Short summary of main events 8. Relation to Civil Disobedience 1. Why was it an act of Civil Disobedience? 2. Why was there a need for it? . Conclusion Ill A. Benefits and Detriments of the act Overall opinion on the topic The Freight Obedience The term civil disobedience has been used all throughout history in events as capacious as revolts or as bitty as courtroom involvement. The ideas to which the term has developed throughout time originated from the different cultures possessing events that are linked to civil disobedience.
There are references to the past Greek tragedies wherein for example, should the higher transcending laws and the regular laws of the state come into conflict tit each other, the individual of the society would have the option to disobey the law of the said state. These ideas evolved and came into the people’s minds when several known characters from history, such as John Locke and SST. Thomas Aquinas, expressed and taught their beliefs that mainly stated that the people should have the right to alter the government, should it fail to properly execute its fundamental duties.
The person who first coined the term, emanated it, and put it into use was the acclaimed writer, Henry David Thoreau. His ideas on civil disobedience were first found in the speech e delivered in the Concord Lyceum in 1848. Later noTABLE practitioners of the term came later on and examples of such people were Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jar. Their movements against the government are what inspired many of the people to think about the current condition they are in under their government and to fight for their rights if ever the laws imposed were discordant with them.
The modern definition of the term, civil disobedience, is “the refusal to obey certain laws or governmental demands for the purpose of influencing legislation or governmental policy, characterized by the employment of such nonviolent techniques as boycotting picketing, and non-payment of taxes” (https://dictionary. Reference. Com/browse/civil+disobedience). Some synonyms of the word include incorporation, passive/nonviolent resistance, and many more. The key word in both the definition and the synonyms was nonviolent.
If the presence of civil disobedience were to be violent, the term would then be labeled as a violent resistance movement. The violence here is defined as “an exertion of physical force so as to injure or abuse” (https://www. Merriam- Webster. Com/dictionary/violence). Now there are several examples of civil disobedience throughout history, as mentioned earlier. One concrete example of such, which the people of our country may easily be TABLE to relate to, is the People Power Revolution of 1983.
The People Power Revolution of 1983 was an event wherein hundreds of thousands of Filipinos staged their own revolution to oust the current president at that time, President Ferdinand Marco’s. The methods used in this event amounted to a maintained campaign of civil disobedience against political violence and the electoral fraud that Marco’s was heavily engaged in. This event was also referred to as the Yellow Revolution due to the contain souse presence of the yellow ribbons used after the assassination of Benign Aquinas Jar. At that time, Marco’s had been in power for more than 20 years.
In much of this time, he had the country under martial law and only a few people were open enough to stand up against him such as Ben sign Aquinas Jar. His assassination that took place after descending from his plane led to a series of fast, increasing movements that acted as opposition against Marco’s. The tumultuous tension that followed forced Marco’s to hold a snap election wherein he won. This was hardly believTABLE at that time because of the fact that barely anyone still wanted him to reign as president, and thus the people’s initiative to gather against him increased in momentum and soon led to the nonviolent revolution.
This famous event took place at the Pinion De ISO Santos Avenue, also known as DEEDS, for three days and involved over two million Filipino civilians which included several political, religious, and military figures in participating in it. One of the famous key points that helped make this revolution known to the world was when Marco’s sent tanks to clear up DEEDS. To their surprise, they were blocked by several nuns holding and offering them flowers.
The troops then refused to take fire and some even went to join in the revolution, thus prompting the one of the most iconic images of the revolution. A short time after, Marco’s soon was forced to step down from his position and he then fled to the United States. Corny Aquinas, the wife of Benign Aquinas Jar. , was then elected as president of the country. The People Power Revolution of 1983 was a perfect exemplification of civil disobedience because the people used nonviolent tactics to oppose a political entity, due to the harsh implementations he has given to his people.
As proof of the nonviolent strategies that were used in the event, the people at that time did actions such as holding hands to block tanks, singing songs, etc, in order to show their concern and determination in bringing down Marco’s. There was a need for the people to gather like this because Marco’s’ famous implementation of Martial Law led to the deaths of several thousands of Filipinos. This regulation suspended several of the rights of the Filipinos and granted Marco’s the free use of military power, which he did, against any who opposed him.
The act of civil disobedience, which was basically exemplified through the People Power Revolution, also brings in with itself, some benefits and detriments. The benefit to this is that one may get the opportunity he/she is asking for through the resistance formed against the government like the People Power Revolution. The Filipinos here managed to non-violently get what they were longing for such a time, which was a fair and honest president that soon was elected and was named Corny Aquinas. Now, in the downside of committing civil disobedience, one may find it by relating back to the evolution that took place in the Philippines.
If perhaps Marco’s pushed through with an all out attack against his people, regardless of what the foreign entities would have done about it, millions of Filipinos would have gotten hurt and died as a result. Even though civil disobedience is an act of nonviolence, it is still considered as resistance and the people know that Marco’s wasn’t a fan of any sort of resistance and would immediately take action to it. The reason Marco’s didn’t launch a full out attack was because of the pressure that was building up from the foreign countries that were watching.
