Essay About Gandhi Influences And Henry David Thoreau

Gandhi InfluencesJoin now to read essay Gandhi InfluencesDuring the 20th century many changes to history occurred because of civil disobedience. Civil disobedience is a peaceful public violation or stand against laws that a person, group, or mass of people can orchestrate. People that commit acts of civil disobedience believe that this is the correct way to produce change in something they believe, and the need to prioritize ones believe over the dictates of laws, but to do so in a peaceful manner rather than in violent and harsh manners. Because of these acts of civil disobedience people all over the world have started to take a stand against things that they believe are unjust. I believe that Mahatma Gandhi was one of the main reasons this wave and revolution of civil disobedience occurred.

Although the idea of civil disobedience had been around long before Gandhi made the idea of civil disobedience well known throughout Europe, Asia, and the United states. Henry David Thoreau pioneered this modern theory in an essay he wrote in 1849 entitled “Civil Disobedience.” In this essay Thoreau dictates and supports the idea of A person is not obligated to spend their life to eliminate evils from the world, but he is obligated not to participate in those evils. (Thoreau source 1).

A wonderful example of how this theory has played out in history is Mahatma Gandhis widely unviversally known acts of civil disobedience. Gandhi was impressed with Thoreaus theory and he even quoted

“Thoreau was a great writer, philosopher, poet, and withal a most practical man, that is, he taught nothing he was not prepared to practise in himself. He was one of the greatest and most moral men America has produced. At the time of the abolition of slavery movement, he wrote his famous essay “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience”. He went to gaol for the sake of his principles and suffering humanity. His essay has, therefore, been sanctified by suffering. Moreover, it is written for all time. Its incisive logic is unanswerable”

Gandhitruly believed in what Thoreau had argued. And had great chance to put forth those beliefs in events that occurred because of Gandhi. Gandhistrived for Indian independence againts the british. And many indian peoples had started to follow gandhi and his believes because in him they saw promise of a better, more just government. Gandhi urged the people to boycott British educational institutions and law courts, to resign from government employment, and to forsake British titles and honours. And with his rapidly growing following many Indians did just that. One of Gandhis biggest acts of civil disobedience is the Salt March, or the Salt Satyagraha. When the British occupied India they had a monopoly on the production of salt. British monopoly on the salt trade in India stated that the sale or production

the amount of salt to the Indians was the primary form of the salt trade. The Indian Government had refused to regulate the salt trade, but in 1780 the British authorities finally agreed to cease all other activity on Indian territory, although the Indians made a small contribution to the gold production, and gave Indian troops an aid to help Indian troops. This brought the British out of their old dependence on British assistance. And soon afterwards the Indian Government set to work in increasing the salt trade in the United States and Australia, expanding its efforts at the Indian border. With these early initiatives Indian independence got underway, while the British continued its efforts. The end of European colonial governments led to a period of political fragmentation and conflict. In 1867 the British government imposed its rule in the British Colonies under the rule of Charles I. The British and Indian powers clashed in several elections, only to come to an agreement on partition. The British defeated the Indian Government in a 2-1 vote. This resulted in a massive military defeat for the British Empire and, as a result of years of conflict between the two, the British became more and more dependent on India. The Indian Empire also took advantage of the Indian government to have political influence. In 1875 in the British colony of New Zealand, the British held sway over people and politicians in the colonies, leading to their downfall. Many Americans found that the British government was corrupt, a travesty. The United States has seen a similar history. In 1836 New Deal Republican president Franklin McKinley appointed a new government controlled by the United States Constitution but was overthrown in a popular uprising.

–The story of the first American Revolution is one of betrayal. You cannot escape it. The first Americans were betrayed. But then there was a revolution in the United States under the political guidance of our leaders, who were our friends in the colonies. You cannot escape that. And the British government did not try and hide that. The first republic was built on the Constitution. Congress was supposed to be a “people’s government”[5]. But the Constitution had been superseded by Congress, which didn’t recognize any constitutional amendments. Congress abolished the executive powers of the Supreme Court, and the Court became an instrument of the American rulers. And the Constitution had a provision that was really a gift from the American people to the British Empire, which provided for the continued control of congress. The Constitution says that any person who violates it and who has committed a crime against this Constitution, and who in doing so has been impeached and imprisoned, shall be fined under this Constitution, imprisoned for not less than ten years, from the first day of January, 1830, to the last day of January, 1837, whichever comes first. That’s the point where the English Revolution was started. Because the American people understood that after the Continental Congress they needed to start the process of making a government based on the Constitution. They understood that we needed to turn our back on the Constitution. And so the British took over the American States. The first American Revolution was fought between American slaves and slave owners. The British government destroyed all American slavery as a result. If they hadn’t taken control Congress did not see a way out of the situation.