September 16, 1837
William Whipper, a Negro from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, published “An Address on Non-Resistance to Offensive Aggression” in the The Colored American, outlining his commitment to a strictly non-violent response to the evils of slavery. This landmark essay predated Thoreau’s “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience” by 12 years.
“As a people we have suffered much from the pestilential influence of mob violence that has spread its devastating influence over our country. And it is to me no matter of astonishment that they continue to exist. They do but put in practice a common every day theory that pervades every neighborhood, and almost every family, viz.: That it is right, under certain circumstances, to violate all law, both civil and national, and abuse, kick and cuff your fellow man, when they deem that he has offended or insulted the community in which he resides.” [You can read the entire address HERE.]
September 16, 1939
August Dickmann, a German Jehovah’s Witness, became the first conscientious objector to be executed by the Nazis during World War II. The execution by firing squad took place in Sachsenhausen concentration camp before all of the prisoners, including 400 Jehovah’s Witness inmates. Though threatened with the same fate, none of the remaining 400 Witnesses renounced their CO position. German military courts sentenced and executed 270 Jehovah’s Witnesses, the largest number of COs executed from any victim group during World War II.
