Civil Disobedience In The 19th Century

In the 19th century a revolutionary concept was introduced to the world: civil disobedience. It was the concept that people could disobey laws and accept their consequences to protest in peace. It may sound counter-intuitive, but it drew attention to some of the greatest plights in human history: civil rights for African Americans, Indian oppression by the British Empire, South African apartheid, among many other events. Each of them succeeded in changing the world by fighting with their words, their wills, and their intellect. Civil disobedience allows people to bring their voices to democracy when they feel that there is injustice, even at the cost of illegalities and anarchy. It is to be acknowledged that civil disobedience may present a threat to democracy: Its very nature defies the foundation of laws, order, and constancy. In fact, there have been historical examples where civil disobedience turned for the worst when acts committed delayed the goal of the group or person — as was the case when suffragists during the women’s voting movement in the United Kingdom, such as Emmeline Pankhurst, took to breaking windows, vandalizing property, and defying the police. Yet defining their actions as civil
Protests of peace were what people following Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela all used to make their points, and each led to incredible change that benefited people across the