Many would argue a government’s primary function is to serve it’s citizens. The questions arises when said government fails to adhere to the will of the people. Do citizens then have a right to disobey the law of the land? 19th century poet, naturalist, and philosopher Henry David Thoreau believed so, in an essay he titled Civil Disobedience. Thoreau believed peaceful and nonviolent protest was the most effective way to display displeasure at the rule of government. Plenty of other great minds have held the same mindset, including Reverend Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi. The process of peaceful resisting laws positively impacts free society as it’s non violent expressions of free opinions, and has proven to be a very effective way to
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Reverend King stated on live television that, “an unjust law is no law at all,” and his supporters took to the street to demonstrate that. However, instead of rioting, looting, and pillaging the already decrepit cities and towns of the South, they sought to reveal and expose the hypocrisy of the laws that were used at their expense. Sit-ins were coordinated, where black students would sit in “white's only” diners and bars, order and sit peacefully, even though they would receive threats and vulgarities and at times physical violence from those in the diner. They would conduct freedom rides to expose the lack of state border enforcement. They would march peacefully across state lines, congregate and pray at churches, and continuously resist the laws in the most peaceful way possibly. They conducted acts through civil disobedience, inspired by the likes of Gandhi and Thoreau. They protested unjust laws through peaceful resistance, and it worked. African Americans were granted civil rights, and were progressively revitalized from their former state of disenfranchisement. Mahatma Gandhi had achieved success as well in India through his methods of civil disobedience. No one would deny that organizing a movement of civil disobedience is difficult, some would say impossible, but Reverend King sought to unify his supporters under the mantra of peace and nonviolence, for he knew that violence would delegitimize any argument they had. Through his acts of peaceful resistance, as well as many other heroes of the civil rights movement, they were able to push their stance to the government, in turn, removing the laws they saw unjust. Peaceful resistance clearly has a positive impact on society, while violent protests do
Reverend King stated on live television that, “an unjust law is no law at all,” and his supporters took to the street to demonstrate that. However, instead of rioting, looting, and pillaging the already decrepit cities and towns of the South, they sought to reveal and expose the hypocrisy of the laws that were used at their expense. Sit-ins were coordinated, where black students would sit in “white's only” diners and bars, order and sit peacefully, even though they would receive threats and vulgarities and at times physical violence from those in the diner. They would conduct freedom rides to expose the lack of state border enforcement. They would march peacefully across state lines, congregate and pray at churches, and continuously resist the laws in the most peaceful way possibly. They conducted acts through civil disobedience, inspired by the likes of Gandhi and Thoreau. They protested unjust laws through peaceful resistance, and it worked. African Americans were granted civil rights, and were progressively revitalized from their former state of disenfranchisement. Mahatma Gandhi had achieved success as well in India through his methods of civil disobedience. No one would deny that organizing a movement of civil disobedience is difficult, some would say impossible, but Reverend King sought to unify his supporters under the mantra of peace and nonviolence, for he knew that violence would delegitimize any argument they had. Through his acts of peaceful resistance, as well as many other heroes of the civil rights movement, they were able to push their stance to the government, in turn, removing the laws they saw unjust. Peaceful resistance clearly has a positive impact on society, while violent protests do