Civil Disobedience

1. Civil Disobedience Jordan McIntyre Dara Rowell Claire Jeter Government Pd. 6

2. What is Civil Disobedience? • Civil Disobedience is a nonviolent means of protesting in an attempt to achieve political goals

3. Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience • Henry David Thoreau was one of the first people to write down the idea of civilly disobeying an unjust government • His ideas of what Civil Disobedience was is exemplified in his famous speech, Civil Disobedience

4. Example One • “If the injustice has a spring, or a pulley, or a rope, or a crank, exclusively for itself, then perhaps you may consider whether the remedy will not be worse than the evil; but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then I say, break the law…”

5. About Example One • This is an example of civil disobedience because Thoreau was saying that if the citizens find a law or policy to be unjustand not in the benefit of the general public, than it is perfectly acceptable to break the law

6. Example Two • “If a thousand men were not to pay their tax bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood. This is, in fact, the definition of a peaceable revolution, if any such is possible”

7. About Example Two • Thoreau is saying that not paying your taxes is not a “bloody measure,” whereas paying your taxes is. He says this because he believes it to be unfair to support a government that supports a policy that he believes is unjust. He says that doing such is an act of “peaceable revolutions” which is an important concept in civil disobedience

8. Example Three • “Is it not possible to take a step further towards recognizing and organizing the rights of man? There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly.”

9. About Example Three • Thoreau is saying that it is necessary to recognize the citizens of a nation as the higher power, and that the authority of the government comes from the people, and they are powerless without them

10. Works Cited • “Civil Disobedience” World News Inc. 2011. Web. • Thoreau, Henry David. Gordon, Jessica and Woodlief, Ann. “Resistance to Civil Government or Civil Disovedience.” American Transcendentalism Web. 1999. Web. 30 November 2011.

11. Civil Disobedience Part Two: The effect on the Abolitionist Movement

12. The Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman • Over a span of ten years Tubman transported slaves from the South to the North where they could be free • By the 1860 Tubman made 19 trips to the South and helped around 300 slaves escape from the South. • This is an example of Civil Disobedience because it was illegal to transport slaves to the North • In the North, it was the law to return escaped slaves to the South. • Tubman and other “conductors” risked their own freedom and lives to save hundreds of slaves from enslavement.

13. John Brown and Harpers Ferry • John Brown was an abolitionist, that led a group of 21 men to Harpers Ferry on October 16, 1859. • He did this so he could arm slaves and have them revolt against their masters and be free • This is an example of civil disobedience because by doing this Brown was hanged for his crime against the South. • By arming slaves Brown broke the law of the south. • By the end of the battle that was fought there at Harpers Ferry, most of Brown’s men were captured or killed.

14. No Poll Tax for Thoreau • Thoreau was the writer of Civil Disobedience • He spent one night in jail for not paying a poll tax • His reason for not paying a poll tax because he was protesting slavery and the Mexican War. • He thought that if he paid the poll tax, he would be supporting the government that supported slavery and the war.

15. Work Citied “Harriet Tubman”. Africans in America. PBS Online. Web. 30 November 2011. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1535.html “John Brown”. Africans in America. PBS Online. Web. 30 November 2011. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1550.html Furtak, Rick Anthony, "Henry David Thoreau", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2009 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2009/entries/thoreau/>.

16. Work Citied (continued) “CLR James: Negroes in the Civil War: Their Role in the Second American Revolution.” The Rustbelt Radical. Web. 30 November 2011. http://rustbeltradical.wordpress.com/tag/sesquicentennial/

17. Civil Disobedience Part Three: Its appearance in the Civil Rights Movement

18. Rosa Parks “If the injustice has a spring, or a pulley, or a rope, or a crank, exclusively for itself, then perhaps you may consider whether the remedy will not be worse than the evil; but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then I say, break the law.” -Henry David Thoreau • Rosa Parks was woman who was arrested on December 1, 1955 for not giving up her seat to a white man on a city bus. She was tired from work and was tired of having to give up her seat for any white person on the bus. She was tired of this issue and decided to act upon it. • After she stood up for herself, this initiated a year-long bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama called The Montgomery Bus Boycott. She was sitting down to stand up. • Rosa Parks believed that there was no reason for her to have to give up her seat and she expressed that by refusing to move. This refers to civil disobedience because she was against segregation, so she refused to obey the law.

19. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People • NAACP supported integration and tried so hard to make integration a law, amendment, or act. This organization used their conscience to try and fight for integration. • Some students were against unsuitable conditions in schools and the NAACP joined these students in the fight against school segregation. NAACP was a part of the Brown vs. Board of Education (1954)court case. • They spoke up for what they knew was right like Thoreau mentioned in the civil disobedience. NAACP helped make integration constitutional and change laws to better society.

20. Woolworth Sit-In • On February 1, 1960 four black students, of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College, started a sit-in at Woolworth’s lunch counter in North Carolina. • These students showed that they were against segregation by demanding service at Woolworth’s. They continued to sit at the counter even though they were not going to be served. • These students showed that they were against segregation by demanding service at Woolworth’s. They continued to sit at the counter even though they were not going to be served. • Four students spoke their mind and influenced others to do the same. Just as these students effectively acted on behalf of their own thoughts, Thoreau showed that the law can be wrong sometimes, but it's how you act effectively against it.

21. Works Cited • "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas - "With an Even Hand": Brown v. Board at Fifty (Library of Congress Exhibition)." Library of Congress Home. Library of Congress, 23 July 2010. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. <http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-brown.html>. • "Civil Rights Movement Timeline (14th Amendment, 1964 Act, Human Rights Law) — Infoplease.com." Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free Online Reference, Research & Homework Help. — Infoplease.com. Information Please, 2007. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. <http://www.infoplease.com/spot/civilrightstimeline1.html>. • Daniels, Peter. "Rosa Parks and the Lessons of the Civil Rights Movement." World Socialist Web Site. 8 Nov. 2005. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. <http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/nov2005/park-n08.shtml>. • Greensboro First Day. Photograph. Separate Is Not Equal. Smithsonian: National Museum of American History. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. <http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/6-legacy/freedom-struggle-2.html>. • NAACP. Photograph. African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, 2007-2009. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. <http://amez.org/news/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=188&Itemid= 2>. • Photograph. History Learning Site. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/rosa_parks.htm>.