Resistance To Civil Disobedience: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Civil disobedience has been used by some of history’s greatest leaders to change what many others saw as impossible, and what would have been unlikely with the use of force.

An early example of civil disobedience was Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau, a transcendentalist, spent two years of his life on the shores of Walden Pond, starting in July of 1845. Halfway through his time at Walden Pond, he spent a night in a local jail for his refusal to pay taxes that funded the Mexican-American War and went towards slavery. After being released, he continued his time at Walden Pond until September of 1857. Two years later, in 1849, he revised a lecture of his into an essay, and had it published. “Resistance to Civil Government,” also known as “Civil Disobedience,” chronicles Thoreau’s motivations behind his refusal to pay taxes. In 1854, Thoreau published a book called “Walden,” which further explained his cause, and proved civil disobedience could work if one was dedicated.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who ultimately became the face of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, took Thorea’s ideas and transformed them into action. With the backing of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, King and his followers peacefully disobeyed legislation that unjustly targeted blacks and other people of color all across the Deep South. From Selma to Birmingham, King’s message was heard throughout the nation. Even with his death in 1968, King’s wish was almost completely recognized. Jim Crow laws were lifted, segregation was banned, and executive power was used to guarantee First Amendment