Protests began in response to several actions by the government of North Carolina which was elected into office in 2013 and are characterized by civil disobedience—specifically entering the state legislature building to be peacefully arrested.

The movement protests many wide-ranging issues under the blanket claim of unfair treatment, discrimination, and adverse effects of government legislation on the citizens of North Carolina.

[4] The bills signed into law by McCrory and proposed legislation have been the target of ongoing "Moral Mondays" civil disobedience protests, organized in part by local [[Modern liberalism in the United States] religious leaders including William Barber, head of the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP.

[4] Legislators also passed "Equalize Voter Rights", a bill that would revoke the tax credit given to parents if their dependent college student registers to vote at their college/university address.

[14] The editorial board of The New York Times called this "a blatant effort to reduce Democratic voting strength in college towns like Chapel Hill and Durham.

Judge Diana Gribbon Motz's opinion for the panel noted, "The new provisions target African Americans with almost surgical precision" and "impose cures for problems that did not exist."

The boards and commissions tasked with regulation of the environment were all replaced by new members that have links to McCrory and the Republicans currently in power in the General Assembly.

A bill to allow hydraulic fracturing (commonly known as fracking) in North Carolina was passed rapidly with little or no public input.

[24] McCrory signed legislation that made North Carolina the 8th state to cut unemployment benefits since the start of the Great Recession.

[33] In early July 2013 the state House unexpectedly attached a number of restrictions on abortion access to a bill described as combating Sharia law.

Barber drafted a statement for the NC NAACP called "Why We Are Here Today,"[45][46] in which he outlined what was the catalyst for the Moral Monday protests.

[5][6][36] McCrory has criticized the protests as unlawful and a drain on state resources,[47] and has declined to meet with them,[6] later saying "outsiders are coming in and they're going to try to do to us what they did to Scott Walker in Wisconsin.

[50] Once the legislature finished for 2013, an estimated 10,000 protesters gathered for Mountain Moral Monday at the Buncombe County Courthouse in Asheville.

[55] Adam O'Neal, Republican mayor of Belhaven, North Carolina, began a 14-day 273-mile walk to Washington, D.C., after Vidant Health closed his town's hospital in July.

In August, the Wake County District Attorney offered them a deferred prosecution deal under which they would pay $180 in court costs and perform 25 hours of community service in exchange for having their charges dismissed.

[60] Trials for those who refused the deal began on October 4, 2013, with former Wake County district court judges Joy Hamilton and William Lawton appointed by the state to preside over them.

Protestors were charged with second-degree trespassing, failure to disperse on command, and posting or displaying signs or placards in violation of legislative building rules.

[63] On July 11, 2014 fourteen protestors pleaded guilty to second-degree trespassing, a class three misdemeanor, and received community service but could have the charges taken off their records.

Leaders of the group announced plans to protest Governor Nathan Deal's decision to reject federal funds for Medicaid expansion.

[1] The second rally held at the Georgia state Capitol building, again focusing on Medicaid expansion, resulted in 10 arrests for civil disobedience.

Barber has also gone on to do training[66] across the country in how other organizers can learn lessons from North Carolina's Moral Monday movement, including advising in the civil protests surrounding a police shooting death in Ferguson, Mo.

In 2016, Governor McCrory lost his bid for re-election to the Democratic candidate, state attorney general Roy Cooper.

His defeat was viewed as at least partially a victory for Moral Mondays, which "galvanized opposition and drew news media attention with numerous acts of civil disobedience.