Gandhi's Early Life

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1869-1948
     On October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, India, a prominent figure in the independence of India from Britain was born, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Many people know Gandhi because of his campaign to free India from the hands of Britain. His strategy was the idea of non-violence combined with civil disobedience and as a result he spent much of his life in prison, in both India and South Africa. 

                              “Nonviolence is a weapon of the strong” --Mahatma Gandhi

     He developed a method of direct social action based upon the principles courage, nonviolence and truth called Satyagraha, which promoted nonviolence and Civil Disobedience as the most appropriate methods for obtaining political and social goals. He believed that the way people behave is more important than what they achieve. Although the ideas of civil disobedience and non-violence were essential to Gandhi's campaign for independence he did not discover them, but instead borrowed them from Henry David Thoreau, a notable American author throughout the nineteenth century. The Indian people called Gandhi Mahatma, meaning Great Soul. Gandhi is one of the most respected spiritual and political leaders of the twentieth century because of his determination and willingness to never give up on his dream to see India as an independent nation. 
     In the year 1883, at the age of thirteen Gandhi married a young girl of his age named Kasturbai. Together, Gandhi and Kasturbai had for sons, two born in India and two born in South Africa. Although he was very kind, loving and understanding with everyone else he was quite demanding and severe with his family. At age sixteen his father passed away, however he would always remember his father as a deeply religious and caring prime minister. Gandhi studied law in London and returned to India in 1891 to practice, however he soon left to find work in South Africa. Gandhi stayed in South Africa for twenty-one years working to secure rights for Indian people. 


India's Struggle for Independence

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Ghandi journeys twenty three days to defy the salt tax.
    In 1915, Gandhi returned to India and within fifteen years became the head of the Indian Nationalist Movement. Over the course of his life, Gandhi was sent to prison many times by the British for his work in both South Africa and India and he went willingly as a part of his civil disobedience campaign. Often times, Gandhi would fast for weeks to prove his point of non-violence to his audience and as a means of self purification. Throughout 1919, he spent much of his time dealing with the prejudice that the Rowlatt Acts instilled. These acts were put into place for specific reasons, under government authority, they had the power to arrest and hold people in prison without trial if they were suspected of terrorism.
     After assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress (INC) in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns to ease poverty, expand women's rights, build religious and ethnic amity, end untouchability, and increase economic self-reliance. Above all, he aimed to achieve Swaraj or the independence of India from foreign domination. Among Gandhi's great ideas was the idea to boycott all goods made in Britain, especially the cloth used for clothing, as a result this left Gandhi with one piece of clothing. Another good that was boycotted was the salt tax. In 1930 in order to help free India from British control, Mahatma Gandhi proposed a non-violent march protesting the British Salt Tax, continuing Gandhi's pleas for civil disobedience. The Salt Tax essentially made it illegal to sell or produce salt, allowing a complete British monopoly. On March 12, 1930 Gandhi and his loyal followers embarked on a twenty-three daylong journey. On April 5, 1930 Gandhi and his followers reached the ocean in which they proceeded to pick up a tiny lump of salt, breaking the law. A month later, Gandhi was arrested and thrown into prison, already full with fellow protestors. The Salt March started a series of protests, closing many British shops and British mills. 
     In 1942, Gandhi launched the Quit India Movement that demanded immediate independence for India from the British. Two years later in 1944 Gandhi's wife Kasturbai died at age seventy-four. In the year 1947, the British granted India their independence however, much bloodshed still occurred between the Hindus and the Muslims. Once again Gandhi fasted and five days later the fast was broken. Not long after, a Hindu fanatic named Nathuram Godse, who opposed the idea of tolerance for different religions, assassinated Gandhi in Delhi at the age of seventy-eight on 30 January 1948 at 5:12 P.M.
     Over the course of his lifetime Gandhi wrote multiple books including An Autobiography- The Story of my Experiments with Truth, Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule and Key to Health. All three of the these books detail his life from as far back as he could remember to his struggles with India's independence of the British. Gandhi's influence was so great that many political activists later adopted his methods in the twentieth century, including American Civil Rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr.

Gandhi's Memory

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Gandhi writes about India's independence.
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall - think of it, ALWAYS". 
--Mahatma Gandhi

"An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind".  --Mahatma Gandhi

"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty".  --Mahatma Gandhi

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world".  --Mahatma Gandhi

Anger is the enemy of non-violence and pride is a monster that swallows it up. --Mahatma Gandhi

                                                                                              Bibliography
Feuerlicht, Roberta Strauss. “Biography of M.K. Gandhi.” The Progress Report. N.p., 2008. Web. 4 Apr. 2011.

Lal, Vinay. “Mahatma Gandhi.” History Politics. MANAS, July 2009. Web. 5 Apr. 2011.

“Mohandas Gandhi Biography.” Biography Base. Biography Base, 2004. Web. 4 Apr. 2011.

“Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.” Encyclopedia of World Biography. N.p., 2004. Web. 5 Apr. 2011.

Rosenberg, Jennifer. “Gandhi - Biography of Mahatma Gandhi.” 20th Century History. The New York Times Co., 2011. Web. 4 Apr. 2011.

“The Salt March- Route Map.” Chart. Google. Google, n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2011.