As Americans, we have civil responsibilities to obey our governing laws that stabilize and maintain order and peace. There are obviously consequences that are upheld if these laws are broken, but who can determine if certain laws are unjust and therefore can be broken for the betterment of a higher cause? Plato demonstrates in Crito that following the valid laws and rules of the State is a responsibility of the citizen, no matter what their reasoning for breaking them, because the State must be perfect and not corrupted by any individual. But as Martin Luther King, Jr. explains in his Letter from Birmingham Jail, the natural rights that this country was founded on should be broken in full valor and great pride.

The governing body and the laws that it has written and holds in social contract with the people is known collectively as the State. In the United States, the State is very young in comparison to the hundreds of other types of government in the world. Being a mere 200 plus years old, to this day our country is still wielding and shaping our doctrines, institutions, and civil laws. The founding fathers, strongly under the influence of Thomas Paine and his Common S

Martin Luther King, Jr. is one of the greatest minds to come out of American human thought. His actions and words were strong yet peaceful, and his reasoning and logic surpassed the power of our country's laws and institutions of thought, specifically racism and unjust laws towards blacks. Although he believed in civil disobedience and taking action against unjust laws, he doubled this with his robust belief in a steady government. In his "Letter," King says that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" (King, 674). The State is a valuable institution that man must uphold to the furthest extent of his abilities. Unjust laws, however, not only do injustice to the human character but also corrupt the State. King and his vision of civil disobedience exemplifies the human integrity we must have in living our lives under a governed society. Standing up for what we believe, no matter what laws say what we can and cannot do, is the integrity that revolution!

1. Locke, John. Social Contract. Boston: Hartford Press, 1964

Henry Thoreau in his Civil Disobedience explains man's tendencies in obeying the laws dictated by our country. Sometimes we are almost like robots in our obedience of the State, not paying attention and examining whether these "just" laws actually protect our natural human rights as so dictated in the Constitution.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

veals that there have been instances in which the State, our constitution, Supreme Court, executive branch, etc., has

Some common words found in the essay are:
Crito Socrates, Letter King, Birmingham Jail, King Jr, Government Americans, Civil Rights, Civil Disobedience, Luther King, John Locke, Common Sense, civil disobedience, natural rights, unjust laws, martin luther, luther king, martin luther king, letter birmingham jail, birmingham jail, letter birmingham, artificially created, bill rights, set forth, luther king jr,
Approximate Word count = 1052
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)