Mohandas Gandhi
Michelle Schulien 7th
Who is Mohandas Gandhi?
Mohandas Gandhi was a major leader in South Africa's civil rights movement, and used a form of non-violent civil disobedience to change the harsh conditions Indian immigrants faced at the hands of British soldiers. Gandhi used the support of his religion, Hinduism, to create a radical civil rights movement throughout South Africa and promote non-violent protests against an aggressive government. Through his efforts Gandhi was able inspire other social reforms and briefly bring together a divided nation.
Salt March
Defying the British salt act,which states that Indians must buy the heavy taxed mineral from the government, Gandhi leads his followers to the ocean to make salt from the seawater.
Speeches
here Gandhi is addressing a crowd of Indians about the injustices they face by the British and how they should become independent of their harsh rulers.
Requesting Independence
even though gandhi was is jail in Britain, he is still shown lobbying for the independence of his people
Mahatma Gandhi Pilgrim Of Peace
The Parallels between Gandhi and Thoreau
Many similarities can be drawn between the tactics of Civil rights leader Mahatma Gandhi and famous poet, Thoreau, on civil disobedience. Such as, the humble beginning Gandhi came from as a single man who wanted to change the way his race was discriminated against in South Africa. Gandhi was not daunted by the size of his mission, and as Thoreau once said, " for matters not how small the beginning may seem to be: what is once well done is done forever." Both men also believed in rebelling against a corrupt government, no matter the cost. Thoreau once proclaimed, " a whole country is unjustly overrun and conquered by a foreign army, and subjected to military law, i think it is not to soon for honest men to rebel and revolutionize." similarly Gandhi's actions speak for these words when he leads countless non-violent protests against the corrupt British rule of South Africa. Both men have also fought for the majority races in a nation and cry Against the injustices those minorities faced. Gandhi achieved this through countless non-violent demonstrations, speeches, and the salt march, defying his government. Thoreau joined the fight with his poems and calls out oppressive governments when he says, "Why is it not more apt for reform? Why does it not cherish its wise minority? Why does it not encourage its citizens to be on the alert to point out its fault, and do better than it would have them?". As Thoreau is writing he vindicates these governments in a way that violence never would have. Both men have succeeded in beginning a revolution and they lessons they've learned have spread throughout the world.