DO NOW: Describe what you see in the picture to the right. How do you think the Europeans viewed the Indians? Why? How do you think the Indians viewed the Europeans?

Review: WHII.11: Describe the causes of 19th century European Imperialism. WHII.15: Identify major developments in African history in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Africa’s interaction with imperialism Agricultural changes and new patterns of employment The origins of African nationalism Preview: WHII.12: Identify major developments in Indian history in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The economic and political relationship between India and Britain The building of roads, canals, railroads and universities The rise of Indian nationalism and the ideas of Gandhi

India was originally conquered not by a country, but by a company! The British East India Company obtained a sphere of influence on the Indian coast in the 1600s. What do you think they wanted?

By the 1800s, the East India Company had established protectorates and colonies over most of India. How do you think they managed to conquer and govern such a huge, diverse land with so many different languages, religions and cultures?

“Whatever happens, we have got The Maxim gun, and they have not.” The British played the different groups against each other, using “friendly” princes fight their enemies. And when that didn’t work… “Whatever happens, we have got The Maxim gun, and they have not.”

What would help the Indians fight back against the British?

Over time, a sense of nationalism grew among the Indian people Over time, a sense of nationalism grew among the Indian people. United, they turned the Europeans’ guns against the British East India Company in the 1858 Sepoy Rebellion.

The East India Company had to ask Queen Victoria for help The East India Company had to ask Queen Victoria for help. British soldiers arrived to put down the Sepoy Rebellion, and the Queen made India a full colony – the “Brightest Jewel” in her crown. “Justice???”

Queen Victoria saw India as a source of raw materials for British factories, and as a market for British products. She encouraged the Indians to grow cash crops like cotton, that could be turned into textiles (clothing) in British factories, and then sold back to the Indians. Who benefited from this relationship? Who suffered from this relationship?

The British built roads, railroads and canals to get Indian raw materials to port cities, where they could be shipped to England and used in factories.

The British also needed local Indians who would agree to help them The British also needed local Indians who would agree to help them. They set up British schools for the children of wealthy Indians to attend, so they would become more “British.” “We must at present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern; a class of persons, Indian in blood and color, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect.” What would Rudyard Kipling have thought of this? What would Mahatma Gandhi have thought of this?

The Indians who attended British schools studied Enlightenment ideas such as democracy, natural rights, equality, and nationalism, but they saw that they had none of this in India. In 1885 Hindus, Muslims, and Indians of all religions united to form the Indian National Congress, which supported Indian self-rule and independence.

Mahatma Gandhi was born into a middle-class Hindu family Mahatma Gandhi was born into a middle-class Hindu family. His parents sent him to England to study law when he was just 19. In England, he saw firsthand the freedom and democracy that the British people enjoyed. At first, he admired England and tried to think, talk, and dress in the British style. When he graduated, he moved to South Africa, a British colony where many Indians lived. Gandhi saw how the British colonials mistreated Indians and Africans abroad. He lost faith in Western Civilization, and decided to go back to his Indian roots.

Gandhi knew that the British had better weapons than the Indians, and that fighting back with violence was useless. Besides, his beliefs forbade him from hurting other people – he was even a vegetarian. Gandhi used two Hindu principles to win Indian independence: Ahisma – nonviolence Satyagraha – firm truth (resistance) “Passive resistance is a method of securing rights by personal suffering. It is the reverse of resistance by arms… If I do not obey an unjust law and accept the penalty for its breach, I use Satyagraha.”

Gandhi thought that the Indians had to be self-sufficient in order to be independent. He told the Indian people not to buy textiles from British factories, but to spin their own clothes themselves. He taught millions of Indian women to home-spin their own clothes, and he only wore clothes that had been home-spun in India. The spinning wheel became the symbol of the Indian National Congress, and is even on the Indian flag today.

Gandhi also thought that the Indian people should make their own salt Gandhi also thought that the Indian people should make their own salt. The British government had given one English company a monopoly on making or selling salt, and it was illegal for Indians to make or sell their own salt. Gandhi marched 240 miles to the ocean to make his own salt. He started off with 78 people, but by the time he reached the ocean, thousands had joined him. He famously said: “With this salt, I defy the British Empire!”

Thousands of Indians started making their own salt Thousands of Indians started making their own salt. The British government arrested them and beat them brutally, but Gandhi told his people not to fight back. Why did Gandhi say this? Instead, he refused to eat until the salt-marchers were free. What was he trying to do?

Gandhi wanted to embarrass the British people, by showing them that they were being hypocritical – they talked about freedom, natural rights, democracy and nationalism, but wouldn’t let the Indian people have these very same things. What did Gandhi say about Western Civilization? Gandhi shamed the British into giving up in 1947. India had achieved its independence through Ahisma and Satyagraha (non-violent resistance)!

But one year later, Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu nationalist who wanted Muslims and Hindus to live in separate countries. India was divided into India and Pakistan. These countries have fought three wars against each other since independence. What would Gandhi have thought?

Review: WHII.12: Identify major developments in Indian history in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The economic and political relationship between India and Britain The building of roads, canals, railroads and universities The rise of Indian nationalism and the ideas of Gandhi