Dbq Essay On The Underground Railroad

All people. regardless of race, religion, or gender, are human beings, they should be treated fairly and equally, although even in modern society, that is unfortunately often not the case. Peaceful resistances help shape our nation as a whole, and bring us together in a way that created a more diverse and understanding culture. While there will always be people who refuse to accept changes like this, civil disobedience leads to the betterment of society and more equality for everyone by making people more aware of the problems at hand.
The Underground Railroad was perhaps the beginning of a major movement towards black equality, in which an estimated "100,000 slaves between 1810 and 1850" (Source 1) were brought North in order to escape the horrific life that was a slaves. This movement was not only a major building block to create the start of peaceful equality, but it was also an early example of civil disobedience. Slaves were considered property, and because they belonged to their masters like cattle instead of people, any form of running away was deemed highly illegal. They knew the consequences of their actions could be deadly, but continued to do so with the idea in mind that they could still be saving countless lives. While this does not precisely represent a standard ‘protest’, it is still an example of a

in the sixties also led a great deal of peaceful protests, something which also falls under civil disobedience in that a majority of protesters were thrown into jail at least once. These arrests, however, were "not only mere byproducts of activism, but symbols and strategies of the movement" (Source 2). It was from jail that Mr. King wrote his famous 'Letter from Birmingham Jail', which he used to draw attention to the unjust consequences of their peaceful protests that, while they accepted, knew were wrong. The imprisonment of protestors only further drew attention to the cause, especially when women and children were