Peaceful Resistance Research Paper

Our nation’s democracy is protected in a variety of ways. It’s protected by the soldiers who every day risk their lives for us. It’s protected by the checks and balances of the government that prevent one branch from overpowering the others. It’s protected by our freedoms of religion and speech and assembly. But one of the greatest protectors of a free society is peaceful resistance because of its ability to direct government policies to the wants of the people.
The roots of this nation itself can be traced back to the peaceful resistance. After the British had imposed the Stamp Tax on the American colonies, delegates from each of the colonies convened in a council later named the “Stamp Act Congress.” Here, the delegates all agreed to boycott the overtaxed English goods. The widespread refusal to buy English goods was facilitated by the Sons of Liberty, and as a result, the British economy suffered. This first American example of peaceful resistance set the stage for the Revolutionary War, during which we liberated ourselves from the British

motherland. If not for this act of bloodless opposition, America itself might not exist today.
Peaceful resistance not only helped build a nation, it also won civil rights for the citizens in it.

Some of the most famous examples of these can be found during the African-American Civil Rights movement. In 1955, an African-American seamstress named Rosa Parks challenged her city’s segregation laws through her refusal to give up her bus seat to a white man. During the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised black-gloved fists during the American national anthem to acknowledge black power. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom happened during this time too. One of the largest political rallies for human right, the March on Washington is a prime example of how peaceful resistance can instigate social change without shedding blood. It was almost a century of amicable demonstrations like these that African-Americans were able to win the same civil rights as their fellow

countrymen.
Peaceful resistance is still being used by people to fight the injustices of today and the Muslim Ban protests are a good example of this. Shortly after President Donald Trump had taken office, he signed an order banning refugees from seven different majority-Muslim countries. President Trump’s rationale behind this order was that preventing immigration from these countries would also prevent the incoming of radical terrorists into America. The public reacted by leading protests at various airports. Citizens protested with cries of “let them in” and “I stand with my Muslim brothers and sisters.” Finally, a few days later, Judge James Robart issued a restraining order against Trump’s Muslim ban. Though it is not clear if Judge Robart’s decision was directly influenced by the protests, the protests did succeed in raising awareness and demonstrating a common public feeling.
Peaceful resistance helps positively impact a free society because of its powerful ability to speak out against government injustice. Famous Founding Father and third president of the United States Thomas Jefferson had written about this in the Declaration of Independence: “Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of [peoples’ rights], it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it.” It was through this method that American citizens were able to form a country, achieve equality for minorities, and provide opportunities for everyone.