Why Is Civil Disobedience Important?

The right of peaceable assembly and petition was first declared in what would become the United States in the eighth resolve of the Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress of 1774. But, its importance reaches much further back. The Magna Carta and the fifth right of the English Bill of Rights of 1689 both protected the right of petition against the government. Stretching throughout time and space, the necessity to allow for peaceful resistance has been upheld. Civil Disobedience is an indispensable function of an advancing free society. In a speech in 1962, President Kennedy remarked that "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” America as a country has changed and improved …show more content…
Following the election of Abraham Lincoln, the southern states became worrisome. In a letter to Alexander Stephens, President Lincoln stresses the importance of the southern states using their right of petition rather than revolution and war. Despite this, the Civil War breaks out, and with it, bloodshed. This is not to say that movements may start as civil and end bloody, as seen with the likes of Malcolm X, or in certain sects of the Black Lives Matter movement. However, the non-violent parts of these movements have proven to generate more support and change than those which are violent. Civil Disobedience is not merely an american idea. In fact, one of the most honored adopters of Civil Disobedience is Gandhi. His use of civil disobedience and preaching against violence fostered an amazing revolution of India against Britain and the almost peaceful movement of Muslims and Hindus. He once preached that “noncooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good.” This can also be seen in the actions of families who hid Jews during the Holocaust. This, although not as visible, was a violation of the written law in accordance with Natural