Peaceful Resistance To Laws: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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Peaceful resistance to laws has many effects on the free society. They can be positive, negative, short term, long term, or a combination of the four. The civil rights movement, which lasted from 1954 to 1968, was the best demonstration of this combination. A lot of times, civil disobedience is necessary to achieve civil goals.
In order to receive positive outcomes, we have to go through a struggle and that struggle may be peaceful resistance. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. showed us this and elaborated through his many speeches and letters from Birmingham jail. During the heat of the civil rights movement, Dr. King and his counterparts refused to follow unjust laws in the most respectful way. Rosa Parks sat at the front of the bus and refused to give up her seat. She peacefully resisted which caused her to be treated roughly and thrown in jail. This was clearly a negative effect, but this started a movement. The bus boycott made the bus companies lose money and the law ended up changing. This is a perfect example of a …show more content…
The march from Selma, Alabama to the state capital of Montgomery did not seem successful in the beginning. There were two attempts at this march before it could be executed auspiciously. On the first attempt they were met by segregationist with weapons prohibiting them from continuing, so they went back home. On the second attempt they were again met by the segregationist. This time they attempted to go through, and this did not end well. Peaceful protestors were badly injured, and everyone thought this would end with this negative outcome. They were wrong. The third attempt gained more publicity and approval from President Lyndon B. Johnson. This allowed the protestors to peacefully march from Selma, Alabama to the capital, Montgomery, without interference. This caused the voting rights bill to be passed and stop voter registration literacy tests that allowed African Americans to
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