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Civil Disobedience

Civil Disobedience. A Method for Creating Change. Civil Disobedience. Refusal to obey a law on the grounds that it is immoral or unjust in itself, or furthers injustice.

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Civil Disobedience

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  1. Civil Disobedience A Method for Creating Change

  2. Civil Disobedience • Refusal to obey a law on the grounds that it is immoral or unjust in itself, or furthers injustice. • Goal: to call attention to an unjust law, & appeal to public’s sense of justice; to clog the system and make the law unenforceable; to challenge the law in the courts.

  3. Roots of the Idea • Henry David Thoreau • Jailed in the 1840s for refusing to pay a poll tax. The tax supported the war with Mexico and the extension of slavery, which he strongly opposed. Thoreau did pay his other taxes. • Coined the term “civil disobedience” in the title of his essay arguing in favor of non-violent opposition to slavery.

  4. Thoreau’s civil disobedience Key Arguments: Unjust Laws Exist • “Shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once . . .” • Unjust laws require our cooperation in order to work. He advocated resistance: "I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn." • Normal legal channels to overturn those laws either do not exist or take too long. • Civil disobedience effective: if abolitionists withdrew their support of government, then slavery would end in a peaceful revolution.

  5. Thoreau’s civil disobedience • IF the law REQUIRES YOU to be the “AGENT OF INJUSTICE TO ANOTHER,” then break the law. • If the Government had to put all the lawbreakers in jail and prosecute them, it would be overwhelmed and give up

  6. Thoreau’s civil disobedience • "Cast your whole vote, not a strip of paper merely, but your whole influence. A minority is powerless while it conforms to the majority; ... but it is irresistible when it clogs by its whole weight."

  7. IF the law REQUIRES YOU to be the “AGENT OF INJUSTICE TO ANOTHER,” then break the law. • What if no one paid taxes to support the war? • What if everyone refused to refrain from helping runaway slaves?

  8. Civil Disobedience in US History • Women’s Suffrage Movement • Susan B. Anthony voted (1872) • Many women were jailed and went on hunger strikes (early 1900s) • Right to Birth Control • Margaret Sanger distributed information and contraceptives (early 1900s) • Civil Rights for Minority/Disempowered Groups Groups • Gender • Sexual • Racial • Philosophical (Scopes Trial)

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