DBQ Essay

Nonviolence

Nonviolence works by punishing the body that needs to be changed through other means than physical pain. Since through non-violence only one side of the dispute is physically harmed, it is the best solution to reduce the amount of violence. That is as long as there’s enough support for the movement.
Old Documents
“Document B”- Martin Luther said that boycotts were “necessary” and that this method “would be an effective one”. Boycotts harmed the economy in order to reach the desired result. However, since it was a non-violent protest, there were relatively few casualties.
Gandhi in “Document A” asked for “all the people in India” to “suspend their business on that day”. This is yet another example of a successful boycott in which the Indian people got the laws repealed with few fatalities.
Nelson Mandela, in “Document C” denied President Mr. de Klerk’s request to speak about ending international sanctions on South Africa. He felt that if the president wanted the economy to improve, sanctions were the best way to pressure the government to end apartheid. Once again, few people were harmed compared to if a full civil war broke out.
In “Document D”, Gandhi wrote a letter reassuring his desire to continue protests non-violently, but that he would carry out harming the government in an economical or political manner. Having the Indian people produce their own salt put an extra financial burden on the English government. Therefore their monopoly on salt was no longer a major source of income. Yet again, no one was harmed in this particular protest.
Nelson Mandela, in “Document I” said that non-violent protesters “could not retaliate otherwise they undermine the value of the entire enterprise”. In other words those who protest through nonviolence can’t fight back. If they do, then they would only provoke more violence and give a reason for their aggressors to continue attacking them.

New Documents
“Document N” provides a new form of nonviolent protest, the media. After TIME magazine finished a story on Martin Luther King’s movement, he could feel the hostility against him reduce. The media spreads information around to many people and that’s how Dr. King’s movement spread as far as it did, to as many people as it did. With this newfound support, Dr. King’s movement became even stronger, strong enough to eventually end segregation.
Another supporter of the media was Gandhi, who in “Document M”, described how newspapers allowed him to express his feelings in a way that wouldn’t harm people. He called it the “training ground for self restraint”. Also the use of the newspaper provided a means to study “human nature in all its shades and variations”. To Gandhi, the newspaper was the way to spread the truth to a mass audience. With the truth about what really transpired, people began to realize what atrocities the British were putting on the Indians. Soon afterward, the support grew so strong against the British, they had to leave India.

Moving visuals accompanied by audible noises
In South Africa, Gandhi burnt the passes required for Indians to be there in protest of the segregation taking place. Despite the fact that he was beat and taken prisoner, his movement commenced and gathered support as people began to hear of the inhumane treatment of the British. On the other hand, if Gandhi had retaliated, then the English would have had an excuse for the punishment that he received, and his arrest would therefore have had a lesser effect.
The massacre of 1500 Indians, the beating at the Dharasana Salt Works, and every other form of violence perpetrated by the British onto the Indians was part of Gandhi’s plan to get the people of the world to see how bad of treatment they were receiving and to convince them to end the suffering.