Civil Disobedience In America Essay

America has always been known for being the land of the free. After all, it was founded on the principles of freedom and peace. Peaceful resistance has been proven to help move forward toward a more democratic country. (knapp) Peaceful resistance to laws affects our free society in a positive way. “Civil disobedience is the act of opposing a law one considers unjust and peacefully disobeying it while accepting the consequences.”(Based on we the students) When people break a law, they are usually aware that they are breaking it along with knowing what consequences they are going to have to face due to breaking that law. Since morals are a concept that most parents teach their children, we are taught at a very young age that certain actions or beliefs just shouldn’t be done because they are …show more content…
to be immoral, to be unjust etc.). These words show us the foundation upon which laws are based. Why was same sex marriage illegal in most states? Because it is immoral. Why is stealing a crime? Because it is dishonest and unjust. Laws are always based on the actions that are wrong. But is it wrong to stand up for something you believe in? Thanks to these examples we know that peaceful resistance is very much effective due to all of these being incidents in which it was used in. After all America is the land of the free, but to what extent? Americans have always been known for standing up for what they believe in. It’s how our society has flourished and become what it is today. When you hear the word peaceful resistance this might come across as a word that defines breaking a law, but if you take it apart, word by word—peaceful, resistance—it is given a whole new meaning. A meaning of new beginnings and second chances. Rosa Parks may come to mind when the topic of freedom of speech and peaceful resistance comes up. She is a perfect example of peaceful resistance and a great role model to empower many people everywhere. (Achievement) She used