Philosophy Of Civil Disobedience

In Oscar Wilde argues that disobedience is man’s original virtue. Meaning that he believes disobedience is a good thing and through disobedience progress is made. History has proven that Wilde’s assertion holds true. Throughout history civil disobedience has been the catalyst for social progress, reform, and the questioning of the statuesque.
Back in the colonial era of America this exact concept of disobedience. Was what sparked the idea of freedom and self-governance, instead of passive submission to a tyrannical king, and an unsympathetic Parliament. Civil disobedience was performed when our founding fathers threw tea into the Boston harbor. In protest against the British government stating “No taxation without representation.” It was also this concept of civil disobedience that fueled the revolutionary war, that disobedience in the face of authority was the only …show more content…
Events like the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Freedom summer, and the march on Washington were against a system that was inherited ably wrong. The protestors believed that colored people were being mistreated as second-class citizens. So, they protested, boycotted, and marched in defiance of the system. During the Montgomery Bus Boycott people protested the bus system because of their policy of racial segregation. The protest was sparked when a black woman Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to white passenger. Eventually the boycott was successful and the supreme court ruled that laws requiring busses to be segregated was unconstitutional. Their protests, boycotts, and marches in defiance were necessary and was the ultimate reason for the social change in America. If they had not disobeyed their cause wouldn’t’ve gotten any attention. They kept fighting against what many felt was wrong at the time. Nevertheless, through their civil disobedience the status-quo was changed and social progress was