by Vanessa Ceccarelli, Portland State

Thoreau wrote, “All men recognize the right of revolution; that is, the right to refuse allegiance to, and to resist, the government, when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable." He coined the term "civil disobedience" in his essay by the same name. His ideas have influenced many leaders, from Ghandi to Martin Luther King, Jr. During this webquest, students will have a chance to study modern examples of civil disobedience, and modern activist groups. In small groups, they will create their own activist group. They will create a poster representing their activist group, and will craft a 2-3 page persuasive essay where they argue for their cause.

Introduction

What is Civil Disobedience?

 

 

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately.

 

Henry David Thoreau

 

    Thoreau tried to escape his society. Sick of having to pay taxes for an unjust war, he moved out to the woods. He built himself a home, and wrote the piece we read in class (Civil Disobedience). When the town tax man finally caught up to Thoreau, he was sent to jail for one night. The next morning he was freed when his aunt paid his bail.

 

 

 

   Thoreau was an abolitionist, did not believe in war, and coined the term Civil disobedience. Civil disobedience is defined as "the active refusal to obey certain laws, demands and commands of a government, or of an occupying power. It is one of the primary methods of nonviolent resistance" (wikipedia.org).



 

Ghandi practiced non-violent civil disobedience to successfully fight colonialism in India: "Civil disobedience is the inherent right of a citizen to be civil, implies discipline, thought, care, attention and sacrifice" (wikipedia.org).



 

 

In 1849, there was much to rebel against in the United States, and Thoreau argued against slavery. Thoreau wrote about the need for civil disobedience to change the dominant power structure:



"How does it become a man to behave toward this American government to-day? I answer, that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it. I cannot for an instant recognize that political organization as my government which is the slave's government also."



"...when a sixth of the population of a nation which has undertaken to be the refuge of liberty are slaves, and a whole country is unjustly overrun and conquered by a foreign army, and subjected to military law, I think that it is not too soon for honest men to rebel and revolutionize. What makes this duty the more urgent is the fact that the country so overrun is not our own, but ours is the invading army."

 

What issues in today's society have you seen people rebel against? What issues would you rebel against?