Civil Disobedience Term Paper by writingsensation

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