Satyagraha: Gandhis Alternative Approach to Revolution

Reuben Chemmanam and Jeffrey Roop Junior Group Division Website

This year we chose the Indian Revolution led by Gandhi in 1947 for our History Day topic. The reason we chose this topic was because we wanted a unique approach to revolution in history. We were drawn to the topic because of the persistence for justice and innovative methods used in the struggle for independence. We thought that the ways that Gandhi peacefully rallied citizens and protested, and convinced majority of a nation to use non-violence would be interesting to research. At the time, violence was the only way to shape a revolution into what the reformers wished, but Gandhis influence shed a new light on freedom fighting and protesting. We also wanted a topic that affected many lives and set a path for modern ways of life. Gandhis venture into non-violence inspired leaders and changed the way people approach revolution. We conducted most of our research by checking out books from the Joyner Library at ECU campus, and studying online sources such as: websites, digital images, and videos. Our research was based on the way the public reacted to show what drove the revolution and rebellion. We tried to obtain many primary sources and pictures to capture the environment the people were placed in. Also, to give a 360 degree view on this event, we studied how the rest of the world considered non-violence, and the British point of view. We picked the website category because of the various and creative ways to represent our topic. The advantages we saw in the website were the options to organize subjects into thorough tabs and the interactive features it contained such as the pictures, hyperlinks, and embedded documents. In todays world, the new generation of research and study is concentrated mainly on technology like computers and websites; we decided to make our History Day a modern project that would exhibit our topic accurately, and in the way todays historians would present it. This years topic, Revolution, Reaction, and Reform, relates to our project because of the path the Indian revolution followed, and the history it created. Through several attempts for independence, several Indians joined as one to revolt against Britain, using ideas they developed in a time of need. The initial British reaction towards Gandhis rebellion began with slaughter and violence which proved futile. This was shown in the Jallianwallah Bagh Massacre and the Salt March. On August 15, 1947 India finally won independence through peaceful disobedience, and soon began the reform slowly to be known as the sovereign country it is today