Essay on Civil disobedience

Submitted By Mrs_Nelson
Words: 436
Pages: 2

Civil disobedience, also known as passive resistance is the act of refusal to obey the demands of a government or occupying power without resorting to violence or active measures of opposition. Its useful purpose to force concessions from the government or occupying power. Civil disobedience has been a major tactic and philosophy of nationalist movements in Africa and India. Martin Luther King Jr., Henry David Thoreau, and Gandhi are three men who put the use of civil disobedience into play very well in the past. Many people are ignorant to the fact that Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi did not teach civil disobedience first. Henry David Thoreau wrote about civil disobedience in 1849. Gandhi adapted Thoreau’s work in the struggle to get Indian independence in 1930. Like Gandhi, King used civil disobedience as a means of effectuating government change.
According to Martin Luther King Jr. “A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law.” Martin stated in the letter from Birmingham jail, Martin makes a distinction between Ius Gentium and Ius Naturalis that shares close resemblance to the philosophy of the Romans during their time. Ius Gentium is a law that is universally practice. For example, when someone buys a certain product, they have to pay for it. Stealing is not allowed, neither is murder. In the time of the Romans, however, slavery was universally used and accepted as well. Ius Naturalis means moral law. Certain things could fall under the Ius Gentium but not under Ius Naturalis. Although slavery was universally used in their time, the