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Name _________________________ Date __________ Per ____________ Indian Independence

Reading: Choices Curriculum, Brown University, Indian Independence p. 11-20


Task: You’ve been asked to create a study aid for future students in Ms. Wilson’s class. Your job is to take this reading on
how India achieved its independence and create a simple timeline and clearly explain the historical significance of each
event. Future students should be able to understand the impact that British rule had on India and how Indians were
able to achieve their independence.

1909 India Councils Act: (p.11)


What did it do?

How was it still not “true” representation?

Why were Muslims still concerned?

1919 Government of India Act: (p.12)


Why was it created?

What did it to?

How was it still limited?

1920-22. Gandhi and the Indian National Congress (p.13-15)


How did the Gandhi use the policy of noncooperation to pressure the British? (p.13) Boycott,(homespun clothes),
withhold taxes, return honorary titles, withdraw from school, noncooperation with the government. Salt March. Quit
India Movement. Appeal to masses – get the most people involved.

What is did boycotting British products work so effectively? (Inference)

What was the Salt March and why did it work so effectively? (p.14)

1922- Muslim League (p.15,17)


Why did some people have problems Gandhi’s strategy?

Why did Muslims in the United Provinces feel betrayed?

(1939-1945) WWII (p.20)


Why were the British more willing to let India have its independence after WWII ?
No longer had debt – Britian owed $, Indian military trained.
Why did the British fear if they did not leave India?
- realized grip slipping – worried driven out may make them look bad – civil war.

How would it be beneficial for the British in their efforts in the Cold War to leave India willingly?
Instead wanted an India still friendly to Britain and be willing to be an ally against Russia.

How does India’s road to independence represent a pattern for other imperialized countries? (not in reading)
-Most countries achieved DECOLONIZATION after WW2 – colonies were just too expensive, Gandhi’s nonviolent
movement created a domino affect of protest movements around the world

1945 New Constituion (p.12)


What requirements did the British place on the new Indian Constitution?
Protection for minorities; provinces had to approve; Britain had to approve;

What does India have to agree to before England will allow them to write a new constitution?
Follow Br. Direction in ww2

1947 Partition (lecture)

What was Partition?

What problems did partition create?


-Kashmir fight over water
-violence tension between Muslims and Hindus
-
Discussion questions about big, controversial ideas presented from our readings.

(1) One of the big problems of democracy is that the will of the majority can overrun a minority.
For instance, some people in America see it as unfair that the heterosexual majority in places
like Texas have made a law prevented homosexual marriage. They see this as an example of
a majority taking advantage of their privileged status to pass unfair laws that strip a minority of
what should be a right. In India, this majority versus minority is clearly a major concern.
Muslims are concerned that the majority will always elect Hindu officials who will ignore the
needs of the Muslim community. Worse, some Muslims fear that that the majority Hindu will
pass laws to discriminate against them as payback for centuries of Mughal misrule.

What was the Indian solution to this problem?

Do you agree with it? Explain.

Would the American democracy be enhanced by this sort of system? Think big – maybe we should
reserve seats based on religion, but should we reserve seats based on something else?

(2) What problems face India today? (Feel free to do research or ask someone familiar with these
issues).

Which problems are the most pressing and the most serious?

Are they likely to improve or worsen over time?

What steps may be necessary to solve these problems?

(3) Did the nonviolence move up speed up the process of independence or slow it down? Explain.
(4) What was the most significant reason India was able to achieve independence? Explain.
-Internal economic pressure made it impossible to make a profit (boycotts, tax evasion, strikes)
-International pressure from other countries

(5) Reflect on the question of partition. Would British India have been better off receiving
independence without partition and, therefore, without creating Pakistan?

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