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Civil Disobedience Essays

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Civil disobedience plays an important part in how our society has been shaped up until this moment, it is the act of defying a law by ethics. The term “civil disobedience” was invented by Henry David Thoreau in his 1848 essay to describe how he refused to pay the state poll tax that was put into action by the American government to prosecute a war in Mexico and to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law. In his essay, Thoreau notices that only a very few people – heroes, martyrs, patriots, reformers in the best sense – obey their society with their consciences, and so necessarily resist society for the most part, and are commonly treated by it as enemies. Thoreau, for his part, spent time in jail for his protest. Many individuals currently because of him have gladly distinguished their fights as demonstrations of common rebellion and have been treated by their social orders – here and there briefly, now and then inconclusively – as its foes. Since the beginning, demonstrations of common rebellion broadly have constrained a reassessment of society’s ethical parameters. Certain highlights of common insubordination appear to be fundamental not exclusively to its effect on social orders and governments yet in addition to its status as a possibly legitimate break of law. Common defiance is for the most part viewed as more ethically faultless than both standard offenses and different types of dissent, for example, aggressor activity or coercive brutality. In law-based social orders, common insubordination all things considered isn’t wrongdoing. On the off chance that an insubordinate is rebuffed by the law, it isn’t for common noncompliance, however for the perceived offenses she submits, for example, hindering a street or upsetting the harmony, or trespassing, or harming property, and so forth. Prior to standing out common insubordination from both standard offenses and different kinds of dissent, consideration ought to be given to the highlights exemplified in the compelling cases noted previously. These highlights incorporate, in addition to other things, a faithful or principled standpoint and the correspondence of both judgment and a craving for change in law or approach. Different highlights generally referred to – attention, peacefulness, constancy to law – will likewise be considered here however they demonstrate to be less focal than is at times expected. The second piece of this area stands out as common rebellion from conventional offenses and the third part stands out it as legitimate dissent, rule flights by authorities, faithful complaint, radical dissent (regularly named ‘fear mongering’), and progressive activity. It was viewed as more ethically faultless than both standard offenses and different types of dissent, for example, aggressor activity or coercive brutality. In law-based social orders, common insubordination all things considered isn’t wrongdoing. On the off chance that an insubordinate is rebuffed by the law, it isn’t for common noncompliance, however for the perceived offenses she submits, for example, hindering a street or upsetting the harmony, or trespassing, or harming property, and so forth. Prior to standing out common insubordination from both standard offenses and different kinds of dissent, consideration ought to be given to the highlights exemplified in the compelling cases noted previously. These highlights incorporate, in addition to other things, a faithful or principled standpoint and the correspondence of both judgment and a craving for change in law or approach. Different highlights generally referred to – attention, peacefulness, constancy to law – will likewise be considered here however they demonstrate to be less focal than is at times expected. The second piece of this area stands out common rebellion from conventional offenses and the third part stands out it from legitimate dissent, rule flights by authorities, faithful complaint, radical dissent (regularly named ‘fear mongering’), and progressive activity. The various points of contact and overlap amongst different types of political protest suggest that there is no one-dimensional continuum from weak to strong dissent. There is more plausibility in the idea of a multi-dimensional continuum of protest, which recognizes the complexities in such critical points of contrast as legality, violence, harm, communication, motivation, and persuasiveness. On many views, an analysis of the justifiability of civil disobedience must consider not only the dissenter’s particular action and its likely consequences but also her motivation for engaging in this act of civil disobedience. Factors relevant to a disobedient’s choice of action include its illegality, its use as a last resort or first resort, any coordination with other dissenters, the likelihood of success, the directness or indirectness of the action, and the expected harm. Factors relevant to motivation include the merit or lack thereof in the dissenter’s cause, her reasons for defending that cause, and her reasons for engaging in this form of protest. Although they are examined separately below, these two sets of factors inevitably overlap.

The final issue to consider is how authorities should respond to civil disobedience. The question of appropriate legal response applies, first, to the actions of law enforcers when deciding whether and how to intervene in a civilly disobedient action, whether to arrest, whether to charge and so on. It applies, second, to the actions of prosecutors when deciding whether to proceed to trial. Finally, it applies to the actions of judges (and juries) when deciding whether to convict and (for judges) how much to punish. The focus here will be the issue of appropriate punishment.

Some theorists maintain that civil disobedience is an outdated, overanalyzed notion that little reflects current forms of political activism, which tend toward more extreme modes of engagement. Herbert Storing has suggested that ‘The most striking characteristic of civil disobedience is its irrelevance to the problems of today.’ (Storing 1991). He said, shortly after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, that the fashion of civil disobedience is as likely to die out as it was to burst forth under the words of King. There is of course much evidence to show that Storing was mistaken in his predictions for the popularity of civil disobedience as a mode of dissent.

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Martin Luther King Jr. And Malcolm X: Protest And Civil Disobedience

For most Americans, the ideological struggle between the Civil Rights and Black Power movements were centered on two individuals, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X respectively. It is also generally socially accepted that Martin Luther’s philosophy prevailed and as such has been held up as the model for enacting social change in America, although often used to criticize the methods used by activists in the time since. This winner-loser dichotomy also ignored the similarities and resonance each leader found...
6 Pages 2776 Words

Whose Civil Disobedience Inspired MLK: Essay

The refusal to abide by certain laws or to pay taxes, as a nonviolent form of political protesting, is civil disobedience. These types of protests were very common during the 18th century or the Romanticism period of literature. Many civil disobedience acts powered pieces of literature still known to us today, for instance, “On Civil Disobedience” by Mohandas K. Gandhi, “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr, and “Civil Disobedience,” by Henry David Thoreau. Gandhi, King, and...
3 Pages 1366 Words

Civil Disobedience: Martin Luther King Jr. And Nelson Mandela

Civil Disobedience, also called passive resistance, has its meaning on refusing the to obey the law in a nonviolent act. It was first used by Henry David Thoreau. His ideology was based on disobedience. He believed people can change things by disobeying because it was an act that does not need violence. Henry David Thoreau was born on July 12, 1817, in Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau went to Harvard University. According to “Biography.com” “He graduated from college in 1837 and struggled...
3 Pages 1565 Words

Civil Disobedience VS Morality

Nobody has the same morals, beliefs, or even opinions. Morality does not have a true right or wrong because of everyone’s individuality. Since everyone has their own opinions, they should have the right to voice those opinions; there are several ways of doing so. As a citizen, an individual with my own beliefs, I believe I have the right to not comply with laws if I feel morally obligated to do so. In certain ways it seems as if it’s...
1 Page 402 Words

Comparison Of Civil Disobedience Of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And Malcolm X

How do the ideas of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X illustrate the similarities and differences in their perspective on social civil rights? Dr. King and Malcolm X were both civil rights leaders and they both wanted freedom for all people, but just in a different way. In “Stride Toward Freedom” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he believed that violence was not a way of achieving racial justice and that it was both impractical and immoral. On...
1 Page 529 Words

Civil Disobedience And Letter From A Birmingham Jail

I will be talking about the works of Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry Thoreau. I will also be including my opinion on them.Thoreau first talks about how glad he is that people are fighting for what is right..He also talks about how people should not participate in the misleading government and then mentions how they are not being pressured to participate in the misleading government.Thoreau then talks about how a government is not really useful and doesn’t really represent...
1 Page 584 Words

Martin Luther King, Socrates And Civil Disobedience

Civil disobedience is having a peaceful protest or not using violence when trying to make a change. The first time this was enforced was by Gandhi. Gandhi led the salt march, a non violent protest to stop British rule. Martin Luther King also brought up the idea of civil disobedience in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail. King talks about social injustices while maintaining civil disobedience. He says that for protesting they will accept punishments because their acts are illegal...
5 Pages 2334 Words

Martin Luther King’s Views Regarding Civil Disobedience

In this paper, I will argue that Martin Luther King’s views about civil disobedience makes him more reliable compared to Plato’s beliefs because Martin Luther King utilizes emotional language and concrete examples to build his credibility and gain the trust of others. Furthermore, I will discuss Plato and Martin Luther King’s viewpoints about disobeying the law and how each of them establish their own credibility. In King’s speech, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King discusses the prevalence of racial segregation and...
3 Pages 1510 Words

Fighting Injustice through Nonviolence Civil Disobedience: The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Sit-In Movement

“One has not only a legal, but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws” – Martin Luther King Jr. Background information strategy used during the 1950-1965, strategy used in North Carolina, and Alabama. Strategy used to get more rights that the black people should have. Strategy used by Rosa Parks, Greensboro four, and Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolence civil disobedience has proved to be the best strategy used during the...
1 Page 671 Words

Transformation of American Society through Civil Disobedience of Black Power Movement

Yes, civil disobedience is an important role for making democracies work effectively because it is one of the diving factors that allows individual to exercise the right to free speech and speaks against unjust government and its laws. Throughout the history of the US civil disobedience has played a significant role in many of the social reforms that we all take for granted today. The civil right movement achieved many great things, their powerful protest created Immense amount of awareness...
1 Page 658 Words

Essay on Gandhi Civil Disobedience

Developed in the early nineteenth century, transcendentalism was a philosophical movement that arose to pose objections to the general state of spirituality and intellectualism. As fathers of the transcendentalist movement, Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson endorsed principles of morality predicated upon higher spiritual laws. They argued that in order to experience personal liberty, one must align themselves with moral truth, as doing so would allow one to identify the masters within themselves. Both Emerson and Thoreau promoted that...
6 Pages 2527 Words

Was the Boston Tea Party an Act of Civil Disobedience? Essay

Americans nowadays start using the civil rights act as a way to allow the civilians to become free and have equal rights. A recent example of this is when Donald Trump sued the Black Lives Matter Organization because the organizer DeRay Mckensson “did nothing to prevent the violence or to calm the crowd.” The definition of civil disobedience is to peacefully protest to go against certain laws, orders, or commands of a government. This method has been a crucial part...
1 Page 376 Words
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