TheCommittee for Non-Violent Action (CNVA) was an American anti-war group, formed in 1957 to resist theUS government's program ofnuclear weapons testing. It was one of the first organizations to employnonviolentdirect action to protest against thenuclear arms race.
The CNVA's immediate antecedent, a committee known as Non-Violent Action Against Nuclear Weapons, was formed by radicalQuakerLawrence Scott. Other leaders of the CNVA includedA.J. Muste,Albert Bigelow,Bayard Rustin andGeorge Willoughby.
In August 1957, members of the CNVA were arrested when they attempted to enter the Camp Mercury nuclear testing grounds nearLas Vegas, Nevada. In February 1958, Albert Bigelow and the crew of theGolden Rule were intercepted by theUS Coast Guard five nautical miles (9 km) fromHonolulu, Hawaii, as they attempted to sail their vessel into theEniwetok Proving Grounds, the US test site in theMarshall 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 theGolden Rule inspired anthropologistEarle L. Reynolds and his family to undertake a similar journey, and on 1 July 1958, their yacht,Phoenix of Hiroshima, entered the test zone atBikini Atoll. ThePhoenix penetrated 65 nautical miles (120 km) into the test area before the vessel was boarded by the Coast Guard and ordered to sail toKwajalein atoll, where Reynolds was charged with violating theAtomic Energy Commission's new regulation.
In 1958, a CNVA group from Philadelphia travelled toCheyenne, Wyoming, toraise consciousness and to convince locals to oppose the construction ofAtlas missile sites atFrancis E. Warren Air Force Base.[1]
In 1959, CNVA sponsored protests at the construction site of anintercontinental ballistic missile nearOmaha, Nebraska. Around 15 protestors, including A.J. Muste andKarl H. Meyer, the son ofVermontSenatorWilliam Meyer,[2] 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 equippedPolaris submarine inNew London, Connecticut.
During the early 1960s, the CNVA organised two'Walks for Peace',[3] including a 6,000-mile (9,700 km) march fromSan Francisco toMoscow, during which the walkers called on the governments of the world to disarm. During a Walk for Peace fromQuebec toCuba, viaWashington, D.C., walkers were attacked and jailed as black and white activists walked together throughMacon, Georgia. Both walks were led by peace activistBradford Lyttle.[4]
In 1962, theCambridge Nonviolent Action Committee (CNAC) on theEastern shore of Maryland led protests in their city that led to the declaration of Martial Law. On July 23, theKennedy Administration intervened, negotiating an agreement with the city for, among other things, the completedesegregation of public schools and public accommodations.[5]
In the mid-1960s, CNVA began to focus on theVietnam War. Activists traveled toHanoi inVietnam and picketed the US embassy, and the CNVA advocatedtax refusal as a method of resistance.
In 1968, after the 1967 death of leader A.J. Muste, the CNVA merged with thepacifistWar Resisters League.
While never a mass-membership organization, the CNVA's pioneering use ofnonviolent direct action would have a significant influence on movements to follow. In particular, it was the example set by the voyages of theGolden Rule and thePhoenix that would inspire the firstGreenpeace activists to use similar methods in their campaigns to halt nuclear testing at the island ofAmchitka,Alaska, and atMuraroa Atoll in thePacific.[citation needed]