“[People] find it difficult to grasp the idea of nonresistance”(Doc G). There is an adequate amount of evidence from historical examples that nonviolence can be an effective and conclusive method of social action, and this can be shown through Gandhi and and King’s strategic methods. Gandhi brought independence to India and King brought civil rights to the United States. Ultimately, deep religious conviction was the underlying source of nonviolent success.
Gandhi was a Hindu and believed nonviolence was the highest virtue of life and was only attained at the end of a prolonged spiritual practice. When writing to Lord Irwin, he expresses how he could never intentionally hurt anything that lives even if someone does the greatest wrong upon him …show more content…
The peasants farmed land that the British owned and were “allotted [only] fifteen percent of the land for growing indigo, then they took the entire indigo crop as payment for rent of the land” (Todd 51). Gandhi and his disciples educated the peasants about tactics they could use to nonviolently demand for their rights. Gandhi’s hard work of preaching satyagraha brought success and created the Indigo Movement. After the government listened and read Gandhi’s speeches, they decided to give the peasants partial reimbursement for the work that they had done (Todd 52). In March of 1918, Satyagraha was also used at Kheda in retaliation towards the raised taxes from the British government. The peasants were experiencing crop failures that created famine like conditions. Because of this, the farming peasants asked the British government to decrease the taxes on the crops, because it was virtually impossible to pay them with the current conditions. However, “the government insisted that the crop figures were enough to merit the taxes,” and the government …show more content…
Instead of utilizing violence against aggressors, Gandhi and King chose to retaliate against unjust laws nonviolently. These social reformers achieved this by nonviolent methods such as satyagraha and civil disobedience. After the British’s demeaning laws and taxes, Gandhi led multiple movements with the use of satyagraha to abolish them. Similarly, King organized a complete boycott of buses to promote his cause until the government had changed their ways. Although having subtle differences, these two methods provided their causes significant strength without the use of weapons or brutality.
The innovative ways of King and Gandhi led to success through nonviolence. In contrast to past centuries’ extreme violence, the 20th century revolutionaries found a way to succeed without using “the sword.” From Gandhi’s disciples, to King’s civil rights advocates, these men (and their followers) applied their deep religious conviction to their causes. Ultimately, this led to a revolutionization of revolutions because nonviolence had never been deployed
Gandhi was a Hindu and believed nonviolence was the highest virtue of life and was only attained at the end of a prolonged spiritual practice. When writing to Lord Irwin, he expresses how he could never intentionally hurt anything that lives even if someone does the greatest wrong upon him …show more content…
The peasants farmed land that the British owned and were “allotted [only] fifteen percent of the land for growing indigo, then they took the entire indigo crop as payment for rent of the land” (Todd 51). Gandhi and his disciples educated the peasants about tactics they could use to nonviolently demand for their rights. Gandhi’s hard work of preaching satyagraha brought success and created the Indigo Movement. After the government listened and read Gandhi’s speeches, they decided to give the peasants partial reimbursement for the work that they had done (Todd 52). In March of 1918, Satyagraha was also used at Kheda in retaliation towards the raised taxes from the British government. The peasants were experiencing crop failures that created famine like conditions. Because of this, the farming peasants asked the British government to decrease the taxes on the crops, because it was virtually impossible to pay them with the current conditions. However, “the government insisted that the crop figures were enough to merit the taxes,” and the government …show more content…
Instead of utilizing violence against aggressors, Gandhi and King chose to retaliate against unjust laws nonviolently. These social reformers achieved this by nonviolent methods such as satyagraha and civil disobedience. After the British’s demeaning laws and taxes, Gandhi led multiple movements with the use of satyagraha to abolish them. Similarly, King organized a complete boycott of buses to promote his cause until the government had changed their ways. Although having subtle differences, these two methods provided their causes significant strength without the use of weapons or brutality.
The innovative ways of King and Gandhi led to success through nonviolence. In contrast to past centuries’ extreme violence, the 20th century revolutionaries found a way to succeed without using “the sword.” From Gandhi’s disciples, to King’s civil rights advocates, these men (and their followers) applied their deep religious conviction to their causes. Ultimately, this led to a revolutionization of revolutions because nonviolence had never been deployed