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There are few men in history that have accomplished what Gandhi did when he took on one of history's most powerful empires. Gandhi was an Indian man that took on the British Empire's policies of injustice, discrimination, and command without throwing a single punch, firing a single bullet, or in any way using violence as a weapon. The fact that he defeated the British Empire by winning Indian Independence obviously tells us that Gandhi should be given the rank of being remembered as a 'great man in history.
Gandhi began his work against the injustices of the British Empire when he was a young man in South Africa. After returning to India, Gandhi had convinced himself that he must get in touch with the masses and persuade them to follow him in nonviolent and non-cooperative protest against British Rule. Through marches, demonstrations, and protests, Gandhi was able to bring the attention of the world to India by displaying the atrocities of the British empire and not retaliating with violence. Although Indian Independence was Gandhi's main goal, he struggled with the idea that Hindus and Muslims did not want to live together after India had gained independence.
In 1893 Gandhi began working aginst the unjust discrimination that he, and other Indians working in South Africa, experienced. Gandhi was thrown off a train, traveling across South Africa, because he had refused to yield his first class seat and move to the third class where all of the colored people were forced to ride. Shortly after the train incident, Gandhi organized his first protest in which he burned passes that Indians were required to carry at all times in South Africa. Although his first protest was not well attended, Gandhi had received enough newspaper coverage that his second protest drew a large crowd. At this second protest, which addressed new laws that singled out Indians as second class citizens that had few rights, Gandhi replied to violent threats, coming from the crowd, by stating, 'We will not strike a blow but we will receive them . . .They may torture my body, break my bones, or even kill me. Then they will have my dead body, not my obedience. Gandhi was able to lead a highly effective march in South Africa, and his success caused him to return to India where he could work for an even greater cause, Indian Independence.
Soon after making his return to India, Gandhi began traveling all over the country in order to get to know the people. There were a number of politicians, both Hindu and Muslim, that were in favor of asking for home rule. Gandhi responded to these politicians by saying that the common people make the difference, and only through uniting them will independence by granted. The belief in maintaining contact with the common people ran so deep in Gandhi that he himself lived as a poor man, making his own clothes, and doing all of the things that the common man had to do. Poor sharecroppers saw Gandhi as the man that best represented them, and they turned to him for leadership. Through nonviolent campaigns, Gandhi organized the poor and was able to win a rebate on rent, freedom for the sharecroppers to choose their own crops, and a commission, part Indian, to hear the grievances of the poor. Although other people had won similar victories Gandhi was unique in that methods his methods of protest against a tyrannical government focused on nonviolence and non cooperation.
Gandhi used marches, demonstrations, and public protest in a nonviolent and non cooperative manner as tools for fighting for Indian Independence. The central theme of Gandhi's method of protest was to always behave in a nonviolent and non cooperative manner. Perhaps Gandhi best described his methods in a meeting with British politicians when he said, In the end you will walk out (British will leave India) because 100,000 Englishmen simply cannot control 350 million Indians if those Indians refuse to cooperative, and that is what we intend to achieve. Peaceful, nonviolent, non cooperation until you yourself see the wisdom of leaving. Not everyone believed that nonviolence could bring independence to India, and there were groups that would lash out with violent attacks against the British. Gandhi reacted to these violent outbursts in a unique manner. Whenever violence took over, Gandhi would fast until the fighting stopped. On these occasions, the people would rather stop fighting violently than see Gandhi starve himself to death because of their violence. It was a long battle of nonviolent protest against the British that finally brought independence to India, but freedom brought problems of its own.
In conclusion, Gandhi should be considered one of history's 'great' men. He set out to accomplish a goal that seemed almost unattainable. By taking on the British Empire with a nonviolent campaign and achieving Indian Independence, Gandhi created a place for himself in history. Although Gandhi had achieved so much, he remained humble, and was very disappointed with the way that Indian Hindus and Muslims were fighting each other after they gained Independence. Gandhi died at a time when he wanted to achieve an end to the hostility that the Hindus and Muslims had toward one another. Perhaps the real tragedy of Gandhi's life was that he accomplished what few in history could, but died without knowing his real impact or accepting that he was indeed a 'great' man.
Word Count: 903
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