Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Violent and nonviolent approaches compare and contrast
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Yank and Jefferson both find ways to rebel against society, but their methods are entirely different. Yank is violent and threatens to harm human life whenever someone mildly upsets him, “Pullin’ dat whistle on me, huh? I’ll show yuh! I’ll crash your skull in!” (O’Neill 25). He is attracted to a group that uses dynamite to combat social injustice, and when asked if he wanted legitimate change through direct action or with dynamite, he further reveals his violent nature by responding, “Dynamite!” He does so without thinking of the consequence because in nature there is no set consequence, no law, no government—this is the rule Yank lives by. Jefferson, however, knows that there is consequence, law, and government, and he is constantly reminded
of this because he is black, and any mistake he makes could be used as an excuse to persecute him. If Jefferson acted violently, he would abide by the stereotype given to him during his trial that states, “A cornered animal to strike quickly out of fear, a trait inherited from his ancestors in the deepest jungle of the blackest Africa.” (Gaines 7). Therefore, he has to use a peaceful method of rebellion that is simple and does not gather much attention, but works where Yank’s method failed.
However, the author 's interpretations of Jefferson 's decisions and their connection to modern politics are intriguing, to say the least. In 1774, Jefferson penned A Summary View of the Rights of British America and, later, in 1775, drafted the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (Ellis 32-44). According to Ellis, the documents act as proof that Jefferson was insensitive to the constitutional complexities a Revolution held as his interpretation of otherwise important matters revolved around his “pattern of juvenile romanticism” (38). Evidently, the American colonies’ desire for independence from the mother country was a momentous decision that affected all thirteen colonies. However, in Ellis’ arguments, Thomas Jefferson’s writing at the time showed either his failure to acknowledge the severity of the situation or his disregard of the same. Accordingly, as written in the American Sphinx, Jefferson’s mannerisms in the first Continental Congress and Virginia evokes the picture of an adolescent instead of the thirty-year-old man he was at the time (Ellis 38). It is no wonder Ellis observes Thomas Jefferson as a founding father who was not only “wildly idealistic” but also possessed “extraordinary naivete” while advocating the notions of a Jeffersonian utopia that unrestrained
Jefferson and Adams Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were both strong presidents who kept a stabile nation, but they differed in their methods of doing so. Adams was a federalist so he helped establish a stable government by focusing on forming a strong central government. Jefferson being a democrat-republican worked to establish stability in the US government by promoting state’s rights. They both worked for stability in different but successful ways.
In the year 1787, George Washington headed the delegation that had come together to sign the US Constitution. The aim of the constitution was to give more power to the federal government. The Constitution contains rights that guarantee American citizens freedom of religion and worship. The Declaration of Independence came into existence on the fourth day of the sixth month of 1776, and it regarded the thirteen American colonies as free and independent from the British oppression. The Declaration of Independence came before the Constitution, and its aim was to state that the United States was no longer under colonial power as compared to the constitution that gives rights to American citizens. The Declaration of Independence, therefore, freed a state while the United States Constitution gave freedom to the American citizens after their nation had been liberated from all forms of colonial repression. The Declaration of Independence defined that the United States was free from British oppression whereas the Constitution describes the role of each branch of the government.
A Christian man, he was opposed to dueling. However, he felt it his “religious duty” to oppose Burr’s political career, considering him “a dangerous man…who ought not be trusted with the reins of government.” Mr. Hamilton attempted to accommodate the mandates of honor and politics with those of morality and religion and the law. He had satisfied the code of uprightness by accepting Burr’s challenge, violating civil law only under duress. He had preserved his political veracity by refusing to express regret for earnest political opinions. Now he would maintain his ethical and devout religious principles by withholding his fire. Therefore, one could ascertain Mr. Hamilton’s motivations for dueling were similar to Aaron Burr’s, for both morality and politics. However, we should consider his religious obligations as the priority of his purpose. As can be seen, where the ego is involves, so therefore lies a person’s
Two Founding Fathers, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, both discussed their views of aristocracy. The two disagreed on this subject, as they did on many others. In summary, Adams seemed to be more open to aristocracy, as long as it is controlled, while Jefferson rejected pseudo-aristocracy, he believed that natural aristocracy can and should be a result of government.
Before the American Revolution, there were social and economic changes which upset frontiersmen. They became agitated due to their social situation with Indians and their failing local government. In response to these annoyances, frontiersmen chose to use violence to achieve their demands. During this period of civil unrest, two attempted revolutions in particular made national headlines: The March of the Paxton Boys and The Regulator Movement. The movements differed because the Paxton Boys demanded social change while the Regulator Movement called for economic change. Both revolutions were similar because they used violence as a way to achieve their demands. The Paxton Boys rallied around the concept of retaliation against Indians; The
In Henry Thoreau’s essay, Resistance to Civil Government, the harmless actions he takes to rebel against the government are considered acts of civil disobedience. He talks about how the government acts wrongful such as, slavery and the Mexican-American war. This writing persuades Nathaniel Heatwole, a twenty-year-old college student studying at Guildford College in Greensboro, North Carolina, to take matters into his own hands, by smuggling illegal items on multiple Southwest airplanes. The reason in that being, is to show the people that our nation is unsafe and dangerous. In doing this, he takes his rebellion one step too far, by not only jeopardizing his life, but as well as many other innocent lives.
•Compare the backgrounds of Jefferson and Paine; did Paine have an advantage or disadvantage by not being born in the colonies? Explain.
Thomas Jefferson has an amazing role in our lives today from the hard work and time he spent to make an easier future for all of us. There are days that some of us could not thrive as the people we are without the appliances he made to make challenging tasks easier for us. Some people look up to him because he never stopped doing great things and never stopped showing unselfishness. Thomas Jefferson revolutionized the world of the 18th century and centuries to come. Thomas Jefferson was one of the most influential people of the 18th century because he was one of the founding fathers of America, he was the founder of the University of Virginia, and he was the creator of many life changing inventions, which drastically changed the world.
Along with his arguments of mental inferiority, Jefferson argues that blacks concede their inferiority through their submissiveness to the slave owners. This argument is met by Walkers’ appeal to the people for action. He states that, “unless we try to refute Mr. Jefferson’s arguments respecting us, we will only establish them” (Walker 18). It is an urgent call for action that urges not only blacks but other abolitionist, to stand up and fight against the stereotypes. He calls for black people to stop being submissive and to stand up for their rights. He also calls on blacks to not allow their oppression to hinder them from attaining as much knowledge as is reachable given their circumstances. He uses Jefferson’s demeaning statements to incite black people to rise up against the injustices being done to them. Through his derogatory statements towards black people, Jefferson, the champion of equality, is inadvertently giving Walker a means to inflame the fight in black people.
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).
Jefferson is trapped in a racist and ignorant place, this is shown countless times throughout the book, for example when Jefferson's defendant said ”A cornered animal to strike quickly in fear a trait inherited by his ancestors in the deepest jungles of blackest Africa...What you see here is a thing that acts on command. A thing to hold the handle of a plow, a thing to load your bales of cotton”(Gaines 7) .
A Vision Achieved Jefferson envisioned a government that allowed its citizens to exercise inalienable rights. In exact words, he states, “ We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” To be more evident, how can we define these “inalienable rights” of “life”, “liberty”, and the “pursuit of happiness?” Have these inalienable rights, achieved Jefferson’s goal? I am convinced, Jefferson’s revolutionary vision of life, liberty, and happiness has at last been achieved in America.
When a government takes away natural rights or creates a misuse of their power. The government has caused a causable reason to take action and overthrow, or in Jefferson situation, separate themselves from that particular government. The Declaration of Independence contends that although the power to rebel is a right, the nature of people dictates that people will not go ahead and practice such actions, preferring to suffer than rebel in most situations, “it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government.” In Jefferson theories the colonies, and African American people in Malcom X’s situation, are justified to abolish or separate themselves from their government. Due to people nature to not be rebalance, Malcom became the catalyst to the change. He noted that particular year was election year, 1964, "when all of the white political crooks will be right back in your and my community ... with their false promises which they don 't intend to keep". Creating an atmosphere that they no longer will turn the other cheek any longer. He acted as a warning to the politicians, if the government failed to accommodate the African American people, the politicians would make violence inevitable. Malcom warned and predicted that if their rights were not given to them, there would be protect, a march on Washington. But this march would not be like the 1963 March on Washington, which happen to be peaceful structured and integrated, the new march would be what he described as an all-black army followed by a one-way ticket. The situation was simple, “The Ballot or the Bullet” and “it 's time for Negroes to defend
To show relatable struggles, Jefferson writes to King George III out of respect the twenty-seven situations when the King misused his power. Some of Jefferson’s examples included the King establishing arbitrary government, disregarding petitions, and by destroying the lives of the colonists-in order to make the connection between Jefferson’s message and his empathy for his fellow-colonists who paid the price for the King’s cruelty. Jefferson argued that the matters of principle that he stood for were deprived by King George III’s cruel government that destroyed the colonists’ lives. Similarly, Levy also addressed her matters of principle, however, she focused the effect of modern pop culture on recent generation of women when it came to feeling liberated because of the way these women acted. Levy used her mother’s generation, pop culture influences, and how even she fell into the bacchanal behaviours women tried to embody. Both Jefferson and Levy strongly believed in the matters of principle-such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Jefferson believed that all men were created equal; if a government was abusing its power to take away any of these human rights, then he believed it was the citizen's duty to overthrow that government. Like Jefferson, Levy stood for