Our constitution was founded on the belief of "We the People," “We the People,” not we the upper-middle class, white, Christians or elite. "We the People of the United States," not we the politicians, democrats, republicans or any other label. The people created this country on the principle of liberty and equality. Abraham Lincoln said in the Gettysburg address that this nation was formed “by the people and for the people.” Also that this is a “government of the people” which must be criticized by the people; a government for the people needs to be trusted by the people, and protested by the people. Abraham Lincoln also said that this country was founded on the principle that “all men are created equal,” and if that is true then we as Americans have …show more content…
The idea of a peaceful protest is a relatively new idea in human history, with some of the first examples of peaceful protest being Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. Gandhi saw an injustice and instead of leading a revolution through violence he peacefully achieved his goals. Mandela followed in Gandhi’s footsteps to achieve equality in South Africa. Martin Luther King Jr. followed in Gandhi and Mandela’s footsteps, a prime example being the march on Selma. During this peaceful march police officers attacked the marches, this sparked empathy throughout the country. If even one person in the crowd fought back, then the march would have been labeled as violent and would not have been effective. Normal citizens who had nothing to do with this event saw an injustice and decided to support the civil rights movement. Rosa Parks decided to sit down on a bus and when she was asked to move she politely said no. This peaceful protest sparked the bus boycott, which positively impacted society. The empathy that the majority of people felt from these events lead to a change. In all of these examples there were peaceful protests which ended up positively effecting