HIST103: World History (1600–Present)

British colonization had reorganized India's agricultural system to serve the needs of Great Britain, not India. In accordance with the mercantile system, the government forced Indians to buy their finished goods from Great Britain, which destroyed the local textile, metalwork, glass, and paper industries. This led to widespread poverty and famine.

Britain did not design India's famous railroad system to meet the needs of the local population during several periods of famine or connect population hubs to foster Indian commerce. Rather, it was built to export raw materials, such as grain, tea, and cotton, for British profit from the Indian fields to port cities to transport to Britain and other foreign trading posts.

In 1930, Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) told the Indians they should no longer be subject to the British mercantile system, which harvested Indian natural resources and resold its manufactured goods (including salt) back to the Indians at an inflated price. He famously scooped a handful of mud and boiled it to extract the salt. He showed the Indians they could produce their own salt and other goods. They did not need to follow British practices anymore.

Unlike revolutions in Russia and France, the Indian Revolution was pacifist and based on civil protest and disobedience rather than violence. As you watch this documentary, consider Gandhi's larger impact on future movements, such as the civil rights movement Martin Luther King, Jr. led in the United States during the 1960s.