Ap World Indian and African Independence Movements

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Emily Shum During the 20th century, European imperialistic empires were beginning to come to an end. However, in India and Africa, independence would not come so easily. Freedom needed to be fought for, and the use of civil disobedience began to emerge. Gandhi, the leader of Indian independence movements used civil disobedience (salt march, boycotts) as one of his most effective methods of protest. Indians sought to invent an identity for themselves, apart from strict British colonial rule. The setting for freedom struggles in Africa was different from India. Africa had already been granted independence in 1910, but it had been granted to a government ruled by a completely white settler minority called the National Party. The National Party instituted a policy of apartheid, a complete separation of races. Nelson Mandela and other nationalist leaders in Africa fought to repeal the apartheid, using civil disobedience and violence. The Indian and African fight for freedom in the 20th century had many similarities as well as differences, such as both India and Africa’s use of symbolic clothing and non-violent protests in civil disobedience movements. One similarity between the uses of civil disobedience in South Africa and India is the use of boycotting and hunger strikes. In India, Mahatma Gandhi went on hunger strikes for days; even weeks in order to further prove his dissatisfaction of a British occupied India. In 1989, African political prisoners went on hunger strikes. This resulted in the release of hundreds of detainees, and also drew more attention to detention without trial. The public and press began to question the government ruled by the white minority. Boycotting in India became a very effective method of protest in India because it directly effected the British economy. The British Empire’s economy relied on its salt empire. The British passed the
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