The refusal to obey certain laws or governmental demands for the purpose of influencing legislation or government policy, characterized by the employment of such nonviolent techniques as boycotting, picketing, and nonpayment of taxes (“Civil Disobedience”). This is the definition of civil disobedience. In the excerpt “Civil Disobedience”, Henry David Thoreau shows that civil disobedience is acceptable. Also in the speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July”, Frederick Douglass agrees with Thoreau that civil disobedience is acceptable. Many important events in our history like the Boston Tea Party, the Keystone Pipeline, and Salem Voting Act Rights also show how in some cases civil disobedience is acceptable. Although civil disobedience …show more content…
Henry Thoreau did not pay a church tax because he does not attend that church and is not benefiting from it. “Know all men by these presents, that I, Henry Thoreau, do not wish to be regarded as a member of any incorporated society which I have not joined” (Thoreau 259).When Thoreau is saying this he is stating that he has not joined the church and should not have to pay for it because he is not a part of the church. He thinks that it is ridiculous for the government to punish him by putting him in jail for a crime that is not a physical crime (Thoreau 259). Thoreau, while in jail, shows that being put in jail is not a punishment that affected him. He only had to stay in the jail one day and one night then someone paid his tax so that he could be released. This act of civil disobedience is acceptable when not paying a tax that does not benefit …show more content…
The Boston Tea is an act of civil disobedience because the citizens of Massachusetts trespassed onto a British ship and dumped their tea overboard rather than pay their taxes to Britain (Starr). This act of civil disobedience is acceptable because no one was injured and it was an act of nonviolence. Another act of civil disobedience would be the Salem voting rights act. This act was led by Martin Luther King Jr. it was a march from Salem to Montgomery to show the efforts to get the blacks to register to vote. This march however did not last very long because it was stopped when they met with violent resistance by state and local authorities (History.com). These acts of civil disobedience is appropriate and acceptable because the people were just trying to raise awareness for a cause important to
This was the idea that Chris McCandless, so closely mimicked. However, McCandless is not the only soul to find truth in the teachings of Thoreau. Recently, a protest to "draw attention to [the] corrupt campaign finance system and rigged voting laws" took place at the U.S. Capitol building. The protest was predicted to last a week, and by the end of the first day over 400 protesters had already been arrested for "crowding, obstructing and incommoding". Despite the arrests, 3,500 people from 33 different states pledged to join in what they describe as “non-violent civil disobedience” (Krieg, Gregory). Civil Disobedience is defined as “the refusal to obey certain laws or governmental demands for the purpose of influencing legislation or government policy, characterized by the employment of such nonviolent techniques as boycotting, picketing, and nonpayment of taxes” (civil disobedience). These nonviolent protesters saw an opportunity to “sit-in against the influence of money in politics and congressional inaction” (Krieg, Gregory). This act of civil disobedience mirrors McCandless’s decision to scorch his remaining money in protest of a money driven
Civil disobedience is being disobedient to certain laws in a peaceful, but active manner. So the person who commits civil disobedience must actively rejects to follow certain laws of government and peacefully accept the consequences. For example, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a typical example of modern civil disobedience. He actively rejected to follow
Civil disobedience has its roots in one of this country’s most fundamental principles: popular sovereignty. The people hold the power, and those entrusted to govern by the people must wield
For acts of civil disobedience to be justified, those acts need to be acts of protest. Thoreau desired a change ...
Civil disobedients is refusing to follow certain laws, as a way of political protest. The Boston Tea Party is an good example of a group of people being disobedient. The colonist were protesting against the unfair tax placed on tea. So they dumped 3 ships worth of tea into the ocean. Prudence Crandall and Fred Korematsu are two less known examples of people being civil disobedients. These two may not be well know but, they impacted the civil right movement.
Civil disobedience is a refusal to follow certain rules and is usually shown through a peaceful form of protest. The Moratorium March was somewhat a civil disobedience event because although it started as a peaceful anti- war movement, violence was unavoidable. The vast majority of demonstrators were peaceful; however, a conflict broke out at the Justice Department when demonstrator’s started throwing rocks and bottles, which the police responded to with tear gas canisters (Leen). According to Henry David Thoreau’s statement in his essay “Civil Disobedience,” “If the machine of government…is of such a nature that it requires yo...
In the Theory of Justice by John Rawls, he defines civil disobedience,” I shall begin by defining civil disobedience as a public, nonviolent, conscientious yet political act contrary to law usually done with the aim of bringing about a change in the law or policies of the government”.
Civil Disobedience is a paradox. Civility and disobedience diametrically oppose one another; civility implies politeness or a regard to the status quo while disobedience is a refusal to submit to the standard. When these words are coupled together, however, they compliment one another. The purpose of Civil Disobedience is to disregard the obligation of observing a law with the intention of highlighting a need for change. Morality, Religion, and Ethics often play into the decision to willingly break a law which creates more depth behind the practical meaning phrase, because those three tend to emphasize a respect for authority and integrity. When people break the law in the name of civility, they often are asking questions like, “What must I
wrong; therefore, civil disobedience is a good way of making a person ultimately responsible for
Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey civil laws in an effort to induce change in governmental policy or legislation, characterized by the use of passive resistance or other nonviolent means. The use of nonviolence runs throughout history however the fusion of organized mass struggle and nonviolence is relatively new.
Webster's dictionary defines civil disobedience as "refusal to obey governmental demands esp. as a nonviolent and usu. collective means of forcing concessions from the government." Henry Thoreau wrote an essay titled Civil Disobedience that has through the years become the authoritative argument on the subject. People as distinguished as Martin Luther King and Gandhi have used this essay as a cornerstone in their respective movements. However, I see Thoreau more as a hypocrite and an anarchist. While his goals might have been noble, like most theorists, he does not take into account the realities of the world we live in. I will convince you in this essay that Thoreau's argument was not valid for several reasons, but mainly due to his logos and ethos.
The use of civil disobedience is a respectable way of protesting a governments rule. When someone believes that they are being forced into following unjust laws they should stand up for what they believe in no matter the consequences because it is not just one individual they are protesting for they are protesting for the well-being of a nation. Thoreau says ?to resist, the government, when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable.? People should only let wrong and right be governed by what they believe not the people of the majority. The public should always stand for what is right, stand when they think a government is wrong, and trust in their moral beliefs.
Throughout Thoreau’s essay, he expressed his opinions and beliefs on the importance of civil disobedience in a society. He talked about how one must use his or her moral sense, conscience, to decide what is just and unjust. From here, Thoreau urged his readers to take action, to stop the machine from continuing its lifeless duty. His call to action is if a system is prone to corruption, the people must disobey it. This means that personal endangerment may be needed to do what is right. Going against the status quo to uphold justice and ethics is the basic message behind Thoreau’s essay.
Justice is often misconceived as injustice, and thus some essential matters that require more legal attention than the others are neglected; ergo, some individuals aim to change that. The principles of civil disobedience, which are advocated in both “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. to the society, are present up to this time in the U.S. for that purpose. To begin with, Thoreau expresses that civil disobedience should be more implemented when the just resistance of the minority is seen legally unjust to the structure conformed by the majority. Supporting his position, Thoreau utilizes the role of the national tax in his time; its use which demoralizes the foreign relationship of the U.S.; its use which “enables the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood”; its use which supports “the present Mexican War” (Thoreau 948, 940).
According to Oscar Wilde, disobedience is a valuable human trait that promotes social progress. Civil disobedience allows for the unification of various groups to fight towards a common goal, often resulting in change. Historically, there has been much evidence supporting Wilde’s claim. Significant examples of disobedience that led to social progress include the Boston Tea Party, the Salt March, and the Civil Rights Movement.