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'''Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi''' (1869-1948) also known by the honorific title ''Mahatma Gandhi,'' was a great leader who obtained [[India]]'s independence from [[Britain]].  

'''Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi''' (1869-1948) also known by the honorific title ''Mahatma Gandhi,'' was a great leader who obtained [[India]]'s independence from [[Britain]].  

:It was his [[philosophy]] of ''Satyagraha'' or nonviolent non-compliance (being willing to suffer so that the opponent can realize the error of their ways)—which led India to independence, and has influenced social reformers around the world, including [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]] and the [[Civil Rights Movement|American civil rights movement]], [[Steve Biko]] and other activists in anti-[[apartheid]] struggle in [[South Africa]], and [[Aung San Suu Kyi]] in [[Myanmar]]. [http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Mahatma_Gandhi NWE]

:It was his [[philosophy]] of ''Satyagraha'' or nonviolent non-compliance (being willing to suffer so that the opponent can realize the error of their ways)—which led India to independence, and has influenced social reformers around the world, including [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]] and the [[Civil Rights Movement|American civil rights movement]], [[Steve Biko]] and other activists in anti-[[apartheid]] struggle in [[South Africa]], and [[Aung San Suu Kyi]] in [[Myanmar]].<ref>[http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Mahatma_Gandhi NWE]</ref>

As a Indian lawyer on a one-year assignment in British [[South Africa]], Gandhi experienced racism first-hand.

As a Indian lawyer on a one-year assignment in British [[South Africa]], Gandhi experienced racism first-hand.

:He was thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg for refusing to ride in the third-class compartment while holding a valid first-class ticket. Later, on the same journey, a stagecoach driver beat him for refusing to make room for a European passenger by standing on the footboard. [http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Mahatma_Gandhi NWE]

:He was thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg for refusing to ride in the third-class compartment while holding a valid first-class ticket. Later, on the same journey, a stagecoach driver beat him for refusing to make room for a European passenger by standing on the footboard.<ref>[http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Mahatma_Gandhi NWE]</ref>

He urged peaceful [[civil disobedience]] against the British,<ref>Gandhi's ethic of nonviolence ... calls on each of us to break the self-perpetuating cycle of [[violence]] and [[revenge]] -- of [[action and reaction]] -- by recognizing the common [[humanity]] we share with those we consider our enemies. Gandhi put this philosophy into practice by developing a technique of militant [[nonviolence]] that was intended to force the British to see the humanity of those they oppressed, and the inhumanity of their own actions[http://www.transparencynow.com/news/preface.htm]</ref> calling on Indians to refuse to pay taxes to Britain and refuse to attend British schools.  He also called for a boycott of British manufactures, especially for the cloths that Indian weavers are so famous for.  The Indians heeded Gandhi’s leadership and stopped buying British cloth.  Gandhi also called for the Indian National Congress to change from an elite or wealthy group into more of a people’s voice that could advocate independence.  Gandhi drew upon [[Christian]] concepts as well as his native [[Hinduism]].  His education included studying law at the University College London, though Gandhi makes little mention of that in his autobiography and details are unclear.

He urged peaceful [[civil disobedience]] against the British,<ref>Gandhi's ethic of nonviolence ... calls on each of us to break the self-perpetuating cycle of [[violence]] and [[revenge]] -- of [[action and reaction]] -- by recognizing the common [[humanity]] we share with those we consider our enemies. Gandhi put this philosophy into practice by developing a technique of militant [[nonviolence]] that was intended to force the British to see the humanity of those they oppressed, and the inhumanity of their own actions[http://www.transparencynow.com/news/preface.htm]</ref> calling on Indians to refuse to pay taxes to Britain and refuse to attend British schools.  He also called for a boycott of British manufactures, especially for the cloths that Indian weavers are so famous for.  The Indians heeded Gandhi’s leadership and stopped buying British cloth.  Gandhi also called for the Indian National Congress to change from an elite or wealthy group into more of a people’s voice that could advocate independence.  Gandhi drew upon [[Christian]] concepts as well as his native [[Hinduism]].  His education included studying law at the University College London, though Gandhi makes little mention of that in his autobiography and details are unclear.