Gandhi Legacy Essay

Mohandas Gandhi Legacy Essay
What is the legacy of Mohandas Gandhi?

Many people don 't realize how much of an enormous impact one person can make on the world. By standing up for what 's right or what you believe in can cause many other people to do the same. That 's exactly what Mohandas Gandhi did. In 1869, a man by the name Mohandas Gandhi was born in Porbandar, India. Little did the world know that he would one day live to be one of the greatest leaders of all time, he would be leading his country to independence and his legacy of Satyagraha and peaceful-protesting would not only lead to important changes to India but would become the standard for protest throughout the world.
Gandhi is one of the greatest leaders of all time as the result of many things. I believe this because he led multiple effective and non-violent protests and marches. Not only did Gandhi play a big part in gaining independence for India, he also gained many additional rights for Indians while they were still under British control, all without violence. One of the best examples of this occurred when Gandhi was working for Indian rights in South Africa. While he was there he urged Indians to defy unjust laws, such as the law that required all Indians to carry a registered and fingerprinted card with them. At first, the Indians just refused to register with the system but when the British did not comply, Gandhi ordered for all existing ID/Registration cards to be burned. They achieved their goal of eliminating registration cards and they did it peacefully with Gandhi leading them. Gandhi called on his fellow Indians to defy the new law and suffer the punishments rather than to fight back violently. Gandhi demonstrated this when he was imprisoned for failing to register and he did not fight back. He thought it was acceptable to go to jail if it was for an honorable cause and he was also imprisoned after he led the “Salt/Dandi March”, a march of nearly 60,000-people on a 24-day, 240-mile march to the Arabian Coast to protest British taxation on salt. Britain’s Salt Acts prohibited Indians to possess salt not from the government. Salt being a staple in the Indian diet, it would be understandable as to why Indians were so upset about paying high prices for something they could easily make. As a result of this march, Indians regained their right to possess salt not from the government and the right to process salt. Gandhi, once again proved that peaceful protesting and Satyagraha (mass civil disobedience), proved just as effective if not more effective, than violence. This was one of the many events that led up to India gaining independence. One other important example of Gandhi’s leadership is just in general Gandhi being very capable of inspiring people and being a very charismatic person he was. He was very good with his words and he could easily influence people. There are many examples of Gandhi having many followers and many supporters. He had nearly 60,000-people following him on his march to the Arabian coast and always had a substantial amount of followers at every one of his speeches. Gandhi will always be remembered for his phenomenal leadership skills and his well-spoken manner. There’s no doubt that Gandhi’s legacy is something that will live on forever. Gandhi’s idea of Satyagraha and using non-violent protest methods has reoccurred many times throughout history. The most well known example of this is with Martin Luther King Jr., who fought for equal rights among African Americans. Martin Luther King Jr., also used Satyagraha or mass civil disobedience, with sit-ins and boycotts during the civil rights movement. Gandhi’s approach directly influenced Martin Luther King Jr. who argues that the Gandhian philosophy was “…The only morally and practically sound method open to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom”. Martin Luther King Jr. used Gandhi’s ways of peaceful protesting on multiple occasions and was successful with them. Martin Luther King Jr. is also considered to be one of the most influential people ever. And if Gandhi hadn’t stood up for what he believed in, who knows if Martin Luther King Jr. would have done the same. Our world today would be very different without both of these people. As you know Martin Luther King Jr. protested non-violently and still achieved what he wanted. If it weren’t for him, racism could still exist to the extent that it did and so could segregation. Another important historical figure that was influenced by Gandhi and Gandhi’s philosophies is Nelson Mandela. Nelson Mandela, like Gandhi, fought for independence for their country. Nelson Mandela also used non-violent methods and gained independence for South Africa. It was not until a year later when Mandela was elected to be the first black president of South Africa when his Gandhi like ways really started to show. Instead of punishing those who had imprisoned him and his compatriots, he moved to try and reconcile South Africa’s black majority and white minority. He demonstrated forgiveness and more non-violent ways by doing so. In many ways Nelson Mandela and Gandhi are very similar; they both avoided violence, they both gained independence for their countries, and they both etched their names in the history books forever. Even after Gandhi died, his legacy still continues to live on. Since his time, the number of peaceful protests has increased and is increasing more over time. Also, violent success rates are nearly half the number of success rates for peaceful protests and there are three-times more violent campaign failures than non-violent campaign failures. These all prove that Gandhi’s legacy of peace and non-violent protesting will always live and will continue to get stronger. Gandhi’s life was remarkable; he led his country to independence, he became one of the greatest leaders of all time, and he established a new standard of protesting by proving the efficiency of peaceful protesting and Satyagraha that would forever be remembered. He led a very successful life by using passive resistance and civil disobedience. He also inspired many important people of our worlds history and he still continues to inspire to this day. But his greatest achievement lies in his legacy; for his ideals, how he led by example, how he inspired people and continues to inspire people, and most importantly how he encouraged people to stand up for what was right.
Bibliography
"Mohandas Gandhi." (1999): n.pag. World Book Online. Web. 26 Feb 2014.

Bibliography: "Mohandas Gandhi." (1999): n.pag. World Book Online. Web. 26 Feb 2014.