Mahatma Gandhi: The Embodiment Of Peace And Civil Disobedience
1463 Words6 Pages
Weng 1
Kyle Weng
Mr. Dunn
English II
15 February 2018
Mahatma Gandhi When someone says civil disobedience, most people probably think of Gandhi. Gandhi is the embodiment of peace and civil disobedience. In the 1880’s when Gandhi moved to England, he faced endless racism and discrimination. Throughout his time in England, he resisted the discrimination. When he returned, he started a movement along with other Indians to go against the British rule in India. They were being unfairly treated Gandhi took a stand against the racism in a peaceful manner. Throughout Gandhi's life, he resisted the racism and he stood up for his people and his country with peace. Mahatma Gandhi, born October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, India, had a family of 5 siblings,…show more content… The name was given to him by the poet Rabindranath Tagore. Gandhi knew how to reach people and spoke of a new, free Indian. He gathered up Indian students to make an ambulance corps to help the British Army. But in 1919, Gandhi returned back to civil disobedience. The Rowlatt Acts caused Gandhi to call a strike throughout the country but he then later called it off after violence started occurring against Englishmen. After the Amritsar Massacre of over 400 Indians, Gandhi responded with disobeying British courts, stores and schools. Another thing that Gandhi was against was the machine. Gandhi was urging Indians to spin their own clothed instead of buying British goods. He knew that it would create employment for millions of Indian peasants. In 1922, Gandhi was sentenced to six years in prison. He was tried for sedition which means inticing people to rebel against the authority or state or a monarch. He was then released 2 years later for an emergency appendectomy. That was the last time the British government tried…show more content… Once, he fasted for 21 days to bring the Hindu and Muslim communities together. He also developed the protest march, and in 1930, Gandhi started the famous “Salt March.” The Salt March was to protest the tax from the British on all salt used by the Indians. In the salt march, Gandhi had several thousand marchers walk 241 miles to the coast. When they reached the coast, Gandhi picked up a handful of salt in defiance of the British government. This sparked a nationwide event where peasants produced salt illegally and people sold salt in the cities. When England entered World War II, it dragged India in also, so Gandhi proposed noncooperation. Congress then passed the “Quit India” resolution. Gandhi was imprisoned along with other Congress leaders which sparked violence in India. The British attempted to place the blame on Gandhi which caused him to fast for 3 weeks. He then contracted malaria and was released in 1944. After Gandhi was released, the British cabinet proposed a united India with a federal parliament. Gandhi suggested someone by the name of Jinnah be the prime minister or defence minister, but Jinna refused and declared “Direct Action Day”. Direct action day was a day of communal rioting all over Calcutta. The riots consisted between the Hindus and Muslims in the city. On that day and several days after, communal killings left 5000 dead and 15,000 wounded. After that, violence spread throughout the