Roosevelt's Big Stick Policy Argumentative Analysis

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Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far,” which is exactly how freedom should be demanded, nonviolently but aggressively. To demand freedom you have to protest and ask for it peacefully but always leave a threat of violent in the air, hence the “big stick.” Protesting nonviolently but aggressively is a better way to protest because, if you protest nonviolently, but peacefully, no one will take the protesters seriously, and won’t do anything to help your cause. Another reason why this method is better is because people shouldn’t protest violently or else the protest will be seen as a danger, and the public will not support it. A last reason for protesting nonviolently is that talking is a better way …show more content…

This is when Roosevelt’s “Big Stick Policy” comes into play because with a slight threat of violence, it shows the government that you are serious about your cause and that you need change. When a group of people protest for cause they don’t want to be seen as a pushover, they need to at least give a hint of what they are capable of to show bravery. Malcolm X once said, “Tactics based solely on morality can only succeed when you are dealing with basically moral people or a moral system,” you can’t always use quiet reasoning and expect their reasoning to appeal to the government’s morals, you need to show determination and use harsh words of truth. Usually reasoning is a way to tell the truth of your protests lightly, but sometimes protesters should just say it how it is to get the point across because unfortunately sometimes the government is too ignorant to figure out the motives themselves. An article that can relate to this is “Media Black-out: Militarized Police Raid Dakota Protest To Break Up Peaceful Prayer Circle,” from http://thefreethoughtproject.com/, which is about a group of peaceful protesters quietly stanging in front of the Dakota Pipeline constuction site to protest that their pipeline shouldn’t be closed because the Native American groups in that area needed it. The protesters didn’t how any threat of harm as they were unarmed, but nevertheless the police “swarmed the group—as water protectors and attendees stood calmly with hands clearly raised—and began indiscriminately accosting people while ordering everyone into their vehicles.” The Dakota Pipeline protests went terribly wrong for the protesters because the police took advantage of their seemly serene protests and took it upon themselves to arrest the Native Americans participating. If the protesters showed a little more restraint to the police trying to clear

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