View source for Committee for Non-Violent Action

{{Short description|American anti-war group}}
{{distinguish|text=the [[Committee for Nonviolent Revolution]]}}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]] testing. It was one of the first organizations to employ [[nonviolent]] [[direct action]] 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]] [[Lawrence Scott (Quaker)|Lawrence Scott]]. Other leaders of the CNVA included [[A.J. Muste]], [[Albert Bigelow]], [[Bayard Rustin]] and [[George Willoughby (activist)|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&nbsp;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]] and his family to undertake a similar journey, and on 1 July 1958, their yacht, ''[[Phoenix of Hiroshima]]'', entered the test zone at [[Bikini Atoll]]. The ''Phoenix'' penetrated {{convert|65|nmi|km|0}} 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 [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]]'s new regulation.

In 1958, a CNVA group from Philadelphia travelled to [[Cheyenne, Wyoming]], to [[Consciousness raising|raise consciousness]] and to convince locals to oppose the construction of [[Atlas missile]] sites at [[Francis E. Warren Air Force Base]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Anti-nuclear Activists and Protest Actions (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/antinuclearactivism.htm |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=National Park Service |language=en}}</ref>

In 1959, CNVA sponsored protests at the construction site of an [[intercontinental ballistic missile]] near [[Omaha, Nebraska]]. Around 15 protestors, including A.J. Muste and [[Karl Meyer (activist)|Karl H. Meyer]], the son of [[Vermont]] [[United States Senate|Senator]] [[William H. Meyer|William Meyer]],<ref>"Congressman's son, a pacifist, is jailed", ''The New York Times.'' July 11, 1959. Retrieved 4/21/08.</ref> 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]] submarine in [[New London, Connecticut]].

During the early 1960s, the CNVA organised two [[American-Soviet Peace Walks|'Walks for Peace']],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morgan |first=Thomas B. |date=November 1962 |title=Doom and Passion Along Rt. 45 |url=https://www.trussel.com/passion.htm |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=www.trussel.com |publisher=Esquire}}</ref> including a {{convert|6000|mi|km|-2|sing=on}} march from [[San Francisco, California|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, D.C.]], walkers were attacked and jailed as black and white activists walked together through [[Macon, Georgia]]. Both walks were led by peace activist [[Bradford Lyttle]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=San Francisco to Moscow Walk for Peace {{!}} Archives & Manuscripts |url=https://archives.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/agents/corporate_entities/14252 |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=TriCollege Libraries Archives & Manuscripts}}</ref>

In 1962, the [[Cambridge movement (civil rights)|Cambridge Nonviolent Action Committee]] (CNAC) on the [[Cambridge, Maryland|Eastern shore of Maryland]] led protests in their city that led to the declaration of Martial Law. On July 23, the [[Kennedy administration|Kennedy Administration]] intervened, negotiating an agreement with the city for, among other things, the complete [[desegregation]] of public schools and public accommodations.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 2, 1963 |title=The Cambridge Movement - The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle for Freedom |url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/civil-rights-act/multimedia/cambridge-movement.html |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=Exhibitions - Library of Congress |publisher=NBC |language=en}}</ref> 

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]] as a method of resistance.

In 1968, after the 1967 death of leader A.J. Muste, the CNVA merged with the [[pacifist]] [[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]] activists to use similar methods in their campaigns to halt nuclear testing at the island of [[Amchitka]], [[Alaska]], and at [[Muraroa Atoll]] in the [[Pacific]].{{cn|date=December 2016}}

== See also ==
* [[Civil disobedience]]
* [[List of anti-war organizations]]
* [[List of peace activists]]
* [[Nonviolence]]
* [[SANE, Inc.|Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy]] (SANE, Inc.)
* [[Timeline of riots and civil unrest in Omaha, Nebraska]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*[https://archives.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/resources/scpc-dg-017 Committee for Nonviolent Action Records] at [[Bryn Mawr College]]
*[https://africanactivist.msu.edu/organization/210-813-646/ Committee for Non-Violent Action] at African Artist Archive
*[http://library.ucsc.edu/special-collections-exhibits In Pursuit of Peace From the UC Santa Cruz Library] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418114331/http://library.ucsc.edu/special-collections-exhibits |date=2015-04-18 }}
*[https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/civil-rights-act/multimedia/cambridge-movement.html The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle for Freedom] (NBC Broadcast, September 2, 1963) at [[Library of Congress]]

{{anti-war}}
{{U.S. anti-nuclear}}
{{Tax resistance}}

[[Category:American tax resisters]]
[[Category:Anti–nuclear weapons movement]]
[[Category:Peace organizations based in the United States]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1957]]
[[Category:Organizations disestablished in 1968]]