...concept of peaceful resistance or ‘Civil Disobedience’ comes in. Civil Disobedience is defined by Cambridge dictionary as “the refusal of citizens to obey certain laws or pay taxes as a peaceful way to express disapproval of those laws or taxes. ” This idea of peaceful resistance has positively impacted society in many instances. Peaceful resistance takes courage. An individual who decides to peacefully resist a law is often putting...
Words: 758 - Pages: 4
...On balance, peaceful resistance to laws deemed unjust are provocative in nature, however, civil disobedience becomes necessary when considering how American progress did not result from inaction, but rather peaceful opposition. In other words, to sit idle and to watch the practice of unjust laws is contradictory to American values of liberty and justice. The Founding Fathers purposefully instilled civil disobedience as a crucial element to the American identity in order to protect the individual’s political beliefs. By forming this nation under one of man’s greatest creation - the Constitution - our Founding Fathers acknowledged that peaceful resistance positively impacts free society by preserving democracy and civil rights. Peaceful measures...
Words: 785 - Pages: 4
...against the British government just a decade earlier because they did not have fair representation. Peaceful resistance has often been the source of social and political change and has historically represented people who feel that their voice is not being heard. Therefore, civil disobedience positively impacts a free society because...
Words: 725 - Pages: 3
...Peaceful resistance to laws for the benefit of the greater good have a positive impact on free society. Even in a democracy, when necessary, peaceful resistance holds the government accountable. Sometimes laws are legally right but morally wrong. Yet, the government appears stronger than individuals, and peaceful resistance is the only way to restore the balance of power to achieve social justice. While it is a not always successful in accomplishing its initial goal, peaceful resistance draws attention to the issue, changes the hearts and minds of others, and potentially creates a real change in the long-term. Civil disobedience is a not a recent concept, since it has been used throughout history, from the Plebeians protest at the Sacred...
Words: 778 - Pages: 4
...Peaceful resistance to laws positively impacts a free society. It stresses our natural rights as written in the Consititution. By doing so, we are practicing the rights to protect, assemble peaceably, and oppose laws, as stated in the First Amendment. While to some, civil disobedience may seem as an idea that destroys a society, to others (including myself) is just another way to bring about awareness and change to a society. In Martin Luther King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail", civil disobedience is shown throughout King's actions. King's peaceful protest movements showed resistance to several negative impacts of injustice. In the essay, King states that although Alabama clergymen were criticizing his actions, his argument was...
Words: 515 - Pages: 3
...America was founded on disobedience. What if the Revolutionary War had never happened because people didn't have the courage to disobey? Would there even be an America? If not for disobedience, would America still have slaves? If not for civil disobedience, would we still have segregation? As I ponder these questions, I come to the conclusion that resistance, particularly peaceful resistance, positively impacts a free society. Henry David Thoreau once stated, "Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?" When I think of peaceful resistance, I think of Rosa Parks, Alice Paul, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mahatma Gandhi....
Words: 590 - Pages: 3
...Civil disobedience has proven to have the ability to be just as effective, if not more effective, than other, more violent efforts of disobedience. Many have found that acts of civil disobedience has produced the same results that others have attempted to obtain through different approaches. There have been many cases of civil disobedience having generally positive results. Those such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks used civil disobedience while they were protesting against racial injustice. A more recent example of civil disobedience would be with Mr. Colin Kaepernick with his peaceful protests against issues in American by deciding to kneel during the national anthem of his team’s football games. These people were brave enough to peacefully disobey civil law in order to bring awareness, and ultimate change to issues that they were passionate about. Dr. Martin Luther King, during his protests against segregation and racial injustice, used a nonviolent approach in order to show his disapproval to the civil laws at the time. Dr. King would lead and participate in marches and give speeches against racial...
Words: 687 - Pages: 3
...1849, “Civil Disobedience”) According to “Documents of Freedom,” Civil disobedience is when “Men such as Martin Luther King, Jr. violated unjust laws but willingly accepted the punishment that came with violating the law… often confused with simply violating laws that you do not like…Civil disobedience demands to accept the punishment otherwise, there would be no principled distinction between civil disobedience and mere lawlessness” (“The Documents of Freedom”). Peaceful resistance does positively impact a free society. Take Gandhi for example, he non-violently protested the registration law, through non-violent marches and labor strikes, all harmless, and in support of those who were treated unequally by the registration law, “The Boer government then agreed to end the most objectionable parts of the...
Words: 755 - Pages: 4
...Peaceful resistance to laws does have a positive impact on a free society. Peaceful resistance such as; protests, marching for a cause, and strikes are healthy to a society because they give a way for the citizens to voice their opinions to make sure their society is truly free. One of the best examples of peaceful disobedience is in the civil rights movements with Martin Luther King Jr. and his peaceful disobedience, another peaceful disobedience is with Rosa Parks in her fight for racial equality, and the marches and strikes from the Mexican American plantation workers. These examples had a positive impact on the society and helped make America as free as it is today, along with examples of peaceful protesting today for greater freedom. Martin Luther King Jr. is well known for his participation in the Civil Rights movement and has gone down in history as an example of how peaceful protesting can promote positive change. One of the ways that he did this was by writing letters from inside Birmingham jail. The letters that Martin...
Words: 667 - Pages: 3
...I believe that the peaceful resistance to unjust laws do in fact positively impact a free society. In order to properly display and explain my reasoning, I must first provide the definition of what an unjust law is. An unjust law is any law that does not align with the natural law as known by reason and common sense. Once one is able to understand this definition, it is easier to explain the positive impact that peaceful resistance has on a free society. The effect is positive because it gives voice to unjust laws. I would like to use the example provided of “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” written by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. One of the first points that Dr. King address is that he knows that he is supposed to be in jail. He peacefully resisted and accepted the given consequences. The later goes on to explain what peaceful resistance is and how to properly achieve it. He...
Words: 693 - Pages: 3
...However, as Thoreau stated in Civil Disobedience, “most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes inexpedient.” Government, and the democratic system, is not always the most effective way to ensure justice to all. Peaceful resistance to laws positively impacts a free society because it gives a voice to the minority, provides the people with an ultimate check on government, and allows for a morality based society. In a democratic country, the majority wields the bulk of the political power. Since democracy literally means rule of the many, the largest group controls the system. According to...
Words: 796 - Pages: 4
...Peaceful resistance positively impacts the free society in which we live. Through peaceful resistance, one can express their views without the violence or uproar that often comes with it. It has solved many fundamental problems in the US government. Henry David Thoreau expressed his distaste for the Mexican-American war by refusing to pay his poll taxes. He did not believe in no government, did not want to start an uprise, or create an anarchy but instead create a more just government. Thoreau wanted a government in which protected its people and was fair to all. He also opposed slavery and wanted equal rights for all. “There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men. When the majority shall at length vote for the abolition...
Words: 618 - Pages: 3
...Resistance towards a government can come in many diverse ways which could all impact key areas of the society whether it is locally, regionally, or even nationally. When it comes to positive or negative impacts of peaceful resistances toward the laws of a free society, I tend to lean towards more of the positive influences as I am a firm believer in non violent acts of disobedience and history can back me up on this. When we travel back to the civil rights movement era, there has definitely been many violent and non violent resistances displayed throughout the era but when you look at the results as a big picture I believe that peaceful protests were what made the civil rights movement a success. Before the civil rights movement protests seemed to come in...
Words: 757 - Pages: 4
...I believe peaceful resistance to laws have a positive impact on a free society. When one is displaying the act of civil disobedience, they should be able to justify why their opposing a law. How the law is unjust or how it negatively impacts the person itself or others. With a valid justification, peacefully disobeying the law and willing to accept the consequences is valid. While there are both positive and negative impact on a free society, I believe Rosa Parks has set a good example of how a peaceful resistance could positively impact a free society. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks had stood up for herself on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, while refusing to give up her seat. In her days, there were laws such as “whites only” in public places...
Words: 557 - Pages: 3
...to establish a free and just society, the people must be willing to reject unjust and immoral laws. This is because laws that violate the human rights of any individuals threaten everyone else as well. Civil disobedience is the violation of unjust laws and acceptance of the punishment that comes with breaking those laws. The punishment that comes with violating the law must be accepted in order to ensure that order is maintained and that so to draw a distinction between civil disobedience and lawlessness. Peaceful resistance to unjust laws is needed in order expose and call attention to laws that are unjust and therefore positively impacts society. The resistance must be peaceful or many may be unwilling...
Words: 582 - Pages: 3
