India Seeks Independence

1. India Seeks Independence

2. Objectives • Explain what motivated the Indian independence movement after World War I. • Analyze how Mohandas Gandhi influenced the independence movement. • Describe the impact of the Salt March on the course of the Indian independence movement.

3. Terms and People • Amritsar massacre – an incident in 1919 in which British troops fired on an unarmed crowd of Indians • ahimsa – an ancient Hindu doctrine of nonviolence and reverence for all life • civil disobedience – the refusal to obey unjust laws • untouchables – members of the lowest caste in India • boycott – a refusal to buy goods

5. How did Gandhi and the Congress party work for independence in India? Gandhi was inspired by Hindu traditions as well as American ideas about civil disobedience. He led the Congress party through a series of nonviolent actions against British rule. Worldwide negative reaction to the harsh British reprisals against Indians forced the British to give Indians concessions. However, Britain refused to grant India independence.

7. Unhappy with British rule, some Indians protested, rioted, and attacked British residents. • On April 13, 1919, a large but peaceful crowd gathered in an enclosed field in ______________in northern India to hear several Indian speakers. • The British commander at Amritsar had banned public meetings. Amritsar • British soldiers fired on the crowd, killing nearly 400 people and wounding more than 1,100 others.

8. More than a million Indians fought for the Allies in World War I. In return, the British promised greater self-government in India. Indian National Congress Since 1885, the _____________________ party had pressed for self-rule within the British empire. After the war, the British proposed only a few small reforms, angering Indian nationalists.

9. Amritsar massacre The _____________ was a turning point in Indian nationalism. • Instead of self-rule, the Indian National Congress now called for full independence. • In the 1920s, _________________united Indians across class lines in the struggle for independence. Mohandas Gandhi

10. If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go…—certainly the machine will wear out…but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine. What I have to do is see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn. --Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience 1849 Based on the quote, how did Henry David Thoreau influence Gandhi’s teachings?

11. What did he say? Ahimsa Civil Disobedience Equality What did he do? Ahimsa

12. Civil Disobedience

13. Equality • Gandhi transforms the Indian National Congress from an elite group to a party of mass appeal. • He wants a free India based on religious tolerance and acceptance of all faiths. • Gandhi's calls for non-violent protests are embraced by Indians of all classes and religions. I wear the national dress because it is the most natural and the most becoming for an Indian. –Gandhi https://www.bbc.com/timelines/zpdqmp3

14. ...Indeed whilst on the one hand civil disobedience authorizes disobedience of unjust laws or unmoral laws of a state which one seeks to overthrow, it requires meek and willing submission to the penalty of disobedience and therefore cheerful acceptance of the jail discipline and its attendant hardships.... — Mohandas Gandhi What is Civil Disobedience according to Gandhi?

16. He fought injustice with ____________________and inspired Indians of all religions and ethnic backgrounds. His campaign of __________ attracted wide support, catching the attention of the British government and the world. Gandhi urged equal rights for all men and women, as well as for the ___________. civil disobedience Nonviolent resistance untouchables

17. Gandhi’s ideas about nonviolent resistance came from many sources. ahimsa Henry David Thoreau’s

18. Gandhi challenged British rule in nonviolent ways during the 1920s and 1930s. • He called for an Indian ____________of British-made goods, especially cotton textiles. • He worked to restart India’s traditional industries. • He mobilized mass support for India’s independence by protesting the British monopoly on salt. boycott

19. Although natural salt was available in the sea, the British required Indians to buy only salt sold by the monopoly. • In March 1930, Gandhi and 78 followers began to walk 240 miles to the sea. • By the time he arrived, thousands more had joined the Salt March. • After picking up a lump of salt from the surf, Gandhi was arrested and jailed. • His example inspired tens of thousands to collect sea salt and engage in other nonviolent protests.

20. Tens of thousands were imprisoned, and newspapers around the world criticized the British for their brutal treatment of Indians. Gandhi’s campaign forced the British to give some power to Indians and to meet other demands of the Indian National Congress.

22. In 1939, World War II began. Britain angered Indians by postponing their independence and bringing them into the war without consulting them. When the war ended in 1945, India’s independence was at hand, but conflicts between Hindus and Muslims troubled the nation for years to come. Many Indians protested and were jailed, but millions of others did help Britain during the war.