How Did Cesar Chavez Use Nonviolent Social Action

Section 1: Identification and evaluation of sources For my investigation, I chose the topic of civil rights activist, Cesar Chavez. The question of this investigation is: “To what extent did Cesar Chavez use nonviolent social action to improve the lives of farm workers and people of color throughout the United States from the 1960s to the 1980s?” Throughout the 1950s and 60s, farm workers had a harsh life. From harsh working condition, to low wages, this created a huge conflict in the whole country of the United States. A union leader, Cesar Chavez noticed this conflict and even experienced it himself. Chavez decided to form a union and lead marches, boycotts and strikes in the state of California to make a difference. This sparked the signing

From harsh working condition, to low wages, this created a huge conflict in the whole country of the United States. A union leader, Cesar Chavez noticed this conflict and even experienced it himself. Chavez decided to form a union in 1962 and lead marches, boycotts, strikes, and even hunger fasts in the state of California to make a difference. This sparked the signing of contracts in the 1970s that gave farm workers all over the states better and improved wages and working conditions. Chavez’s and his union’s successes and strategies continue to influence movements for farm worker justice today.
Born in Yuma, Arizona in 1927, Cesar Chavez grew up as a son of sharecroppers. Therefore, Chavez lived through and understood what it is like to live a difficult and harsh life as a farmer. When the Great Depression hit the United States in the 1930s, Chavez, along with his family, was forced into the migrant stream of farm laborers to California. He met his wife, Helen Chavez, who also understood what it was like to live in rural poverty during this time. Together with Helen, Chavez was inspired by his harsh upbringing to pursue farm worker justice for as long as they

In the strikes, members of the UFW refused to go to work in the fields and held picket signs that announced “La Huelga” (strike), or “Viva la Causa” (long live our cause). However, strikes did not make much of a difference as Cesar and his union hoped for. So, in 1966, Chavez and his union led a march to bring the attention of growers. The march began in Delano, California and went on for 340 miles to Sacramento, California. The march only started with about 75 people, but after three weeks, it grew to more than 5,000 people. However, it did not break down the traditional advantage of growers in rural California. Agricultural work moved with the constant change of the seasons and so did the work site, making it nearly impossible to anchor the movement in any one place. Additionally, whereas most union movements happened in urban, populated areas, the farm worker movement occurred in the countryside, away from the vast majority of citizens and fellow unionized workers. it still was not enough for Chavez and desperate farm workers searching for justice. Even though this march to Sacramento built support for the movement, it was still not enough for Chavez and the far, workers searching for