonviolent means of bringing about social change. The Bhagavad- Gita is a philosophical poem that attempts to ask difficult questions of universal issues that deal with the topic of civil disobedience. The messages that are told throughout the poem have had major influences on civil disobedience advocates such as Henry David Thoreau, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King. This work offers explanations that can be applied to dilemmas that can’t be resolved with a simple form of action. According to the Theosophical Society of America, The Bhagavad- Gita, commonly known as the “Gita” has been passed back and forth between America and India through these civil disobedience activists. They each had influences on each other along with the Gita. Some reoccurring themes that may have influenced Thoreau, Gandhi, and King include questions about the right way to live, seeking higher knowledge, and how no action is still a form of action. The version of The Bhagavad- Gita that is told in The Norton Anthology of World Literature, 3rd edition, begins with the moment of crisis in Arjuna’s mind. Arjuna is the middle son of his five brothers who are apart of the Pandavas. He is apart of the warrior caste and is the most skilled and feared archer of his time. They are about to engage in war with their cousins, the Kauravas, because the leader, Duryodhana...
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...of Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience Abstract: Civil disobedience is the valuable spiritual wealth of American spirits. From Henry David Thoreau to Martin Luther King, civil disobedience theory also had developed into a new stage. American people began to commonly accept and practice the civil disobedience theory, which pushed American Civil Rights Movement forward. This essay focuses on the origination of the civil disobedience and briefly introduces its development. Key Words: Civil disobedience Conscience Government 1、 Thoreau’s Imprisonment The Mexican-American war, which started from 1846, was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico over the territorial dispute of Texas. Most abolitionists and transcendentalists were against this war, because they thought that this war was an act of a bullying government anxious to grab land from a weaker nation. Some even thought this war was a conspiracy of the southern slaveholders. Then Texas admitted slavery, while Mexico forbade slavery. They regarded this war as the expansion of slavery, which could strengthen the influence of the south in federation. Therefore the abolitionists and transcendentalists did their best to resist this war. Among them, Henry David Thoreau was a famous representative. Thoreau did not agree this aggressive war. To resist, he refused to pay the Massachusetts poll tax, which was a “per head” tax imposed on all citizens to help support the Mexican War. His refusal...
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...crossing lines and getting in trouble, but can also be one the most effective way to get noticed. If an opinion is not being noticed, citizens can make it a priority to be heard because without a voice there can be no guidelines. In government, boundaries are needed to lead its citizens towards a righteous path; however, if a citizen leans toward another path of righteousness a voice is needed to be heard. Citizens should not be lurking in the shadows and keeping an opinion bottled up to never be heard. If an idea or belief gets shot down, a citizen can try again to make their idea noticed. Martin Luther King Jr. addresses civil disobedience in “ Letter from Birmingham Jail,” as “ Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (173). Although civil disobedience can alter life drastically, it does not mean to continue on the path of insanity, but to stand up for what you believe is just. While standing up for justice is admirable, however, it is not always easy. In Iran, the government can take disciplinary action towards its citizens striking fear and panic into their souls. In the book The Complete Persepolis written by Marjane Satrapi, in which she discusses a hectic life in Iran. In chapter fourteen “The Wine,” Satrapi discusses how the government takes disciplinary action towards the citizens who chose to rebel by having a party. The citizens found at the party are...
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...Fifty-three years ago, the events of what became known as “Bloody Sunday” unfolded. “Bloody Sunday” was one of the hundreds of marches that occurred during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s. This movement was also characterized by other acts of nonviolent civil disobedience, such as sit-ins, boycotts, and rallies. The civil rights movement was a human rights movement established in the hopes of ending legalized racial segregation and discrimination laws in the United States. One objective of this movement was to push for legislation to enforce the fifteenth amendment. The fifteenth amendment states that no one could be denied the right to vote because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. However, this amendment was...
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...From times long before those of great empires and nations, civil disobedience has been practiced by revolutionaries, reformers, martyrs and idealists. A mature and honorable form of practicing protest, it paves the way for the awareness of injustices and changes that need to be made. From the dawn of civilizations to the times of the American Revolution, and forward into the modern reform movements, civil disobedience has been an effective tool of bringing about reform through personal sacrifices and an awareness of right and wrong. Even in times before the empires of France and Great Britain, civil disobedience was not a foreign concept to those that spearhead change in the world. Records of civil disobedience originate long before the...
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...Independence of India. Such uproar led to events of civil disobedience, a display of public refusal against unjust law achieved by the act of nonviolence. Mohandas K. Gandhi, the man to lead the movement gain more popularity...
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...When it comes to the pretention of Civil Disobedience and what can be seen as acts of indirect and direct civil disobedience. H.A. Bedau and Henry David Thoreau come to mind because of how they both saw things in different light but at a meaningful level they both thought the same about the government even through they expressed there ideals in completely different ways. Their ideas cross on many different paths as to which even Bedau talks about Thoreau in his essay in regards to being “responsible” for your actions. The main premise of Bedau’s argument in his essay of “civil disobedience and personal responsibility for justice” is to compare the idea of what is civil disobedience and who is responsible for the actions. Bedau spends a great...
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...- 2 – The LD File Civil Disobedience Index Topic Overview 3-7 Definitions 8-10 Affirmative Cases 11-19 Negative Cases 20-25 Affirmative Extensions 26-34 Civil disobedience worked to free India. 26 Civil disobedience overthrew the communists in Poland. 26 The tradition of civil disobedience in America goes all the way back to the founders. 26 Civil disobedience can serve to prevent situations from escalating into violence. 27 Civil Disobedience has been used to promote peace. 27 Civil disobedience was used to promote racial equality. 27 Civil disobedience is used to try to prevent the destruction of the environment. 27 Civil disobedience is effective at changing the law. 28 Legal channels can take too long. 28 Consent to obey just laws does not imply consent to obey unjust ones. 28 Distinguishing between just and unjust laws to disobey can be universalized. 28 Civil disobedience can be stabilizing to a community by spreading a shared sense of justice. 29 Sometimes it is only the unjustified response to civil disobedience that has harmful consequence. 29 Civil disobedience is traditionally non-violent. 29 Civil disobedience is a form of exercising free speech- which is essential in a democracy. 30 Civil disobedience has been used to fight slave laws 30 Civil disobedience played a role in ending the Vietnam war. 30 Civil disobedience shouldn’t be punished-...
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...Lloyd Wyse Melissa Hull EN 209-014 April 18, 2012 Critical Essay: Civil Disobedience Civil disobedience is the active refusal to comply with certain laws or demands of a government, such as paying fines or taxes. Although it is not necessarily on-violent, it has classically been attributed to nonviolent resistance. The etymological origin of the term is from Henry David Thoreau’s essay Resistance to Government, written in 1849, which was eventually renamed to Essay on Civil Disobedience. Since its republication in 1866, Thoreau’s essay has inspired many important activists over the course of history. Its messages have resonated within countless people unsatisfied or disgusted with the law of the land; one of the most prominent lessons it teaches is that an unjust government can only be corrected by the defiance of its people. As long as there is an imperfect government, there will be a need for civil disobedience. Citizens of nations from all over the globe still read and learn from Civil Disobedience because even in modern times a perfect government does not exist. In Civil Disobedience, Thoreau prompts the reader to take direct action against injustice. He argues that the government is a representative of corruption and injustice that, like a machine, fuels the enabling of its wrongdoings through enforcement of law. He states that an individual’s silent compliance with the law is essentially the same as cooperation with injustices that the lawmaker commits. In particular...
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...Dalton Humphries Professor Breedlove English 2131 28 September 2011 The Fight against Social Injustices Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther king both stood up and fought against social injustices. Thoreau wrote his essay “Civil Disobedience” to express his views on the role of government. Thoreau also expressed his ideas about what men should do to stand up to a government that sought to suppress its citizens. King started reading Thoreau during his school years and adopted his non-violent ways of protest. He molded his actions around Thoreau’s essay and fought for equal rights for the African American community. Both authors sought peaceful means to protest against things they deemed social injustices. In Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” and King’s “Letters from a Birmingham Jail” they present the problems with current societies and a peaceful way to bring those problems to the forefront. Thoreau and King both show their selflessness when they sacrificed their personal freedom for an issue. Thoreau was thrown in jail for not paying a poll tax. He refused to pay the tax because; he did not support slavery and the Mexican America war. Although Thoreau’s views in “Civil Disobedience” were his own and he was not trying to push them on anyone, they obviously had a profound impact on Martin Luther King. Writer Michael Mink of Investors Business Daily said this about King, “He was fascinated by the idea of refusing to cooperate with an evil...
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...We the students All through out moments in history, there have been instances where civil disobedience has been used. Civil disobedience is defined as the act of opposing a law one considers unjust and peacefully disobeying it while accepting the consequences. Moments where we have seen this are the Civil Rights Movement which is one of the prime examples of it. Another one would be Ghandi and what he was able to do. Now a question which might be asked constantly is whether peaceful resistance to laws positively or negatively impact a free society. I truly believe that it positively impacts a free society because of how much it changes and the paths its creates for future generations. One of the biggest examples of civil disobedience would...
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...The act of civil disobedience is a prominent contribution to the America we are familiar with today. Throughout history, influential leaders have utilized their right of freedom of speech to further impact society. By choosing to disobey, many leaders have been able to systematically change society and have remained relevant today. Peaceful resistance to law positively impacts a free society by demonstrating the power behind a strong, assertive voice, fighting for progress against an unjustly formed government. Henry Thoreau took a strong stance against the government when it came to two controversial topics: slavery and America's role in the Mexican- American war. His written account, Resistance to Civil Government, provided insight into...
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...After over two years of living in the tree, Pacific Lumber Co. agreed to preserve the redwood if Hill would vacate it. Julia Hill’s protest is a good example of why it is necessary to violate the law and adhere to one’s own principles. Body Section 2 (Counterclaim and refutation) Socrates’ version of the social contract states that one should never break the social contract, without exception. One must accept any punishment his or her state orders, and must follow his or her governing body’s actions whether in law or war. “And when we are punished by her… the punishment is to be endured in silence; and if she leads us to wounds in death or battle, thither we follow as is right; neither may any one yield or retreat…“...whether in battle or in a court of law, or any other place, he must do what his city and his country order him; or he must change their view of what is just: and if he may do no violence to his father or mother, much less may he do violence to his country.” (Plato, 51). According to Socrates, one should never violate the social contract. It is one’s duty to blindly follow his or her state. One may only pursude his or her state to change its actions in court....
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