Film Lesson: "Gandhi"

Mahatma Gandhi was born in 1869 in western India. He is well known for helping India gain independence. Gandhi was not satisfied with the way Indian people were treated by the British. They did not have many rights and this infuriated Gandhi. He decided that it was time for the Indians to stand up against the British. One thing Gandhi and the Indians did was that they refused to buy clothing from the British. Instead they would make their own clothes. Gandhi already made his own clothes by using yarn and a spinning wheel. He would take time out of his day just to this. Gandhi wanted the Indians to do this so that the British sale of clothing would decrease, therefore decreasing their profit along with it.

Gandhi and his followers then went on a 200 mile walk to the coast. When they got to the sea, they began to make salt out of the sea water by collecting it and letting it evaporate. By making their own salt, they wouldn't be buying salt from the British. Gandhi didn't like the idea of violence so he protested peacefully with acts of non violence. Since making their own salt was illegal, many of Gandhi's followers were thrown into jail and were victims of police violence. Even though the police beat them, they refused to defend themselves because of the teachings of Gandhi. Gandhi believed that reacting to situations with violence lead to even more violence. If his followers were involved in acts of violence, he would fast. His followers would immediately stop because they did not want Gandhi to die from starvation.