Mahatma Gandhi

By Sam Lindenberg

Table of Contents
1.

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Activism
Mahatma Gandhi
Childhood
Spiritual and Political Leader
India Wants Freedom
The Salt March
Assassination
Glossary
Bibliography

Activism
Activism is the policy or action of using vigorous campaigning to bring about a political or
social change. Think about it, activism has had a huge role on ending slavery; it gave women
more rights; and also it helped protect the environment. There are many different kinds of
activism, from face to face conversations, to peaceful protests, to violent attacks. Activism isnt
necessarily a good thing or a bad thing. It all depends on the cause, the action, and what a person
thinks is worthwhile.

Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, Gujarat, India which was
then part of the British Empire. His father, Karamchand Gandhi, served as a chief minister in
Porbandar and other states in western India. His mother, Putlibai, was a very religious woman
who fasted regularly. In Mahatmas lifetime he was the preeminent leader of the Indian
independence movement in British-ruled India. He had 4 children (Harilal Gandhi, Manilal
Gandhi, Davdas Gandhi, and Ramdas Gandhi) and a wife (Kasturba Gandhi). Mahatma Gandhi
passed away on January 30, 1948 (age 78).

Childhood
Growing up, Mahatma Gandhi was the youngest of his three siblings. He had two brothers
(Laxmidas Karamchand Gandhi and Karsandas Gandhi) and a sister (Raliatbehn Gandhi). As a
young child he was shy and not a great student at school. Mahatma was also very timid. In fact
he was so timid that as a teenager he slept with the lights on! At the age of 13, he met his future
wife Kasturba Makanji, a merchants daughter. As a teen he rebelled by smoking, eating meat,
and stealing change from household servants. As a child Mahatma Gandhi wanted to grow up to
be a doctor but his father wanted him to become a government minister. In 1888 Gandhi sailed to
London, England to study law. He struggled with his move to the Western Culture and during his
time in London he committed to more of a meatless diet.
In 1891, Gandhi returned to India to find out that his mother had passed away. Then, he
started to struggle as a lawyer. In his first case, a nervous Gandhi drew a blank to finding the
witness. He then left the courtroom and immediately ran away. Then, Gandhi struggled to find a
job in India. So he signed a one year contract to perform legal services in South Africa.

Spiritual and Political Leader

When Mahatma Gandhi first arrived in South Africa, he was quickly alarmed by the
segregation of Indians by the British and he wanted a stop to it. So in 1894, he formed the Natal
Indian Congress to fight discrimination.
A critical moment in Gandhis life is when he was on a train and a white man said he had to
move to the back of the train because the white man had a ticket. Gandhi refused to move to the
back of the train so he got kicked off (Like Rosa Parks). From that night forward Mahatma
Gandhi would grow into a giant civil rights leader.
In 1896 and 1897 Gandhi returned to India for a short while and came back in early 1898 with
his wife and two children. Kasturba and Mahatma would have two more children in South Africa
one in 1897 and one in 1900.
In 1913, the British Government arrested hundreds of Indians including Gandhi. Then in
1914, Gandhi sailed back home to India.

India Wants Freedom

In 1915, Gandhi returned to India which was then ruled by the British. In 1919, the British put
out the Rowlatt Act which imprisoned those suspected of sedition without trial. Then, Gandhi
called for a Satyagraha campaign of peaceful protests. Instead, violence broke out which reached
its climax on April 13, 1919. In the Massacre of Amritsar when troops led by British general
Reginald Dyer fired a machine gun into a crowd of unarmed people and killed nearly 400.
Gandhi became a leading figure the Indian home-rule movement. Then, Gandhi urged for the
Indians to stop buying stuff from the British. After that, Gandhi began using a portable spinning
wheel to make his own clothing. The spinning wheel became a symbol of Independence and self
reliance.
In 1922, British authorities arrested Gandhi. He pleaded guilty to three counts of sedition.
Even though he was sentenced to a six year imprisonment, Gandhi was released in February of
1924.

The Salt March

After staying away from politics for most of the 1920s, Gandhi returned in 1930 to protest
Britains salt acts. Salt was a staple of the Indian and then they put a heavy tax on it that hit
Indias poorest people pretty hard. Mahatma Gandhi the planned a new Satyagraha campaign that
lead to a 240-mile march to the Arabian Sea to collect his own salt.
He quoted Be the change you want to see in the world. The salt march spurred similar
protests and mass civil disobedience across India. About 60,000 Indian people including Gandhi
were arrested for breaking the salt acts. Gandhi was imprisoned in May of 1930. Gandhis Salt
March protests led him to be the Time magazines Man of the Year for 1930.

Assassination
On January 30, 1948 the 78 year old Gandhi went to New Delhis Birla House to prayer
meeting. Then, Nathuram Godse was mad at Gandhi for his tolerance of the Muslims. He knelt
before Mahatma then pulled out a semiautomatic pistol and shot Mahatma three times about five
feet away. Godse got sentenced to life in prison. To this day, Mahatma Gandhi is known as a
remarkable activist for anti-war.

Glossary
Activism- The policy or action of using vigorous campaigning to bring about a political or social
change
Preeminent- Surpassing all others; very distinguished in some way
Segregation- The action or state of setting someone or something apart from other people or
things or being set apart
Discrimination- The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things,
especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex
Sedition- Conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch
Satyagraha- A policy of passive political resistance, especially that advocated by Mahatma
Gandhi against British rule in India
Protest- A statement or action expressing disapproval of or objection to something
Muslim- A follower of the religion of Islam

Bibliography
Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2016.
"Mahatma Gandhi." HISTORY. N.p., 19 Mar. 2013. Web. 05 Feb. 2016.
"

Manas: History and Politics, Mahatma Gandhi." Manas: History and Politics, Mahatma Gandhi.
N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2016.
"Introduction to Activism - Permanent Culture Now." Permanent Culture Now. N.p., n.d. Web.
08 Mar. 2016.