Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is a nonviolent way to try to change laws.
People who practice civil disobedience knowingly break a
law that they feel is unjust. When they are punished for
breaking that law, they hope to bring attention to their cause
and bring about a change. Mahatma Gandhi and Martin
Luther King, Jr., promoted the use of civil disobedience in
their fights for justice.
Henry David Thoreau
The term civil disobedience was invented by the American
writer Henry David Thoreau. In 1846 Thoreau refused to pay
a tax, so he spent the night in jail. Three years later, in 1849,
Thoreau published an essay called “Civil Disobedience”
(originally titled “Resistance to Civil Government”). This gave
a name to nonviolent resistance to unjust laws and
government policies.
Mahatma Gandhi
In 1858 India became a British colony, but Indians did not
want to be ruled by the British. In 1920 Gandhi began urging
Indians to resist British rule using civil disobedience. They
refused to buy British products or to enter British courts and
schools. Many people, including Gandhi, were arrested
during this time. In 1930 Gandhi led a famous protest against
a British tax on salt. These protests helped to end British rule
in India.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., was a leader of the civil rights
movement in the United States in the 1950s and ’60s. At that
time, the South was segregated, which means that there
were laws that kept Blacks and whites separate. King and
others in the movement wanted to bring attention to how
unfair these laws were to African Americans. They did this by
using civil disobedience. For example, Rosa Parks refused to
give up her seat on a bus to a white man, and Black students
sat in seats reserved for white people. These and other acts
of civil disobedience helped to pass the Civil Rights Act in
1964.
Ancient civilizations
Ancient civilizations began with the first settled and stable
communities. These communities were the basis for later
states, nations, and empires. The first ancient societies built
cities, invented forms of writing, learned to make pottery and
use metals, tamed animals for human use, and created
complex social structures.
All major ancient civilizations developed in river valleys
because the land there was good for farming. Farming, or
agriculture, made it possible for people to settle in permanent
communities. Farmers grew enough food to feed themselves
and others. This led to the development of other trades. The
people who did not farm made crafts, tools, or cloth. They
traded the goods they made for food from the farmers. This
system led to an increase in goods such as wool cloth and
wooden structures. Mathematics and writing were also
natural developments of agriculture. People needed to be
able to count and keep track of their goods.
Ancient civilizations started to appear in the 5000s bce.
Some of the major civilizations were Mesopotamia, ancient
Egypt, the Indus Valley civilization, and the Shang Dynasty in
ancient China.
Apartheid
Apartheid was a system for keeping white people and
nonwhites separated in South Africa. It lasted from about
1950 to the early 1990s. The word apartheid means
“apartness” in Afrikaans, a language spoken in South Africa.
The population of the country is mostly nonwhite. But for
many years the white people of South Africa controlled the
country’s government. They established laws that kept the
races separate and discriminated against the nonwhite
majority.
Apartheid divided South Africans into four groups: white,
Bantu (black), Colored (of mixed descent), and Asian. The
policy created separate areas in cities for each group.
Members of a group were not allowed to live, operate
businesses, or own land outside of their area. Under “pass”
laws, nonwhites had to carry passes while in white areas.
Other laws set up separate schools and restricted each race
to different types of jobs. The government also created 10
territories called “homelands” and forced all blacks to move
to them.
With the support of some whites, many blacks in South
Africa protested against apartheid. The African National
Congress (ANC) led the fight. The protests sometimes
turned violent. A district called Soweto rioted in 1976 against
a requirement that blacks learn Afrikaans. Other countries
also condemned apartheid. In 1985 Great Britain and the
United States restricted trade with South Africa.
In response to the protests, the South African government
granted nonwhites some rights in the late 1980s. In 1990–91
the government led by President F.W. de Klerk ended most
of the apartheid laws. In 1994 all races were allowed to vote
in a national election. Nelson Mandela, leader of the ANC,
was elected president. Apartheid was over, but its effects
remained. Racial discrimination continued in South Africa.