Civil Disobedience

To fully understand the meaning of civil disobedience first we would have to say that the meaning of civil disobedience is the denial to obey certain laws or pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest. The concept of civil disobedience evolved from the idea that there are laws of the state that don't secure citizens. This concept evolved over a long period of time and was grasped from different types of cultures. The act of civil disobedience was most effective in the twentieth century. Henry David Thoreau was one of the many famous writers who put this theory to practice. It is justifiable to disobey a law if is it unjust; as long as the act of civil disobedience has a righteousness intention, it is non-violent or non-threatening …show more content…
We act and have the right to stand up for something we believe is going to threaten or harm the community. Sometimes that means breaking the rules or laws. In American history, one of the most famous acts of civil disobedience was the Boston Tea Party. This was a political protest in order for no taxation for the Englishman without their being representation. The Englishman felt that with the Tea Party their rights were being violated. Similarly, Thoreau refused to pay the Massachusetts poll tax in protest of the Mexican war and to help all the citizen as a result of that he was sent to the Concordia jail. According to “Civil Disobedience” Thoreau believes, “Sometimes it is reasonable and sometimes essential to disobey unjust laws imposed by the state.” Secondly, it is justifiable to disobey an unjust law if that act of civil disobedience is non-violent or non-threatening. For example, sit-ins were a type of act of civil disobedience that was non-violent or non-threatening. This meant literally sitting down and refusing to move in whites-only lunch counters. One of the famous sit-ins in American history was in a Woolworth’s store in North Carolina which was also part of the African American Civil Rights Movement, which led to the desegregation of Nashville lunch counters. For example, Martin Luther King Jr’s speech “I Have a Dream” is an example of a

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