Martin Luther King Jr. states “Oppressed People cannot remain oppressed forever.” (Cahn, 2009 p. 387) As we have seen throughout history, this is a true statement. Oppression is not something that sits well with any type of person that is under the oppression. To resist the oppression, one must carefully chose those laws that they fill are unjust and oppresses them, and once they are chosen then one can make a stand against the oppression. Oppression is unjust law that limits the power of the people that are oppressed into feeling powerless. The United States fought of the oppression over the colonies in the late 1700’s by first peacefully protesting the unjust taxes waged against them.
The firm of “Warren and Brandeis” spent much of their time arguing against monopolies and large corporations and advocating for free speech. Together Brandeis and Warren published a famous article in The Harvard Law Review, “The Right to Privacy.” This article argued that private citizens should have the right to be left alone and the press should not be permitted to publish their photos or the details of their lives without their permission. Brandeis and Warren were angered by the media attention focused on the lavish parties the Warren family threw throughout the 1880s. They wrote, "Gossip is no longer the resource of the idle and of the vicious, but has become a trade, which is pursued with industry as well as effrontery.” Brandeis and Warren also 2 stated that during the first 100 years of the United States, the
Under William Anderson, a number of local black organisations were formed in an attempt to desegregate the city. By mid-December, 500 demonstrators had been jailed. Anderson invited King’s help to maintain the movement and secure national publicity for the non-violent protest. The tactics of non-violence however did not work because the Head of Police in Albany, Laurie Pritchett, had learned from previous protests and campaigns that no violence should be used against the protestors to ensure less media coverage and less sympathy for the black protestors. Pritchett went on to arrest protestors but he made sure that the jails were not filled by them.
Abraham Lincoln Came into presidency with a lot on his plate, he wanted to reunite the north and the south and to put in place the emancipation proclamation. He knew what was good for the union and had his own opinion on slavery which was against it. Lincoln was fighting for a new birth of freedom not just reuniting the union. The south depended on slaves on the plantation, that’s how they were maintaining since they did not have to pay the slaves. The North with all the industrial business had a total different way of life and can see how they totally disagreed with the way slaves were being used and treated.
In Martin Luther King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" we learned how Mr. King and his many supporters used the laws and the hatred of others to benefit their cause, a just cause, righting unjust laws without breaking any real laws. In the writing, "On The Duty of Civil Disobedience." by Thoreau, we learned how he felt about the need for a government, such as it was, and how we as law abiding citizens unwittingly become accomplices in the injustices caused by the government. He refers to his night in jail, the reason for it, and how we have an obligation to break unjust laws. The two men have very similar views on the subject of just laws and unjust laws, but each goes about dealing with the problem of injustice differently.
Slavery and Racism in Early American History Freedom is flawed. Truthfully, total freedom is impossible to achieve in this world, since the chains that bind humans disable us from truly living freely. With the constant stresses of simply living or being confined to the laws of the land, our freedom is suppressed. Since every human being falls under being constrained, however, we should all share the burden equally. In past history, enslavement of another was usually the result of an unpaid debt, the spoils of a victorious war, or the consequences of a crime.
“The forgotten Man”, the famous speech by William Graham Sumner, points his idea about the social problems in late nineteenth century and early twenties. In his point of view, if A and B came up with an idea to force C to do something to help D who is suffering from some problems, C would be the forgotten man. Sumner’s idea, to some extent, supports Jim Crow Law. During the reconstructive, the society didn’t reach the point of equality of the two races, instead it became even worse in many places all over the country. The Civil War only ended the slavery, not racism.
Nguyen 1 Matthew Nguyen Mrs. Arciero Academic English II 14 March 2011 The Political Messages and Thoughts in Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” For generations people have disagreed with the laws and policies of their leaders. Some have felt powerless to act, while others took violent action to protest what they perceived to be unfair laws, oppressive regimes, or unjust wars. A few felt morally responsible to express, through non-violent means, opposition to power even when it meant defying the law of the land. Those few have changed the world. Henry David Thoreau is credited as one of the founders of the Transcendentalism movement in America and one of the most important writers during that literary period.
From revolutionary war, slavery, civil war, two world wars, and a great depression, which help fuel their goal for global domination over the world without ever directly conquering another country. Our government uses a shined-up form of a dictatorship were the dictator doesn’t dictate but uses television, music, religion, and all others kinds of entertainment to control the people called democracy. “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent” (Dr. Martin Luther King
In the American government, and many others alike, there are taxes you must pay. In Thoreau's time he was arrested for choosing to not pay his general taxes. He paid school and medical taxes, but refused to pay general taxes because he did not support slavery and the Mexican war, which was undoubtedly where the general taxes was going. The problem that Thoreau is addressing is the ability of the government to do such things. In his eyes the people should support only what they want to support, nothing more or less.