World History Gandhi Themes

Decent Essays
GKE1: Task 2 Themes in U.S. $ World History
Part A.
Mohandas Gandhi was an Indian nationalist leader who spent a lifetime fighting discrimination against Indians and advocating for their independence. He was known for his peaceful protest, and his tireless struggles to alleviate poverty and to end caste discrimination. Gandhi accomplished great social and political changes in India in his quest for independence from British rule which came to fruition on August 15, 1947 and one significant social change noted was his influence over the Indian people as he encouraged civil disobedience against British policies that were discriminatory toward Indians. Another political change prompted by Gandhi was improved civil right for Indians through
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Gandhi felt that since salt was a nutritional necessity for India’s people the British government’s control over this product was a crime against the people. The British government forbid the people from manufacturing salt and they placed such a high cost on it no one could afford it. The protest began as a march involving Gandhi and a few dozen supports marching 240 miles to the Arabian Sea coast and along the way gained supporters numbering into the thousands and this effort got the attention of the world. Gandhi and other Indian supporters led citizens to make salt on the coast in an act of civil disobedience and this lead to the arrest of Gandhi and approximately 60,000 followers, however the act of Satyagraha continued with the huge support he had obtained. The march was not very successful for the provisions of salt, since the British government continued to control it but they did obtain the rights of Indians living on the coast to make salt and were able to negotiate the release of thousands of political prisoners as a result of this march. The march was instrumental in introducing Gandhi and his methods of Satyagraha to the world, and this movement would influence world leaders and civil rights activist such as Martin Luther …show more content…
Martin Luther King Jr. was a great civil rights leader, which led a revolution to end racial segregation in the 1950’s and 1960’s (World Wide Entertainment, 2007). King was instrumental in many social and political changes that improved the lives of black people in the United States. King was able to create social change among his supporters by reacting to violence and discrimination with non-violence. He had studied the work Mohandas Gandhi and embraced the concepts of civil disobedience as way to end conflict. King realized his congregation and supporters did not fully accept or appreciate Gandhi’s philosophy of Satyagraha or civil disobedience so he decided to integrate Gandhi’s political strategies with the strong Christian believes of his people. These concepts of peaceful protest would be used in many struggles as King and his followers fought for equal rights. Often when people witnessed the peaceful response by Dr. King and his followers to the brutal oppression they faced, they were influenced to join his cause (Sohail,

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