Similarities Between Nelson Mandela And Civil Disobedience

Cesar Chavez and Mahatma Gandhi both gave rights to people with very little rights. Cesar Chavez gave more rights to migrant farm workers and Mahatma Gandhi helped uninslave India from Britain. Both where historic defenders of human rights. It is essential to defend human rights because everyone is equal no matter what race or culture and no matter if you are rich or poor. People should all be given the same opportunities to be able to do anything they want to accomplish.

Mohandas Gandhi was born in 1869 in the Indian coastal city of Porbandar (Background Essay). He then studied law in London, where he noticed that Indians were expected to imitate their rulers, the Englishmen (Background Essay). Gandhi wanted all people to live free, even those imposed by India’s caste system so he decided to take action in a peaceful manner (Background Essay). By doing so he was able to gain India’s independence in 1947 (Background Essay). This caused Gandhi to be known as “ Mahatma” or “ Great Soul” because he was able to do it without violence (Background Essay). Gandhi’s nonviolent movement worked because he accepted the consequences to his actions, strived for fairness to all mankind, and didn’t think of the British as enemies.

Mohandas Gandhi was the first recorded individual to adopt a non-violent method based form for change. His primary objective was for people of all ethnicities and social class to live freely amongst each other, even those inflicted upon by India’s ancient caste system.

British rule was tough on many Indians. Gandhi, an Indian born lawyer, believed in freedom and peace for his people. He once experienced racism when he was kicked out of a train in Europe. He changed people’s point of view without breaking the law, which was tough for him. Gandhi made his nonviolent movement work through the use of determination, peaceful civil disobedience, and being a powerful leader.

Henry David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from a Birmingham Jail were written approximately 114 years apart. However, both publications share a common theme. Each of these authors express their opinions on government injustices. The political environments in which each author lived provided their inspiration for their writings. Although many years separate these two works, there are similarities as well as differences between Thoreau's and King's written opinions.

Throughout history, violent reformation movements were traditionally used, but non-violence has been proven just as effective. Gandhi was one of the first to use peaceful resistance and civil disobedience to successfully change India. Civil Disobedience is the active refusal to obey laws set by the government with Nonviolent resistance and respectful disagreement. He used this concept to fight off not only the colonial rule but also racial discrimination and social divisions such as the untouchables in society. Mohandas Gandhi was born in India in 1869. At the age of 19 he went to London to study Law and he was impressed by English laws.His ambition to gain India's independence of all class, wealth, and educational distinction was successful.

Mahatma Gandhi is renowned all over the world for his nonviolent philosophies and impact upon civil rights. He was the primary leader of India’s move towards independence. Gandhi engineered a form of non-violent protest that would influence the world. He was born on 2nd October, 1869, in Porbandar, India. Gandhi studied law and advocated for the civil rights of Indians, and influenced many civil rights movements. Even after his death, Gandhi’s actions inspired future civil rights movements around the globe. He most notably impacted, civil rights movements in three regions of the world; South Africa, India and America.

M.K. Gandhi was an Indian who protested successfully against Britain and ultimately influenced future events around the world. Gandhi’s most successful tactic to gain Indian independence was “Satyagraha” or passive resistance because the majority of society would disagree with the opponent, they will continue to protest no matter what, and it was successfully used in the Salt March. Firstly, using this tactic, about 80 Indian citizens were publically brutalized by British authorities which greatly influenced the world against them because an eyewitness wrote and sent thousands of newspapers, talking about British police brutality, around the world. For example, in Source 3 the text says, “Webb Miller’s eyewitness account was published in over a thousand newspapers around the world.”

By using the principle of individual autonomy, rather than civil disobedience, Gandhi created “Satyagraha”, a nonviolent resistance to unfair laws.

Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. both attempt to argue for the rights to disobey authority if there is social injustice. Thoreau analyzes the duty and responsibility of citizens to protest and take action against corrupt laws of the government. Likewise, King conveys to his audience that the laws of the government against blacks are intolerable and that civil disobedience should be used as an instrument of freedom. They both effectively illustrate their philosophy that civil disobedience is a necessity, and the similarities and differences of these two essays are portrayed through their occasion, audience, purpose, speaker, tone, appeals, and rhetorical strategies.

Mandela was arrested in a countrywide police swoop on 5 December 1955, which led to the 1956 Treason Trial (https://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/biography, website, Accessed 27/6/16). The trial went on for nearly five years and during this time period led to the militant faction of the ANC to split with the ANC in 1959 to form the Pan Africanist Congress. However on 21 March 1960, police killed 69 unarmed people due to a protest in Sharpeville against the racist laws directed to the black Africans. This protest led to the banning of both the ANC and the PAC which led to the movement losing much of it militant support. Mandela and 155 other activists were acquitted in 1961 and led to Mandela believing that armed struggle was the only way

Disobedience was strong when it came to Nelson Mandela. He became an advocate for civil disobedience and managed to become the very first black president of South Africa (Pechey, 2008). He was known to use his voice not only for speech, but as well as the brutality used to cease the Apartheid government of South Africa. What does Apartheid mean? It is meant to be used as an insurance non colored people who covered 20 percent of the nation’s population who would maintain the governing statues of the country Evans, 2015). The South African government grew violently in the process to divide the native Africans from their families and their homes as they were not viewed the same as Europeans (Engler, 2013). Nelson Mandela used his voice to protest

Gandhi is considered by many around the world as the father of the Indian independence movement. Gandhi spent over 20 years in South Africa working to fight discrimination. It was in South Africa that he developed his concept of Satyagraha, a non-violent way of protesting against discrimination. The first time Gandhi used Satyagraha was in South Africa beginning in 1907 when he organized opposition to the Black Act. In 1907, the Black Act was passed, requiring all Indians to keep registration documents on them at all times.

Once Gandhi’s mission in South Africa was complete, he returned to India and became involved in the home ruling movement. He was concerned with excessive land tax and discrimination, so he organized protests by peasants, farmers, and urban laborers to help them stand tall and fight for what they deserved (Gold 57).

The leather sandals slipped from his feet. Mahatma Gandhi's devoted his life mainly to help others, in Ahimsa, non-violence and Hindu - Muslim riots, he was largely inspired by the Gita- the Hindu holy book. Basically he believed everyone should have equal rights. His successes in life were when he studied law in England, got a job in South Africa, when he did the salt march, identified him self with the untouchables- which are India's poorest people.