Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948) was a revolutionary Indian leader who used his great power for social reform. He played an active role in the struggle for independence of India by resisting through mass non-violent civil disobedience. Through his efforts, the Indian community broke free from British rule, after being subjected to discrimination and unjust ruling for centuries. After facing racial discrimination in South Africa in the late nineteenth century, he decided to devote his life to working towards eradicating racial prejudice through passive resistance and civil disobedience as well as using methods such as boycotts to achieve India’s independence from Britain.
Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, India to a moderately …show more content…
He knew that the British would respond to mass non-violent civil disobedience. He responded in this way towards British courts, stores, and schools. He urged that Indians spin their own clothing instead of buying British goods. Spinning would also then create employment for the Indian community. In addition to using civil disobedience to protest against the British, Gandhi also utilized boycotts. Perhaps one of the most famous boycotts in Gandhi’s revolution was the Salt March of 1930. Gandhi demanded from the British government “that the salt tax should be abolished, total prohibition should be imposed on the sale of alcohol, the rupee should be devalued, there should be a protective tariff on foreign cloth, and land revenue should be reduced” (Zachariah 5). The British did not meet their demands, so Gandhi organized a symbolic demonstration of the Indian’s refusal to recognize the government’s authority. The Salt March was a landmark 320-kilometer march to the sea, in protest of the government’s heavily taxed monopoly on the manufacturing of salt. Instead of purchasing salt from the government, they went directly to the sea to get salt themselves, which was against British law. Thousands were imprisoned and Gandhi was arrested in May 1930. This whole protest was done with almost no violence, which struck the British’
Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, India to a moderately …show more content…
He knew that the British would respond to mass non-violent civil disobedience. He responded in this way towards British courts, stores, and schools. He urged that Indians spin their own clothing instead of buying British goods. Spinning would also then create employment for the Indian community. In addition to using civil disobedience to protest against the British, Gandhi also utilized boycotts. Perhaps one of the most famous boycotts in Gandhi’s revolution was the Salt March of 1930. Gandhi demanded from the British government “that the salt tax should be abolished, total prohibition should be imposed on the sale of alcohol, the rupee should be devalued, there should be a protective tariff on foreign cloth, and land revenue should be reduced” (Zachariah 5). The British did not meet their demands, so Gandhi organized a symbolic demonstration of the Indian’s refusal to recognize the government’s authority. The Salt March was a landmark 320-kilometer march to the sea, in protest of the government’s heavily taxed monopoly on the manufacturing of salt. Instead of purchasing salt from the government, they went directly to the sea to get salt themselves, which was against British law. Thousands were imprisoned and Gandhi was arrested in May 1930. This whole protest was done with almost no violence, which struck the British’