The Committee for Non-Violent Action (CNVA) was an American anti-war group, formed in 1957 to resist the US government's program of

nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

testing. It was one of the first organizations to employ nonviolent

direct action Direct action originated as a political activist term for economic and political acts in which the actors use their power (e.g. economic or physical) to directly reach certain goals of interest, in contrast to those actions that appeal to oth ...

to protest against the nuclear arms race. The CNVA's immediate antecedent, a committee known as Non-Violent Action Against Nuclear Weapons, was formed by radical

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

Lawrence Scott Lawrence Scott FRSL (born in Trinidad, 1943) is a novelist and short-story writer from Trinidad and Tobago, who divides his time between London and Port of Spain. He has also worked as a teacher of English and Drama at schools in London and in ...

. Other leaders of the CNVA included A.J. Muste, Albert Bigelow, Bayard Rustin and George Willoughby.

History

In August 1957, members of the CNVA were arrested when they attempted to enter the Camp Mercury nuclear testing grounds near Las Vegas, Nevada. In February 1958, Albert Bigelow and the crew of the ''Golden Rule'' were intercepted by the US Coast Guard five nautical miles (9 km) from Honolulu, Hawaii as they attempted to sail their vessel into the Eniwetok Proving Grounds, the US test site in the Marshall Islands. Two further attempts to defy a hastily enacted regulation banning US citizens from sailing to the test site led to the arrest and 60-day imprisonment of the crew. The voyage of the ''Golden Rule'' inspired anthropologist

Earle L. Reynolds Earle L. Reynolds (born Earl Frederick Schoene; October 18, 1910 – January 11, 1998) was an Anthropology, anthropologist, educator, author, Quaker, and peace activist. He was sent to Hiroshima by the United States Atomic Energy Commission, Atomi ...

and his family to undertake a similar journey, and on 1 July 1958, their yacht, ''

Phoenix of Hiroshima The ''Phoenix of Hiroshima'' was a 50-foot, 30-ton yacht that circumnavigated the globe and was later involved in several famous protest voyages. Between its launch in 1954 and its sinking in 2010, the ''Phoenix'' carried a family around the world ...

'', entered the test zone at Bikini Atoll. The ''Phoenix'' penetrated into the test area before the vessel was boarded by the Coast Guard and ordered to sail to Kwajalein atoll, where Reynolds was charged with violating the Atomic Energy Commission's new regulation. In 1959, CNVA sponsored protests at the construction site of an

intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons c ...

near Omaha, Nebraska. Around 15 protestors, including A.J. Muste and Karl H. Meyer, the son of Vermont

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

William Meyer,"Congressman's son, a pacifist, is jailed", ''The New York Times.'' July 11, 1959. Retrieved 4/21/08. were arrested and handcuffed as they climbed the fence to invade the site. They were each sentenced to six months in jail. In 1960, the group co-ordinated nonviolent protests against construction of the nuclear weapons equipped

Polaris Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude that ...

submarine in New London, Connecticut. During the early 1960s, the CNVA organised two 'Walks for Peace', including a march from San Francisco to Moscow, during which the walkers called on the governments of the world to disarm. During a Walk for Peace from Quebec to Cuba, via Washington, walkers were attacked and jailed as black and white activists walked together through

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...

. Both walks were led by peace activist Bradford Lyttle. In the mid-1960s, CNVA began to focus on the Vietnam War. Activists traveled to Hanoi in Vietnam and picketed the US embassy, and the CNVA advocated

tax refusal Tax resistance is the refusal to pay tax because of opposition to the government that is imposing the tax, or to government policy, or as opposition to taxation in itself. Tax resistance is a form of direct action and, if in violation of the tax ...

as a method of resistance. In 1968, after the 1967 death of leader A.J. Muste, the CNVA merged with the

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

War Resisters League.

Legacy

While never a mass-membership organization, the CNVA's pioneering use of nonviolent direct action would have a significant influence on movements to follow. In particular, it was the example set by the voyages of the ''Golden Rule'' and the ''Phoenix'' that would inspire the first

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

activists to use similar methods in their campaigns to halt nuclear testing at the island of

Amchitka Amchitka (; ale, Amchixtax̂; russian: Амчитка) is a volcanic, tectonically unstable and uninhabited island in the Rat Islands group of the Aleutian Islands in southwest Alaska. It is part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refu ...

, Alaska, and at

Muraroa Atoll Moruroa (Mururoa, Mururura), also historically known as Aopuni, is an atoll which forms part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is located about southeast of Tahiti. Administratively Moruroa Atoll i ...

in the Pacific.

References

External links

Records of the Committee for Nonviolent Action, Swarthmore College Peace CollectionIn Pursuit of Peace From the UC Santa Cruz Library
by Thomas Morgan (Esquire, 1962) {{Tax resistance American tax resisters Anti–nuclear weapons movement Peace organizations based in the United States Organizations established in 1957 Organizations disestablished in 1968

History

Legacy

See also

References

External links