Civil Disobedience To protest the American government's involvement in the Mexican War of 1846-1848, Henry David Thoreau refused to pay his taxes and was quickly thrown into prison as a result of his nonviolent act of "Civil Disobedience." (Wood, 173) From prison, he wrote a political and philosophical tract called "Civil Disobedience" in defense of his radical actions
but, if one looks back to the 1920's, politicians and ordinary people of this era tended, given that era's prosperity and conservatism, to see him as a dangerous 'crank.' (Yarborough, 1995) Nascent hippie or 19th century Unabomber one might ask -- really, the truth is something in between
Gandhi, as well as King, had them all -- a sustained energy, deftness and timely ruthlessness in handing and manipulating people, the capacity to think to the purpose and somewhat intuitively, a zest and fluency with ideas, the ability to bounce back constructively when thwarted or criticized, a love of running things as they saw fit and a never-despairing passion for a cause which in their eyes could only be achieved through civil disobedience. Thus, for Gandhi, "non-violence and civil disobedience (was) the most appropriate methods for obtaining political and social goals" (Chew, Internet)
According to Louis Fischer, Mahatmas Gandhi "out-soared immortality as no other human being (and) his social impact upon the world (remains) unequaled" (67). However, in order to fully understand Gandhi's use of civil disobedience, one must ask the question, "What was the secret of his spell upon his country and people?" (Clement 78)
This demonstrates King's understanding on the power of civil disobedience, due to "unjust" being the root reason why non-violent disobedience is necessary in the first place. In his "Letter," King declares that "Its unjust treatment of Negroes in the courts is a notorious reality," a reference to the city of Birmingham, Alabama, "the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States" (Lincoln 156)
Satyagraha is the peaceful vindication of truth not by infliction of suffering on one's opponent but on one's self. Gandhi felt that through Satyagraha the opposition must be converted by a demonstration of purity, humility, and honesty, while violence and anger create bitterness in the victim, and brutality in the attacker (Frick)
In response King wrote Letter from Birmingham Jail, to justify the need for nonviolent direct action and condemn the immorality of unjust laws, asserting that one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. King believed laws should be in place only to protect the people, not to degrade and punish, and that unjust laws would lead to violence (King)
He questions the effectiveness of reforming the government, contending that voting and petitioning have little effect. Thoreau contends that refusing to participate in an unjust government institutions is preferable to trying to change the government from within stating that one cannot see the government for what it is when one is working within it (McElroy)
A Spartan occupation force controlled the city, and instituted the rule of the Thirty Tyrants to replace Athenian democracy. While a form of democracy was reinstated it lacked the acceptance of ideas and freedom of speech that had been such an integral part of Athenian society (Rogers)
Emerson's Self-Reliance is probably the most focused and coherent statement of the Transcendental movement. The basic premise is to ensure that the individual avoids both conformity and false consistency by following one's own heart and desires; "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines" (Emerson, 2007, p
If a thousand men were not to pay their tax bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood. This is, in fact, the definition of a peaceable revolution, if any such is possible (Thoreau, 1849, p
S. would pursue its policy of "manifest destiny" all over the globe (and an ideology it had been pursuing since the end of the 19th century when a Republican White House paved the way for Wall Street to start directing foreign policy) (Jarecki 41)
The character of "Disobedience," while against-the-grain in many ways, is after all, as Lenat suggests, an essay based on resistance -- and recent history has shown how the text has inspired more than merely Gandhi in India or Martin Luther King, Jr. In the South: "In the 1940s it was read by the Danish resistance, in the 1950s it was cherished by those who opposed McCarthyism, in the 1960s it was influential in the struggle against South African apartheid, and in the 1970s it was discovered by a new generation of anti-war activists" (Lenat)
If people did not do so, they would develop an undue respect for the law and behave mechanically towards it or against their common sense and conscience (Thoreau). Some are skeptical about civil disobedience and doubt its effectiveness or reasonableness (Maravillosa 2002)
Most of those who opt for civil disobedience are carefully non-violent and willing to accept legal punishment or penalties. They resort to it in publicizing an unjust law or a just cause, to appeal to public conscience, to exert pressure on some negotiation with stubborn government officials, to help political prisoners, to challenge the constitutionality of a particular law, to exculpate oneself, to end one's obedience to an unjust law or a combination of these (Suber 1999)
He did not see sense in blindly or communally following or respecting the law but as individuals and according to conscience. If people did not do so, they would develop an undue respect for the law and behave mechanically towards it or against their common sense and conscience (Thoreau)
He, therefore, sees consenting to obey laws as not extending or including unjust laws. At present, a new and different form of civil disobedience has developed with the invention of computer technology (Wray 1996)
" The above passage explains how civil disobedience was born and what it is triggered by. The war with Iraq brought out protestors that normally lead law abiding and quiet lifestyles (Mendoza pg)
In the past it was also believed by protestors that the government caused the problem. Several pastors wrote to FDR when they challenged the 18th amendment "We are reluctant indeed to be forced into antagonism to our party (Bass pg 14)
As he walks down the street, "I soon gathered that being perceived as dangerous is a hazard in itself. I only needed to turn a corner into a dicey situation, or crowd some frightened, armed person in a foyer somewhere, or make an errant move after being pulled over by a policeman," (Staples)