During the late 1820s in America, many men and women believed that an individual can be their own authority. This philosophy of life is called transcendentalism, a movement that stressed individual equality. Transcendentalists also did not trust governmental systems because of its corrupting effects on an individual. Today, the government punishes those who disobey their laws, no matter how logical or illogical the policies may be. This makes a corrupted government more likely to develop. Instead, laws should be a system of guidance rather than a strict organization that has total control of what you can or cannot do.
People have proven that some enforced laws made more problems rather than resolving any. They proved to the authorities that some their laws prevented what was necessary to keep a population thriving. Mahatma Gandhi, an Indian activist, was one of these people. He went against a British rule that prohibited Indians from collecting or selling salt. The Indians were forced to buy salt from their British superiors which also meant there was a heavy salt tax. The poor indians suffered the most from this, but that doesn’t diminish the fact that every man needs a constant a reliable source of salt to survive. Gandhi lead a march that was 240 miles from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi to collect salt from the sea. More than 60,000 people were arrested, including Mahatma Gandhi himself, as a result of the march. But more importantly, the British leaders agreed to exterminate the law that prohibits the collecting of salt in exchange for the ending of the very effective non-violent civil disobedience acts. Nelson Mandela is another man who spent time in prison because of his commitment in standing up for what he believed in. Mandela was born in South Africa, where people who were not white had to struggle with racial inequality. In 1942, he joined the African National Congress to fight against apartheid but was imprisoned for 27 years. But imprisonment did not stop Mandela from stopping or ending apartheid from inside his cell. Mandela became a popular and well-known prisoner because of the cause he was fighting for. Many people world-wide supported his ideas and his release from prison and in 1990, under international pressure, he was released from his confinement. After his release, he led the African National Congress (ANC) and ended apartheid through negotiation with other political organizations. The people who make advancements in society have proven it is possible to do so by breaking the laws and restrictions that we would be punished for breaking.
Everyone knows that nobody is perfect and it is inevitable that humans will make mistakes or do something wrong, so how can anyone trust a man made creation with their life healthy and well? In the past, the United States and its House, Senate, and past presidents have enforced multiple laws that seem ghastly to most when thought about today. The Black Codes, a series of passed laws in 1865 and 1866, is a perfect example of laws that demonstrates immorality in America. The Black Codes heavily restricted freedom to all African Americans and forced them to work in labor for low payments only because the color of their skin was darker than what the Americans were used to. It is obvious to see that in the mid 1800s, the men in power did not see African Americans as humans. They saw them as property. Another instance when America passed immoral laws was when President John Adams signed the Alien and Sedition Acts into law in 1798. Passed by the Federalist Congress, these series of laws gave President the power to imprison and deport foreigners/immigrants. These laws also made it harder for non american citizens to vote. Before this law was passed, men and women who were not originally from the United States had to wait a minimum of five years before being able to vote. The Alien and Sedition acts increased the number of years from five to fourteen. The Indian Removal Act was also a time where it was evident that the government favors their own benefit rather than the citizens of their territories. On May 28, 1830, Andrew Jackson signed this law which allowed the president to negotiate with the Native Americans living in the east of the Mississippi River to be removed and relocated west of the same river. The natives refused to move because their ancestors lived in the same lands, but America forced them out of the territory anyway. As a result, the Indians were forced to move west because the laws benefited the white men in power while it heavily damaged the Native Americans. Whether it be discrimination against black people, immigrants, or Native Americans, someone today can clearly see that past American laws were major problems. Evidently, allowing the government laws to facilitate your life could be a mistake.
Although people believe that it is not worth it to trade punishment for enlightenment, having a small number of people break the law and be punished heavily in the name of the many lives of a whole state is well worth their temporary pain. Because of the efforts and pain that were undergone by Mahatma Gandhi and every other Indian who participated in the Civil Disobedience act, Indians today have easy access to salt. Without Gandhi’s Salt March, salt, a necessity for human survival, would have continued to be considerably more troublesome to obtain due to the British rule. Others may also have trouble finding the logic is the purpose if prisons if laws were allowed to be broken. Martin Luther King Jr said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,” in his “I Have a Dream” speech on August 28, 1963. Mr. King suggested that the correct way to justify one’s worth is by analyzing their character. This is exactly how we should justify whether or not someone is worthy of being apprehended. Not when someone breaks a law/laws, but when someone is a problem or cause of distress to a multitude of people. A number of people would have to be affected for someone to be imprisoned because if someone causes problem for another, it is most likely that they would be able to resolve without having the authorities being involved. As shown in many popular movies and entertainment films, a man who sacrifices his life to save the others’ is not a man. He is a hero.
The three branches of the federal government should not punish those who break laws. Instead, laws should be a written document with a list of things that you should and shouldn’t do. Still keeping prisons active my confining those who cause a substantial disturbance to a number of people. If the government continues to use laws as the barrier of a citizen’s capabilities, a corrupt executive is more likely to occur. It would also prevent morally innocent men from being imprisoned because of an illogical law, like what the world has seen with Gandhi, more than 60,000 other Indians, and their Salt March. We need to change the way our governments manage its people and their well being.