Mahatma Gandhi Nonviolence Essay

Starting in the 1870s, countries in Africa such as Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and India, Vietnam, in Asia were being colonized by the British. In order to gain their independence back they took non-violent and militant actions. Though both strategies were successful one was more successful that the other. Non-violent actions were successful in peacefully getting the countries independence. In document 1, a letter written by Mahatma Gandhi to lord Irwin in 1930 before marching to the sea and breaking the British Salt Tax he states, “Even the salt the peasants must use to live is so taxed as to make the burden fall heaviest on him…

“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind” (Mahatma Gandhi), welcome to the world of non-violence, where people come to escape the death and destruction. Many people believe that violence is the only way to achieve peace; that death and destruction is the only way to pave the way to the grassy green Elysium. Many prominent political figures have spoken out against this violence; among them are Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. Instead of choosing physical brutality, they chose to follow difficult, winding paths full of powerful speeches, civil disobedience, and peaceful protests that showed others that violence isn’t always the answer. There is a controversy about the precise meaning of nonviolence.

He practiced non-violence protests; his protests sparked civil rights movements all over the world, including the United States. Gandhi’s movement was taking place during the mid-1900s. Mahatma Gandhi is a symbol of achieving change through peaceful methods. In the book Fahrenheit 451 Bradbury has Guy flee the city.

Gandhi’s passive resistance of British rule was sparked by unjust taxes and acts placed on India by Parliament after World War I. As part of his peaceful non-cooperation movement for home rule, Gandhi stressed the importance of economic and political independence for India from Western culture. With the political and law background he had, Gandhi became invested in the Indian National Congress (INC or Congress Party), in which he turned the independence movement into a massive organization, leading refuses of British institutions including schools and legislatures and boycotts of British manufacturers. Gandhi terminated these movements due to violence, and in March of 1922 British authorities arrested Gandhi and tried him for sedition. He refrained from active participation in politics for many years until 1930, in which he launched a new civil disobedience campaign against Parliament’s tax on salt, which greatly

The sanctions enforced by Nelson Mandela in South Africa acted as a drain on the economy (Doc C). Dr. King also “took part in the lunch counter sit-ins . . . seeking to integrate lunch counters,” joining the black student protesters who refused to leave when demanded to and getting arrested (Doc E). Gandhi sent a letter to the British government telling them that he would stage a salt march whether they liked it or not unless they removed the unfair salt tax.

During these years in South Africa, Gandhi focused on helping the ones in need and the Indian community as he had done it until then. With the proposal of the Asiatic Registration Bill or the “Black Act”, the Indian and Chinese people over the age of eight could be forced to carry a permit in order to be registered with South African Officials. Gandhi intervened in the situation and ancouraged all Indians to join a mass resistance movement against the Black Act. Despite his warning, the people decided not to register and a year later, when the South African government passed the Black Act, a lot of people were arrested because they were not carrying their passes, including Gandhi. Realizing that it would not be able to jail all of the protesters

To begin with both Martin Luther King and Gandhi had both used non violence as a way of gaining freedom. In the text “letter from Birmingham Jail,” it states “In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: 1) collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are

Due to the race inequality along with the economic regulations among the Indian people, Gandhi’s ambition from the beginning of simply just wanting equality between the Indian and British transition to wanting India to become Independence. He wanted to give the Indian citizen a voice in the government and a chance to define their own nation. The Indian people lose their political power in terms of how the British authorities were exercising their power over them, implementing policies according to their own rules and administrating over the Indian’s resources. Gandhi throughout the film had the desire to help gain back India’s political power and it revolves around his method of passive resistance and self-sacrifice. He belief in “an eye for an eye only makes people blind” is what helped him achieve freedom for India without any violence involve.

One of the ethical dilemmas Gandhi faced was in regard to the Salt March. Before the Salt March was established, the British implement the Salt Act of 1882 which prohibited the Indian people from collecting as well as selling salt, an important part in their diet (“Salt March,” 2010). As a result, Indians were forced to buy salt from the British and were charged a heavy tax (“Salt March,” 2010). Gandhi decided to defy the Salt Act because of the injustice it was doing towards the Indian people even though he knew the consequences of breaking the British law (“Salt March,” 2010). Also, Gandhi decided to defy the Salt Act because it was consider a clever technique that protest British law in a nonviolent way (“Salt March,” 2010).

When Gandhi was arrested for protesting racial discrimination against Indians in South Africa, he had read Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” which influenced his methods of nonviolent resistance to laws (Gandhi and Civil Disobedience). His civil disobedience against the unjust British government in India inspired others both locally and around the world to lead protests in peaceful ways instead of the traditional violent resistance, which would rarely ever achieve the desired results. Gandhi’s demonstrations of peaceful resistance to the British tyranny in India, such as non-cooperation and fasting, eventually led to the destruction of the Indian caste system and independence from England for the Indian people. In the evolution of civil disobedience of law, Gandhi was pivotal in inspiring new generations of activists around the globe that would later permanently change the world in which we live. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was influenced by Gandhi, he wrote that he was, “operating through the Gandhian method of nonviolence” and described the method as “one of the most potent weapons available to an oppressed people” this statement proves that Gandhi had an influence on future social activists like Dr. King (King, Stride 79; Papers 5:422).

Truth and love is what Gandhi believed should guide the method of nonviolence. He was exceptionally selfless; he dedicated his life to nonviolence and eventually died for those

Mohandas K. Gandhi personally orchestrated three separate campaigns with the express purpose of achieving that freedom from a corrupt government: the Non Cooperation (1919-1922); the Civil Disobedience and Salt Satyagraha (1930-1931); and the Quit India movement (1940-942). Each of these orchestrated campaigns had freedom from tyranny as the ultimate goal. Through public speeches and peaceable protesting; mass petitions; delegates representing against the government initiative; public acts; theater; political mourning, and ostracism; Gandhi was able to recruit, organize, and enact change within the Indian government. The Non Cooperation movement covered everything from social ostracism to political ostracism. The Civil Disobedience and Salt Satyagraha saw acts of defiance against arbitrary rules and tax hikes.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi--the preeminent political and spiritual leader of India during the Indian independence movement, having led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. People called him “mahatma”, a meaning of "Great Soul". His proposition of non-violent make a great effect on people’s movement for right and peace.

Gandhi used law to make things right for him and his fellow indians. He came up with a nonviolent method to fight like boycotts, protest, and non corporations. He also wrote letters,pamphlets ,and passive resistance(Gandhi,history.com). Gandhi named it “Satyagraha”, which means insistence on truth. Gandhi was influenced by change, he wanted change in the world he wanted peace between everyone in the world.

THE LAUNCH OF THE CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT: MK Gandhi was asked by the Congress to render his tremendously required authority to the Civil Disobedience Movement. On the notable day of twelfth March 1930, Gandhi introduced The Civil Disobedience Movement by directing the memorable Dandi Salt March, where he infringed upon the Salt Laws forced by the British Government. Taken after by a company of seventy nine ashramites, Gandhi left on his walk from his Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi that is situated on the shores of the Arabian Sea. On sixth April 1930, Gandhi with the backup of seventy nine satyagrahis, damaged the Salt Law by getting a fistful of salt lying on the ocean shore.