Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Civil disobedience is effective for change
The successes of civil disobedience during the civil rights era
The successes of civil disobedience during the civil rights era
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Civil disobedience is effective for change
Gandhi: Risks for Rights If anyone has ever heard about Gandhi, chances are, they were sitting in their history class learning about civil rights, "Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the state becomes lawless or corrupt," claimed the famous soul. Gandhi's character illustrated his actions upon civil rights and equality, in the book "Freedom's Battle" by Mahatma Gandhi it showed how big of a role his peaceful technique to independence was. From learning about Gandhi's early life, risks for civil rights, and how he approached these risks one can infer that the charismatic person he was, was a matchless person to defeat the Apartheid and civil rights disobedience. The late Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, …show more content…
Gandhi's movement and leadership in protesting the Apartheid started with hunger strikes (Gandhi 105). Hunger strikes have been a peaceful yet powerful way to show awareness to the civil rights causes. These hunger strikes were for the benefit of himself for self purification and to protest the social discrimination. On March all the way to April of 1930 Gandhi led a peaceful march to protest the British rule on India (Gandhi 156). This march shows how powerful Gandhi was because of how he started with seventy eight people and proceeded to end with several thousands.This walk was not a breeze either, it stretched all the way from Dandi, India to the Arabian coast, so it shows people that they were committed to stand up for these rights. Ghandi risked being arrested multiple times, he was arrested four times and spent a total of seven years in prison among all the arrests (Gandhi 160). All of these arrests show how dedicated Gandhi was to receiving independence for his country. He sacrificed his personal life and seeing his children and wife everyday just so that India could have independence and Indian's could receive their basic rights. If Gandhi didn't stand up for the Apartheid laws and gaining independence over Britain, who would have done the job? Would the world be different if Gandhi was never
Gandhi’s nonviolent movement worked because he didn’t believe in segregation and didn’t follow the British’s rules for Indians. When coming back from prison in 1859, things changed in India. The people if India were forced to mimic the English on how they dressed, copy their manner and accept their standards of beauty. When hearing this, Gandhi didn’t accept it and started his movement. According to the background document,” he shed the cloths that made him look like a British lawyer and dressed in a poor man’s traditional loincloth.”(Background document) By do...
“ First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win” (Mahatma Gandhi). Gandhi was born in 1869 in Porbandar. Throughout his life Gandhi helped those in need. He was taught that everyone and everything is holy. He married at the custom age of 19 and went to London to study law. The thing that helped Gandhi promote nonviolence is that he worked his entire life saying that violence didn’t change the way people acted. He lived his life saying that an eye for an eye only made the whole world blind. Gandhi’s nonviolent movement worked because he had something to prove and everyone else in the world agreed with him.
Gandhi was a well knowledgeable and unique person who found hope in struggles that he never thought would shape who he was. Gandhi was born in a Hindu family, and even though he was the youngest he made a huge impact on others (“Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi” pg 3). He had his older brother who helped him with his education when his father passed away (“Mohandas Gandhi”). Gandhi was very religious even when he was little his brothers tried to make him eat meat (it wasn’t bad to eat meat in Hinduism when you are little), but he refused (“Mohandas Gandhi”). Gandhi respected his religion and was a respectful towards others.
For example, India was colonized by the British and the British government made the people pay a lot of taxes on things like salt and land. The citizens were also forced to buy British goods. Because of those unfair demands, Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian National Congress, decided to protest with nonviolent actions because he understands the experience of poor Indians and is justifying their actions against British rule. In document 1 written in India in the year 1930, Gandhi sent a letter to Lord Irwin, British leader of India, because Gandhi wanted to explain why they were doing the Salt March. The Salt March was to illegally make salt from seawater. The people traveled from Ahmedabad to Dandi, a total of 400 kilometers. Other strategies that the people used for the Salt March were boycotts, held meetings,with held payments of taxes and revenue, passed out brochures when people celebrate national culture, and they blocked liquor shops. The letter said that the Indians suffered a lot under British rule because of the high salt taxes and that if the citizens used nonviolence they would be able to see what the British government did to the citizens.
From the onset of man fighting for freedom or his beliefs, the question has always been whether one person can make a difference using words rather than wars. Philosophically, the concept of civil disobedience would appear to be an ineffective weapon against political injustice; history however has proven it to repeatedly be one of the most powerful weapons of the common man. Martin Luther King Jr. looked at the way African Americans were treated in the United States and saw an inequality. By refusing to pay his taxes and subsequently being imprisoned for a night, Henry David Thoreau demonstrated his intolerance for the American government. Under British rule, India remained oppressed until Mohandas Gandhi, with his doctrine of non-violence lead the country to freedom.
Martin king luther jr. and Gandhi both achieved their goal through the means of peaceful protest. They both believed nonviolence was the answer to successfully achieve their goals through the best methods. Martin king luther jr. led marches, sit-ins, and boycotts
Throughout the years, Gandhi has been an inspiration to many people for his peaceful methods to create change. Gandhi had many different ways that he would fight for this. He was determined to keeping all of his acts free of any violence. Gandhi held marches and protests, wrote letters, and made public speeches. However which one of his methods turned out the most useful in the favor of India? His most successful, nonviolent tactic was his marches.
In the article, “Satyagraha” : Gandhi’s Legacy, it states, “Gandhi developed his philosophy of “Satyagraha,” or resistance through non-violent civil disobedience to defend his rights and the rights of all Indians and non-whites.” He believed that racial and religious discrimination was wrong, leading him to have the motivation to end it because it gave freedom to him and everyone else. As referenced in the article, “... Indians and other non-white people were forced to ride at the back of trains, use separate facilities, and were treated as second-class citizens. Gandhi believed that this was wrong.” He faced major setbacks, including the fact that South Africa was under Britain’s control and limited their freedom for religious practices. The author explained, “Part of the problem in South Africa was that it was a British colony. Much as it had done in the American colonies, Britain controlled the South African government and all its practices and exacted taxes. It was this situation that led to much of the racial tension in the country.” Overall, Gandhi is a very intelligent man who invented a philosophy to end what he believed was
Gandhi developed the idea of satyagraha which centered around nonviolent resistance to opposition and evil. The goal of this march was to protest the taxation on salt production and transport in India by the British government. Gandhi's march sparked a wave of civil disobedience which contributed to the expulsion of the British empire. This march had a long term effect, as it inspired many to take part in a successful, organized civil protest. Furthermore, the protest stimulated further motivation for other disobedience and influenced the thinking of many civil disobedience leaders, such as Martin Luther King during the Civil rights
On the contrary, Mahatma Gandhi is a peaceful man with an amicable lifestyle and was willing to pay the price of his freedom or even his life to support his cause. He is wary. In 1919, Gandhi “called for a Satyagraha campaign of peaceful protests and strikes” and later on got taken into custody for the rebellion (“Mahatma Gandhi Biography”). Unlike Odysseus, Gandhi strives for tranquility and displayed numerous levels of propriety, even if it meant he would end up in prison. Gandhi’s route of leadership makes it possible for him to get his point across in a more effective way by not antagonizing those he stands against.
Although civil disobedience uses tactics of nonviolence, it is more than a little passive resistance because it is used to take action by illegal street demonstrations or by peaceful occupations (Starr). Mandela’s involvement in civil disobedience was due to his strongly hatred of racism and racial prejudice in South Africa. Mr. Mandela did achieve success by using guerrilla tactics as well as civil disobedience to stand up to what he believed was right. To understand Mandela’s role in civil disobedience, one must first have the knowledge of his personal life.
Gandhi was known first for his nonviolence behavior and would condemn his own party opposing violence. Gandhi made use of nonviolent and passive resistance through non-cooperation as his weapon of choice in the conflict against the British. The butchery of civilians by British military personnel resulted in increased public anger and acts of violence. Mahatma Gandhi criticized both the activities of British Government and the revenge of the butchery from the Indians. He extended consolation to the British victims and denounced the riots. Initially his party was opposed to his declaration. Later, however, they accepted Gandhi’s principal stating that any retaliation or violence was hurtful and could not be justified. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi success with nonviolent activism, Martin Luther King Jr. pushed forward his Civil Rights Movement with nonviolent activism as well. Although the two have personally never had contact, Dr. King learned of Gandhi 's discipline while in the seminary. His first application of the nonviolent campaign came in 1955 during the Montgomery bus boycott. Here, he had a witnessed firsthand the power of a peaceful
Gandhi was a great man in a lot of ways he was born on October 2, 1869 in Western India. At the age of thirteen he married Kasturbi who was also thirteen before his father died. When he did his mother sent him to law school in England this was in 1888. While he was there he fell in love so to speak with the nonviolent ways of the Hindu scriptures of the Bhagavad-Gita, and in the bible tellings of Jesus.
Gandhi is motivated by religious means; he believes that everyone is equal in God’s eyes. He gets involved in several movements for equality, and he stresses non-violence very strongly. The Indians are very mad because British rule continues to limit their rights. They are supposed to all get fingerprinted, and their marriage laws are invalid. Gandhi’s followers vow to fight their oppressors to the death, but he discourages them from violence.
Mahatma Gandhi's Influence and Ideas Mahatma Gandhi was a man of faith and great conviction. He was born into an average Hindu family in India. Like most teenagers he had a rebellious stage when he smoked, spent time with girls and ate meat (forbidden to strict Hindus). The young Gandhi changed as a person while earning a living as a lawyer in South Africa. He came in contact with the apartheid and the future Mahatma began to emerge, one who championed the truth through non-violent resistance.