Negative Effects Of Peaceful Resistance

Improved Essays
The Impact of Peaceful Resistance: Positive or Negative The United States of America, the land of the free and the home of the brave. This famous line from the United States’ national anthem is a direct reference to people’s freedom and their ability to act upon their rights. This idea is the basic foundation to the concept of peaceful resistance or civil disobedience. Peaceful resistance allows a protestor to use their freedom of speech to go against an unjust act in order to gain equity without the use of violence. According to history, peaceful resistance has proven to stand up to unfair government systems, allow people to secure their natural rights, and ultimately has been used to spread awareness to injustice. All of these achievements …show more content…
This peaceful protest involved not only women but also men and children of all ages, races, religions, and cultures. These people were protesting Donald Trump’s campaign which was conceived as a threat to women’s rights, gay rights, abortion, and basic social rights that revolve around equality. This was a national protest in which people from cities across the United States joined to protest for their rights. This protest not only attracted attention from the U.S. government and U.S. citizens, it also triggered many other protests in countries such as Australia and Great Britain. This protest followed a very important principle of peaceful resistance which was to avoid undermining the law and instead using the freedom given to them to express their grievances. Such acts of civil disobedience allowed people to be aware of the political issues that made their fellow citizens feel threatened therefore a positive impact was made through the society since a sense of unity was built off of those peaceful …show more content…
The examples of peaceful protests previously stated are mere examples of the way such acts of civil disobedience have brought a positive and constructive impact to a society. Various principles of civil disobedience have been incorporated in these protests which demonstrate the basic characteristics of peaceful resistance and what makes them a positive influence on a society. Peaceful resistance is the reason today that societies and its citizens are able to enjoy just

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    From the informal rules that governed nomadic and pastoral tribes' behavior to the constitutions that govern today's nations, humans have imposed guidelines on their interpersonal interactions. As cities developed and civilizations rose, people used these guidelines to consolidate their societies and prevent widespread chaos. However, breaking these rules had consequences. For example, under the 1700s BCE Code of Hammurabi, if a man killed another man - of equal social status - he would have his hands cut off. In a modern context, if a person commits a felony or a severe crime, they face prolonged imprisonment and a fee at best, and euthanasia or life imprisonment at worst.…

    • 795 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Plessy V Ferguson Dissent

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The First Amendment States: “Congress shall make no law… prohibiting… the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” After years of drafting the Constitution, our founding fathers ensured that their presidential system would be immune to corruption and anarchy, thinking thoroughly and thoughtfully of what should be written within the document. Because they specifically allowed citizens to peacefully assemble, they inherently allowed citizens to peacefully resist unjust laws. As long as the people remain calm, peaceful resistance positively impacts a society, for it demonstrates disagreements between the government and the citizens and calls for a better change.…

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Peaceful resistance, which is a way in an attempt to accomplish goals such as social change, through nonviolent protest. I personally believe that nonviolent resistance impacts our free society, in a positive way. I see it this way because in short, simple words, it is least likely to get someone killed and set a good example for the future generations. This sets a good example because it shows that problems can be solved without blood shed, but instead with words and actions.…

    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A significant characteristic of civil disobedience is the fact that it is done peacefully, conscientiously, and publicly. There have been many examples of civil disobedience throughout world history. For example, “Honoring Martin Luther King Jr,” states that Gandhi defied British colonial laws, as the Salt March was aimed at the British salt tax and its control over colonial India (1). Gandhi’s act of civil disobedience in India was a major influence to King as…

    • 1502 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In today’s modern society, peacefully resisting to unjust laws is almost an everyday thing. All around the globe today, we see prime examples of nation’s citizens peacefully demonstrating their opinions and believes to their ruling governments. That being said, civil disobedience and peacefully resisting to laws positively impact a free society. By peacefully resisting, societies come together to achieve a common goal, which is to fight back against their ruling governments due to unjust and unfair laws that negatively impact the governed.…

    • 534 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Civil disobedience, which means breaking a law and accepting the consequences knowingly, is a positive way to advocate for change. King was living in an era of extreme racism and segregation. By protesting these inequalities and pointing out the horrible acts that were being committed, specifically in Birmingham, King paved the way for reform to take place and for unjust…

    • 546 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In any society facing injustice, there will be those who are ignorant about crucial issues. Standing up to injustice through civil disobedience is often the only way to gain the attention of society. Gatherers of information are drawn to report on these acts, which in turn draws the concern of society’s collective conscience. Acts of civil disobedience stimulate public dialogue by gaining the attention of society, causing the issue at hand to be raised throughout the public. A perfect example of this is the current clash over the Dakota Access Pipeline.…

    • 768 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Civil Disobedience Dbq

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages

    As we take a look at the history of the United States, impacting a free society has not been easy. There have been many laws that have not treated everyone fairly. In order to impact a free society, many had to undergo civil disobedience in order to impact the free society that we live in today. Peaceful resistance to laws positively impact a free society. Without civil disobedience, it would have been almost impossible to make change in our society.…

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Peaceful resistance to laws has the possibility of having a positive or negative impact upon a free society depending on the situation, but throughout history it has been proven that more often than not civil disobedience has brought positive change. It all depends upon circumstance when deciding whether or not something can be good or bad for a society and this includes civil disobedience. While it has impacted our society positively, there are ways for it to be abused by the masses in order for them to get what they want or for the result to turn out as less than desirable, though it is unlikely that it would ever work out that way. For example, Cohen states in Seven Arguments Against Civil Disobedience that one of the arguments…

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Civil disobedience is the act of opposing a law one considers unjust and peacefully disobeying it while accepting the consequences. Looking at American history, it is clear for many to see that peaceful resistance is a core aspect in forcing change to occur ie. women’s suffrage, civil rights, anti war, gay rights, the labor movement, and etc. Without peaceful resistance, change would not occur. Change is rooted in the shadows of peaceful resistance, it’s what has never failed this country in making a difference.…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    King Jr Incarceration

    • 511 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The incarceration of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was the result of the peaceful protest of the blacks in the south in the early 1960s. Peaceful resistance to laws positively impacts a free society because equal rights is a freedom that is given in a free society. Civil disobedience is a safe form of protest that doesn't put anybody in harm's way or be viewed as a violent action. Martin Luther King Jr.'s letter to the clergy from Birmingham Jail was a simple explanation of his nonviolent intentions and justifying how he had every right to protest. He believed that everybody was equal and had the same opportunities and freedoms of the whites because of the amendment in the constitution that gave them this right.…

    • 511 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Peaceful resistance to laws positively impacts a free society as it promotes the creation and the retention of a free country. Free societies are often considered more advanced than the oppressive ones because freedom is something that evolved out of oppression. Now, in the modern world, governments are more or less established, and for them to be changed, the people must act. Civil disobedience is woven through the fabric of the United States. The Revolutionary war granted the underdog colonies independence-- not just independence but freedom.…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It raises awareness and sparks progress for important issues when used in a responsible, proportional manner. However, It is important to be an upstander when it comes to defending human rights. If the rights of one group is infringed upon, that lays the groundwork for rights to be stolen from all members of society. Once human rights violations begin and are accepted by people, an unstoppable ball is that will inevitably roll over every person in a community is set into motion. Civil disobedience is an extremely effective method of insuring that this ball remains stationary and the infringement of rights is not simply…

    • 771 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    "It costs me less in every sense to incur the penalty of disobedience to the State than it would to obey." This statement by Henry David Thoreau says what many, every-day people throughout our history have felt in many cases of the law, the need to disobey to cause change. This is called civil disobedience, and it can get one arrested. It is sometimes worth the arrest, however, to keep our freedoms as individuals, and to change what is wrong. When it gets down to it, civil disobedience is all about change, as it is sometimes the only way to get things moving to change a law that many feel is unjust.…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Robert O’Connor Concord High School New Hampshire Like many things in life, civil disobedience, is all a matter of perspective. Whether it be the Great Muhammad Ali peacefully opposing his selection for the draft or Rosa Parks literally sitting down instead of standing up for what is right on a bus ride home, each and every case of civil disobedience has its ups and downs. Though, when talking about basic human rights, there is no room to be neutral, and that is why peaceful resistance to laws most certainly impacts a society positively. From an optimistic perspective, everything will be alright in the end. Despite Ali’s…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays