Mohandas Gandhi example essay topic

Satyagraha. Meaning "force or firmness of truth, Mohandas Gandhi worked and lived by this word. By peaceful, non-violent demonstrations he, little by little, took hold of the people of India's love and honor and freed them from British rule. This is his story: On October 2, 1869 in Por bandar, India, a region of Queen Victoria, Mohandas Gandhi was born Mohandas Gandhi died in January of 1948. (The actual date is in dispute. The information from my book said that his death was on the 30th, but the World Book Encyclopedia says that it was Jan. 13th) He was shot 3 times by Godse, a Hindu himself.

The whole world mourned for Gandhi, a man who had no authority in government, but definitely had earned the respect and most importantly, the love of his people. Showing love and humanity through peaceful acts, he became well-known and well-liked. Gandhi, no matter how they hated this, wanted peace between the Muslims and the Hindus. Their religions were always against eachother and were fighting.

The Hindus thought that Gandhi was becoming a traitor and siding with the Muslims. This was far from the truth-Gandhi was only looking for peace. He felt strongly about this and was, unfortunately, the cause of his assassination. Gandhi did not struggle against others for his race only.

He fought for equality for all. He led Indian workers against other Indians in a cotton mill strike which was successful. He also worked to show that the "untouchables" (very poor and supposedly unclean people) were the same as everyone else. He did this by living as simply as they did and sometimes with them. It never quite did solve the problem, but it did help. Gandhi's impact on other occurred in many ways but all of them good During his life many loved him and others respected him for his Crusades for peace.

His followers loved him, but almost to the point of worship, and that he truly hated. Toward the end of his life, people's thoughts about hi had changed dramatically. Most were sick of peaceful demonstrations because they took too long to get results and some of the time didn " t accomplish anything. They were ready to look to someone new for leadership. Gandhi himself stopped protesting and leading for a while and was teaching skills and helping the poor live better and simpler lives. Over all, everyone was just sick of hearing the name Mohandas Gandhi.

For some reason when he was killed though, all of that changed. Everyone was sad, and the Hindu people were ashamed that it was one ofthe m who had killed him. People began to worship Gandhi in the ways that he had hated. They knew that if he would have been able to speak a few words before he died he would have said to the people to "have mercy on the misguided Godse", but knowing this, they still hanged his assassin. Gandhi once said: "I have no strength, save what God gives me. I have no authority over my country men, save the purely moral".

And he more than anyone knew how weak that authority could be. Over time, Mohandas freed India from the British rule, earning rights and respect for his people and a lasting place in history. Inm y opinion, like everyone else's. he was a great man putting others ahead of himself, but above all else wanting, hoping, and dying for peace.

Bibliography

F randa, Marcus and Von etta J". Gandhi, Mahatma". The New Electronic Encyclopedia. 1991, Grolier Electronic Publishing.
Iyer, Raghavan". Gandhi, Mohandas". The World Book Encyclopedia. 1989 ed.
Reynolds, Reginald. The True Story of Gandhi, Man of Peace. Chicago: Children's press, 1964.