B. Independence in India

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B. Independence in India

On August 2, 1858 India was colonized by the British Empire because of its valuable resources and location. India was located in an important geographical position that allowed British merchants to trade with other various countries. India was also full of natural resources and people to sell British goods to. In fact India was one of Britain’s top five trading partners during European colonialism. However the people of India were never happy with the poor and unfair treatment given by the British.

Photograph of Mohandas (Mohatma) Gandhi

In 1914 a man named Mohandas Karemchand Gandhi returned to India from working as a civil rights leader in South Africa to support the Home Rule movement in India. Gandhi became the leader of the Indian National Congress supporting the non-violent civil disobedience against Britain. Gandhi believed that if they used non-violent civil disobedience their protests would be considered peaceful and they would not be the bad guys". His goals were to improve the living conditions and treatment of the Indian people, to free India from foreign rule, and to establish an independent government. Gandhi helped many unfortunate people by protesting heavy taxation and discrimination against the people of India.

After the non-violent civil disobedience movement of 1919-1922 Gandhi was arrested for protesting against the British foreign rule. In 1930 Gandhi started a protest against the heavy tax on salt. This protest got many people to walk over two hundred miles to the coast to gather up salt from the ocean. This created a lot of international attention and this is when many people started following many of Gandhi’s protests. When the Salt March was over Gandhi was arrested for his civil disobedience. When Gandhi was released from jail in 1931 he went to the London Round Table Conference to discuss an Indian constitutional reform. It was not until 1946 that he personally recommended the new constitution structure that declared India independent in 1947. After India was declared independent Gandhi helped resolve another issue that was occurring in India; the tension between the Muslims and the Hindus. Gandhi fixed this issue by giving some land to the Muslims and hoping for the tensions to ease.

CNN video: Twenty years later after Gandhi's solution to the Muslim-Hindu conflict resolved issues.

However that solution caused Gandhi to be killed by a Hindu extremist that didn’t agree with India having to give some land to the Muslims. Even though Gandhi is dead he continues to encourage many people to use non-violent civil disobedience. Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela were inspired by Gandhi in their battles against discrimination and racism.

Gandhi and the Indian nationalism is the reason why India became independent. The people had a desire to be freed from British rule and to be treated fairly and with dignity. They used Gandhi as they motivation to pursue that Indian nationalism and to protest the British foreign rule.