Tracy Rompich

Harrison Delfin
January 31, 2014

Gandhi P.E.E.T Paragraph

Gandhi was successful at creating political change through nonviolence. Using
nonviolence and his philosophies, like swadeshi, satyagraha, and ahimsa, he was able
to gain Indias independence and the British werent in control of them anymore. The
British treated the Indians like second-class citizens and had to do what the British said
(MWH 453). The Indians werent treated nicely in their own country, so of course, the
Indians didnt like this policy, so thats when Gandhi came and taught them his
philosophies. Swadeshi means to do everything on your own and not needing help from
the British. Gandhi used swadeshi when he refused to buy British made cloth and
made his own cloth instead (Gandhi Film, Scene 4). When Gandhi began boycotting
and not buying the cloth until he got what he wanted, many of his followers started to do
the same. There was a law that the Indians could only buy British made cloth, but they
started making their own instead. Soon, the British sales of cloth went down. India has
an enormous population, so if they bought the British clothes, they would be getting a lot
of money. When the Indians refused to buy the cloth, it was their way of saying they
didnt want anything from the British and didnt want the British to rule them either.
Another one of Gandhis philosophies was satyagraha. Satyagraha is when you disobey
the law, but you accept the punishment for it. For example, Gandhi burned the passes
to identify your race and even after the soldier warned him he would go to jail, he
continued to burn them (Gandhi Film, Scene 2). This is also an example of nonviolence
because after each pass that Gandhi burned, he would get beaten up, but he refused to
fight back. Gandhi was burning the passes because he didnt like having to have a
piece of paper showing who he is. People started to notice how much Gandhi fought for
them to get their independence, and joined him in his philosophies. Even though this
was in Africa, many Indians were working there so this was just a start of showing the
British that they wanted their independence, by burning the identity passes. Ahimsa is
when you love everyone, even your enemies, and you dont use violence against
anyone. Throughout Gandhis movement, he used this philosophy very much. For
example, Gandhis followers intended to shut this salt works down. Police officers with
steel-tipped clubs attacked the demonstratorsthe people continued to march
peacefully (MWH 455). The Indians were only allowed to buy salt from the British so
they walked 240 miles to the sea to make their own salt. When they went to protest at
the salt works, which is where the salt was made, the police officers started to attack
them. Even though the Indians were being attacked, they were committed to Gandhis
words and refused to fight back. There was a reporter there with them, and he was
spreading the news of how the British was hurting the Indians. Gandhi wasnt there
because he was sent to jail. In conclusion, after all the fighting Gandhi went through and
all the times he went to jail, he finally earned Indias independence. He never used
violence and made political change in India. There was someone reporting everything
that happened to the press and was making the British look bad. Of course, they didnt
want the world to think they were bad people, so they gave up and gave India their
Independence. This is important because it shows what one man can do. With just
using nonviolence, Gandhi was able to get Indias independence.