Civil Disobedience, the act of purposely disobeying and breaking the law based on moral or political principles is a phrase that conjures up images of the American civil rights protests of the 50’s and 60’s, Anti-Vietnam protests of the 70’s, Tiananmen Square protests in China in the late 80’s, and the civil disobedient acts of many peaceful nonviolent protests in colonial India. This non-violent movement lead by Mahatma Gandhi finally took hold after many decades to free India from English rule called the Raj. Gandhi was the predecessor to all for his nationalistic views and believed in an independent and free India, believing that all people should be treated equal. He was able to see his dream of a free India, only to be assassinated 6 …show more content…
He believed that with these four essential elements, India could be free from colonial rule (sangamithra, 2013). From upon his return in 1915 till the independence in 1947, he started a satyagraha, or a devotion to truth, which he developed while in South Africa. His goal was seek out and to reveal truth and confront injustice through non-violence. One of his most famous non-violent marches came in March 12th, 1930 when he lead what started as a small group of followers 240 miles from his home in Ahmedabad to the Arabian Sea coast about a month later on April 6th, 1930. This march was a protest to English tax and monopoly on salt, an essential mineral of the Indian culture and diet. Gandhi and his supporters were to defy British policy by making salt from seawater. Gandhi sends a public letter to the Viceroy of India at that time, Lord Irwin, announcing his intent to break the British salt monopoly at the conclusion of the march to the sea, “... I shall proceed with such co-workers of the Ashram as I can take, to disregard the provisions of the salt laws. I regard this tax to be the most iniquitous of all from the poor man 's standpoint…” (Indian Independence: Nationalism Source 3). At the same time, he implores Indian local officials to resign their posts, to drive a wedge between the raj and the nationalist movement. His letter also advocates for a boycott of imported British goods, including cloth in favor of homespun cotton. This strategy is of added significance for Indians who have been thrown out of work by Britain 's large textile and manufacturing industry. News traveled quickly of the march, and by the time the small group reached the
Civil disobedience is breaking the rules or regulations in a respectful and disciplined manner. Document A, a letter from Gandhi to the English governor of India Lord Irwin, states, “I shall proceed with such co-workers of the Ashram (a secluded community where people go to meditate or pray) as I can take to disregard the provisions of the Salt Law.” Gandhi was willing to break the law but he surely did not want to as he said himself in Document A, “... taking the risk I have dreaded to take all these years” (Gandhi 1930). This piece of evidence shows Gandhi’s tolerance and civilization because he was willing to hold a peaceful
In the year of 1919, a crowd of 379 nonviolent protesters were murdered by British Indian Army troops. These protestors were killed because they were Indian. Racism was already existent in many countries that were colonized by Britain. Gandhi, a social reformer came to a realization that Indians deserve equal rights and that such acts were in humane and unacceptable. So what made Gandhi’s peaceful movement such a success? It was his civil disobedience practice, which he reached through nonviolent protests, embracing the enemy, and accepting jail time.
The introduction of civil disobedience reminded the world that it had the option of nonviolence and that negative action did not have to be countered with equally negative reaction. Henry David Thoreau’s essay “Civil Disobedience” embraced the idea of a man who took action to maintain his morality, even if it meant defying the government. Mahatma Gandhi, in turn, instigated his own act of civil disobedience in the Salt March where he marched across India and collected salt forbidden by British law. Thoreau’s writings on civil disobedience inspired Gandhi’s nonviolent movement, the Salt March, in which he was compelled to take action against a corrupt government.
Gandhi built a nonviolent community that has been just as dedicated to Indian independence as he was. He was imprisoned during the Salt March but his followers remained passionate about their peaceful resistance nonetheless. Gandhi’s community stayed true to their ideals and practices despite a vicious beating (Doc B). Thanks to their loyalty, Gandhi had a group of people he could count on to help him fight towards his goal of independence. Gandhi’s followers were fully aware that they would be mercilessly beaten, however, they remained persistent (Doc B). Having people
Martin Luther King Jr. looked up to Gandhi’s idea of civil disobedience in order to protest for black people’s right in America.
“My ambition is no less than to convert British people through nonviolence and thus make them see the wrong they have done to India.” (Document A, Paragraph Two) Gandhi clearly said he did not want to hurt the Europeans, he believed the Europeans forcing ways of life on the Indians was unjust, but he did not want to respond with any negative emotions. This peaceful approach remained a tactic within the movement because as Gandhi held firm to it, his loyal followers mimicked that as well. Gandhi’s words to Lord Irwin, “I do not intend to hurt a single Englishman.” (Document A, Paragraph One), were proven to be truthful ones when six years later the march at Dharasana occurred. While police begin to beat his followers with steel clubs, Gandhi’s peaceful remained cemented within them all. “Not one of the marchers even raised an arm to fend off the blows.” (Document B, Paragraph
Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey certain laws, but in a peaceful form of political protests. Martin Luther King Jr. is the best example of a form of civil disobedience for the Civil rights Movement and many more through the late 1950s to the late 1960s. ‘’Martin Luther King Jr. used the power of words and acts of nonviolent resistance, such as protest, grassroots organizing, and civil disobedience.’’
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.
One of the laws prohibited Indians from making their own salt. Salt was essential in the Indian culture and the British forced them to buy salt and had a tax on salt. A large population of India was impoverished and struggled due to the expense of salt and the additional tax. Gandhi led the salt march, an act to defy the British laws on salt. Thousands of people joined Gandhi on his march and they gathered at the seaside to make sea salt. Symbolically, they reach the sea on the anniversary of the Massacre of Amritsar. The protest, once again aggravated the British. The police arrived and demanded that they hand over the salt. After refusing to give the salt to the police, many Indians were arrested. It was an issue for the British primarily because of money. They made it illegal for the Indians to make their own salt because the needed the profit they got from selling and taxing salt. The Indian people suffered from poverty from many of the British laws, and the salt laws were increasingly frustrating for them. A group of non-violent protesters arrived at the Dharasana Salt Works and were beaten. Although every man before them had been brutally knocked down, the peaceful protesters continued to walk up to the British. The act showed the British the determination of the Indian people. No many how many times they were beaten or arrested, there would still be people protesting. Soon after the protest at Dharasana Salt Works, Gandhi and others were released from jail. A conference was held in Britain to discuss the possibility of India’s independence. The Indian people were successful in their fight against British
Mohandas Gandhi is an Indian lawyer and a spiritual leader that led a successful nonviolent resistance movement against the British colonial power. “The tactic of nonviolence civil disobedience in the Civil Rights Movement was deeply influenced by the model of Mohandas Gandhi, (...) Gandhi 's approach of non-violent civil disobedience involved provoking authorities by breaking the law peacefully, to force those in power to acknowledge existing injustice and bring it to an end”. (1) “Provoking authorities by breaking the law peacefully” this is an example of how nonviolent disobedience allows the message to stay focused and reach the point where people in power cannot ignore. Violent actions draw the media away from the message and fuels the rich and powerful; those who hide behind barriers in order to mute the underprivileged. An example of underprivileged people is African American’s during the 1950s who were treated like second class citizens. “Laws separated people of color from whites in schools, housing, jobs, and public gathering places”. (3) The types of methods used to fight against segregation are, “One of the ways African American communities fought legal segregation was through direct action protests, such as boycotts, sit-ins, and mass civil disobedience”. (1) This is how nonviolent disobedience is fought
Gandhi had worked out the basic strategy of nonviolent resistance, which he called satyagraha. It consisted of training a core of volunteers who helped to lead mass marches and mass violations of specific laws that resulted in intentional mass arrests. Three satyagraha campaigns made him famous in India even before he returned. While he was still in South Africa, Gandhi wrote about India in his pamphlet, "Hind Swaraj,” and targeted industrial civilization because he thought that was the real enemy.
Gandhi believed “Non-violence is the greatest force man has been endowed with. Truth is the only goal he has. For God is none other but truth. But Truth cannot be, never will be, reached except through non-violence.”(‘Non-Violence- The Greatest Gift). One of Gandhi’s best-known non-violent protest was the Salt Satyagrah, that took place from 1930-1931, a 241 mile march to the coast to protest British rule and the salt taxes. Gandhi used techniques such as formal statements, prayer, boycotts, and honoring of the men and women killed or wounded by the British especially for those who were killed at Amritsar in 1919. Indian gained its independence from Britain on August 15, 1947 and Gandhi was assassinated in 1948 by a Hindu extremist who did not share the same beliefs as Gandhi ("Gandhi begins fast in protest of caste
In an effort to help free India from the British rule, Mahatma Gandhi once again contributed to a protest against salt taxes, known as the Salt March. This protest advocated Gandhi’s theory of satyagraha or nonviolent disobedience as the nation came together on March 12, 1930 to walk the 241 miles long journey to the shores of Dandi to attain salt. Although some Indians criticized Gandhi for not achieving direct independence from the Raj or British rule, Gandhi’s execution of the Salt March helped to create a stronger nation for the Indians to live in. Gandhi motivated the Indians to act robustly against the injustices of the salt taxes through nonviolent means. This caused Gandhi to create a temporary compromising pact between Gandhi and the British viceroy over the turmoil created by the salt taxes. In addition, Gandhi drew a plan known as the “Quit India” resolution, whose immediate effect brought India closer to obtaining independence than before.
In the 18th century, the British took control of India, and its population. From this point on, the Indians endured the hardships that come with being a British colony. India remained under British rule, until Mohandas Gandhi came along. Some call him “Father of the Indian Nation”, others call him “Mahatma” meaning “great soul”, but regardless of titles, Gandhi was truly a great man, and an example of the pure love and peace we can find in every soul. Gandhi was not only a politician, but a revolutionary leader, and without his efforts, and use of satyagraha, India would not have gained the independence that it still has to this day.
Gandhi devoted himself for Satyagraha in order to decolonize India from British without violence. In his book Home Rule he says,” Passive resistance is a method of securing rights by personal suffering, it is the reverse of resistance by arms. When I refuse to do a thing that is repugnant to my conscience, I use soul-force” (5). He deployed this concept in Indian Independence Movement. For him, Satyagraha has three essentials meaning: “Satyagraha is a weapon of the strong; it admits of no violence under any circumstance whatsoever; and it ever insists upon truth” (6). Also, he presented some rules for this “soul-force” to the individuals of India as a campaign to follow and to reach the independency. For instance, these are the rules that he wanted his people to obey without viole...