Civil Disobedience: The People's Rights To Demand Change
A government has power directed towards society, power such as making laws to displine it’s people but what if that power is abused? Is it just right for people to sit down in a corner and to be taken advantage by their own government? No, that is not right at all, this is where the Civil Disobedience comes to action, it is a legal action where the society can make a protest or complaint to the government about unfair laws. Civil Disobedience was written and published in the mid-1800s where slavery was still active and the Mexican-American war had finished. Civil Disobedience has been used throughout history with varying degrees of effectiveness; first popularized by Henry David Thoreau, it was later used by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth and even MODERN DAY THINGS, inspiring SOME DEGREE OF social change.
Thoreau was the man that started it all, he used Civil Disobedience to tell his opinion on how he was sicken by slavery and the Mexican-American, in a more general form he did not like how the government allow this kind of actions in our community, in the United States of America. Henry David Thoreau was from Concord, Massachusetts and was born on July 12, 1817. Thoreau was furious about slavery and the Mexican-American war, he began to held his payments back for taxes, in 1846 he decided to get his shoes repaired and was seen by the officials, he was arrested and put to jail, during in his cell, he then wrote the document, “Civil Disobedience” and was later publised in 1849, they changed the title to Resistance to Civil Goverment. However, even though there is Civil Disobedience, people should still maintain respect for the rule of law while disobeying the law that you think that is unjust, a person should prepare to pledge guilty when he/she broke a law and to attempt to successfully change people's action by finding the justice of your cause. This quote stood out to me because it relates to his feelings, “That government is best which governs least.”, Thoreau stated, It helps the reader realize that a government should equally control their power and not abuse it or consequences will occur, such as a revolt. After many years of the Civil Disobedience (also known as Resistance to Civil Government) being in existence, many people were encourage to make a change and were brave enough to organize protests or even a whole organization, examples would be US civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jr, Soujerner Truth’s which she wanted to abolish slavery and a women’s rights activist, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, one of the first leaders of the women’s rights movement, she wanted equal rights for women as well. There were many more people that sided with the act of Civil Disobedience and it was the right thing to do, if none of this brave legends exist, present could have gone a lot worse.
Stanton used Civil Disobedience to dramatize the denied citizenship claims of women, this was the period were white and respected males were being prioritized first and women were looked down upon as weak people, Stanton declared this as an unequal action towards genders and decided to take action on it. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born on November 12, 1815, in Johnstown, New York, Stanton’s father exposed her to studying law and other so called male domains (being controlled by a specific people/person, in this case the gender is a male). Because of this exposure, she sparked an idea for remedy laws unjust to women, at that time women couldn't enroll in college because of the gender, she then went to Troy Female Seminary instead and deeply preached for all this problems that is occuring specially for women, she once had a mental breakdown. One of Stanton’s quote, 'The prolonged slavery of women is the darkest page in human history.', in a more deeper meaning, looking down toward women is like slavery, it is harsh and pathetic, genders should not matter in our characteristic, instead treat each other equally, she stated this as one of the darkest page in human history because I would also not imagine people thinking that a person is considered weak base on her gender, it is indeed unbelievable that it happened in the history of mankind, come to reality, up until now some people still have that kind of mindset. This is how humanity has become, many hatred in the world to the point that they judge your by your gender and how sad truth is, Stanton’s grief. Stanton decided to write the Declaration of Sentiments, she wrote this for the women's rights convention at Seneca Falls, New York in 1848, the Declaration of Sentiments demanded the rights of men to be shared towards women and for them to be equally respected. After the publication of the Declaration of Sentiments, women had the courage to stand up for themselves and it resulted into bringing health and education reforms and many other important changes that needed to happen within the women community in the 18th century.
Truth used Civil Disobedience to deliver speeches about racial inequalities and make movement on women’s rights. Sojourner Truth was an African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist, she became an anti-slavery speaker after her freedom, she was best known because of her famous speech, “Aint I a Woman?”, she delivered the speech at Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio on May 29, 1851. During Truth’s movement, she also recruited black troops for the Union Army during the American Civil War, a war to perserve the Union and to official end slavery. As Truth stated in one of her speeches, “Truth is powerful and it prevails.”, she wanted to point out the truth to the society that women are just as equal to men but some would not accept that but in the end, she successfully proved her point, they are strong, they are able to raise their children into a well mannered young men/women, they have to power to make changes, make movements to prove that looking towards woman and slavery is unjust. Stanton had many hardships in her life, she used to be a slave and bore 13 children and witnessed them into slavery, but quitting on life is not an option she became a brave and a strong women, this is what she wanted to point out to all the women out there, no matter how much criticisme you recieve from people, it is not an excuse to just fall on your own knees and wait for someone to pick you up, you have to strive and get back up because the fight is not over, you have to prove to them that you are strong and not a weak human being or else they will find ways to manipulate you. Sojourner was able to impact society by her speech, “Ain't I a Woman”, there were many women that wanted to make a change in our world by making wholesome protests, organizations, and many more methods, such as 2 years ago (2017), there was a march that 1,500 people attended, “Ain’t I a Woman” march that took place in Sacramento.
King used the act of Civil Disobedience to abolish racial discrimination against the African-American community, this includes public transportation, employement, voting rights, and education. Martin Luther King was born in Atlanta, Georgia in January 1929. Martin Luther King helped organize his first major protest for the African American civil rights movement, Montgomery Bus Boycott, this is an event sparked during the 1950s, Rosa Parks decided not to give up her seat for a white passenger in a bus company called Montgomery Bus because she believes that she doesn't have to move out of her seat just because of her skin color, because of this event, many African-Americans refused to ride city buses in Montgomery, Alabama. Martin Luther King organized 3 marches with non violent protesters, they marched from Selma to Montgomery Alabama during this marches. Martin Luther King’s quotes made a huge impact to people by influencing them in a positive manner, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” this quote struck my heart and it really hurts to see that people judge a person’s background by his/her skin color, but Martin Luther King was the person that changed all that with this one quote, he told the rest of the world that nothing is impossible if you don't give up, don’t let anyone change you in a negative way, keep looking up and you’ll get through your griefs. In my opinion, Martin Luther King wanted to accomplish one goal in his life and that goal is for people to respect each other which he did but what I noticed 55 years later, racism is still a habit of some people which makes me deep in sorrow but I HAVE A DREAM that people can change, just give it time. After his assassination, he may be long gone but his morals still intact to people’s soul, Martin Luther King was known for having a non-violent protest movement, he taught people that fighting will not make peace but increase problems, in every serious matter that occurs, we should solve it in a calm manner by all means. King had experienced criticism around his path, people hated him to the point that they bombed his house after the success of The Montgomery Bus Boycott, after the tragedy, he still lead a non-violent protest.
A government’s main goal is to make a well-being society, but what if a government has abused their power? Are people just going to accept that ordinance? This is why the Civil Disobedience document has come to its place, it is a document that gives people the power to make a change to the government’s action. The Civil Disobedience has been in existence for many years, many iconic people such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, and modern-day activist such as Martin Luther King has used it for its good purposes. In the final analysis, it is important to have an act of Civil Disobedience, but if we want the government to not abuse its power we should also not abuse the power that Thoreau gave to us, equality of both sides should exist. Civil Disobedience is created for important purposes only, it does not mean that we as a society should use it whenever we feel hatred toward the government, we should not overuse the act of Civil Disobedience. As Martin Luther King says, if you are going to make a change, do it in a non-violent way. This document gave power to many parts of the country to make changes such as in Cuba, they made a movement called Yo No Coopero Con La Dictadura which translates to 'I Do Not Cooperate with the Dictatorship' and In East Germany, people used an act of Civil Disobedience for the Berlin Wall, In 1989, many East Germans wanted to break the wall to travel to West Germany, but all because of Civil Disobedience it made people from East Germany have the capability of travelling to the other side of their country.
