Civil Disobedience

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, although civil disobedience is ancient, as old as the Hebrew midwives' defiance of Pharaoh, most of its moral and legal theory and form were shaped by Henry David Thoreau, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.. The author points out that some historians are skeptical about civil disobedience and doubt its effectiveness or reasonableness, but others see it as a highly effective strategy in educating individuals and in bringing about a particular and desired change. The paper concludes that, while Thoreau and others argue that individuals are morally justified in disobeying certain laws, the observation is that few people will actually disobey; these leaders view this docility in the majority as the greater threat to democracy than anarchy.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Examples of Civil Disobedience
An Analysis of Civil Disobedience
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Taking after the original example of Henry David Thoreau in secluding himself from the cloak of the law and into the woods in Walden Pond, protesters expressed the same outcry all over the world and in different times. Civil disobedience was used widely in India's nonviolent resistance movements against British colonialism, in South Africa in its fight against apartheid, in civil rights movements in the USA and in Europe and in the resistance movement in Scandinavia against the Nazi occupation. It was also a major strategy adopted by national movements in the former colonies in Africa and Asia before they obtained independence."

More papers on Civil Disobedience:

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• Essay # 70149 : "Socrates and Civil Disobedience"
• Analytical Essay # 141337 : "Critique Of Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience"

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