Indian Independence Movement Review

Indian Independence Movement Review

Multiple Choice

As a result of the Sepoy Rebellion....

• India became a colony of Britain

• India gained its independence

• The British East India Company tightened its control over India

• Gandhi was assassinated

The Sepoy Rebellion

• Growing unrest amongst the Sepoys because of British attempts to convert them to Christianity, unequal treatment, and spreading rumors about the new rifle cartridges being greased with pork/beef fat

• British troops are called in from England to stop the rebellion

• As a result of the British East India Company’s inability to maintain control, it was replaced by the British government.

• The part of India that was under direct British rule was called the Raj

Multiple Choice

Britain's emphasis on growing cash crops in India led to....

• Widespread famine in India

• Desertification of India's farmland

• Increased job opportunities for Indians

• Increased availability of food

Emphasis on Cash Crops Led to Famine

Post-1857, India experienced a period of unprecedented calamity when the region was swept by a series of frequent and devastating famines.

Approximately 25 major famines spread through India in the latter half of the nineteenth century, killing 30–40 million Indians.

Scholars have attributed the famines both to uneven rainfall and British economic and administrative policies. For example, the British seized local farmland and converted it to foreign-owned plantations that grew cash crops that were exported for profit rather than food that could have been used to feed the local population. 

Multiple Choice

Gandhi lived and studied in each of the following countries, EXCEPT....

• United States

• England

• South Africa

• India

Gandhi lived and studied in each of the following countries, EXCEPT the United States

Gandhi studied law in Britain

Gandhi worked for an Indian law firm in South Africa where he began developing his techniques and tenents of nonviolent resistance and Civil Disobedience

Gandhi returned to India in 1915.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following did Gandhi support?

• The caste system

• The Partition of India

• Independence for India

• The salt tax

Multiple Choice

Which form of protest would Gandhi NOT approve of?

• The Boston Tea Party

• Kneeling during the National Anthem

• Burning a draft card/Refusing to serve in the military

• Public sit-in at a school or store

Gandhi probably would not have approved of the Boston Tea Party because it involved destruction of property

All other options were examples of Civil Disobedience/nonviolent protest

Multiple Choice

What is the term that best fits, "the refusal to obey unjust laws in order to create change”

• Nonviolence

• Civil Disobedience

• Defiance

• Uprising

Civil Disobedience

"The refusal to obey certain laws or a government's demands with the goal of influencing laws/policies through the use of nonviolent techniques such as boycotts, picketing, refusing to pay taxes, peaceful gatherings, etc.

Multiple Choice

Which description best describes the Indian National Congress

• Mostly urban and Hindu. Called for gradual change

• Mostly Muslim, formed to bring minority issues to light

• Created by Gandhi to gain more independence for Indians

• A group that worked with the British to increase peace

1885 Indian National Congress Founded

Made up of a group of 73 mostly well-to-do and western-educated Indians who were lawyers, teachers, and journalists,

At first, this group supported British rule and met to discuss issues that were concerns for urban and elite Indians but were not controversial. They wrote papers suggesting changes to the British colonial government and submitted them for review but they had little success. 

Multiple Choice

True or False: The Muslim League was formed in 1906 because Muslim leaders were worried the Indian National Congress would not address the concerns of Muslim Indians

• True

• False

1906 The Muslim League Founded

The Indian National Congress was dominated by Hindu Indians and their concerns. In response to Hindu nationalism, leading members of the upper-class Muslim community formed the Muslim League in 1906.

Like the Indian National Congress, the Muslim League petitioned the British for more say in the government for Indian Muslims and for laws and policies that would favor the people they represented. 

Multiple Choice

True or False: In 1914, Britain promised that if India sent troops to help them fight in World War I, Indians would be allowed to participate more in governing India.

• True

• False

World War I

During World War I, large number of Indian troops served in the British military. In exchange, the British government declared that it would gradually increase Indian participation in the British Raj. The British government of India passed a series of repressive laws that were intended to combat extreme political activities.

By the war’s end, Indians expected more autonomy, however, the British passed what became known as the Rowlatt Acts in 1919, which essentially extended the repressive wartime measures.

The Rowlatt Acts stated that political cases could be tried without juries and that people suspected of acting against the government could be jailed without a trial.

Multiple Choice

Why were Indians protesting in Amritsar the day of the Amritsar Massacre?

• Protesting Rowlatt Acts

• Protesting the salt task

• Protesting against British-manufactured goods

• Protesting in favor of a separate country for Muslims

Multiple Choice

The Amritsar Massacre resulted in....

• British left, creating civil war between Hindus and Muslims

• Increased restrictions of civil rights for Indians

• Middle Eastern influence and revolutions

• New trade agreements with China and Japan

April 1919 Amritsar Massacre

The Amritsar Massacre occurred on April 13, 1919. British troops fired on a large crowd of unarmed Indians in the city of Amritsar, killing several hundred people and wounding many hundreds more.

The crowd of people were peacefully assembling to protest the growing unrest in their city as well as the restrictive measures of the Rowlatt Acts.

(see "2.11 India's Path to Independence Timeline" for more details)

Multiple Choice

What was the goal of Gandhi's Homespun Movement in the 1920s-1940s?

• To promote Indian self-sufficiency so they would not have to rely on the British

• To gain the right to manufacture and sell salt and other natural resources

• To protest increasingly high taxes on Indian citizens

• To protest against India's involvement in World War II

Multiple Choice

True or False: The British discouraged Indian industrialization and Indians creating locally made goods

• True

• False

Homespun Movement

Great Britain’s efforts to modernize the Indian economy brought industrial manufacturing to the colony through the building of textile factories. The move benefited British factory owners, but it greatly diminished India’s traditional economy. People who once made a living by making cloth could not compete with inexpensive machine-made British goods. 

Gandhi argued that India needed to be self-sufficient and so they would not have to not rely on the British. One way of doing this, he claimed was for Indians to make their own clothes. The push for Indians to give up buying British textiles and to make their own clothes was called the Homespun Movement.

Multiple Choice

Why did the British put a tax on salt?

• To send a message to Gandhi that he could not beat them

• For money. Salt is a household staple that everyone uses every day.

• Only the wealthy could afford salt which meant they could tax it and make a profit

• They didn’t think anyone would notice

Multiple Select

Why did Gandhi choose the salt tax as the focus of his biggest protest? (there may be more than 1 answer)

• Its effects harmed both Hindus and Muslims, rich and poor

• Salt is a basic nutritional necessity, a deficiency of salt can make you very sick

• He knew it would affect women especially because they were the ones doing the shopping and cooking for their families

• Salt is a cheap natural resource that is easy to collect from the sea

Multiple Choice

Gandhi's Salt March and illegal harvesting of salt from the sea....

• Inspired millions across India to do the same

• Was viewed as a failure by the global community

• Earned Gandhi the title "Mahatma"

• Earned India its independence

Multiple Select

What happened as a direct result of the Salt March? (choose 2)

• Gandhi was arrested

• The Indian Independence Movement gained international attention and sympathy

• The British left India

• Indian Hindus and Muslims gave up fighting

Multiple Choice

When was the idea of a separate homeland for Muslims introduced?

• Early 1910s

• Early 1920s

• Early 1930s

• Early 1940s

Multiple Choice

Which leader advocated for the creation of Pakistan?

• Jinnah

• Nehru

• Gandhi

• Churchill

Lahore Resolution

In 1940, the Muslim League, led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah wrote the Lahore Resolution, a statement that demanded that India be separated into two states: one for Hindus and one for Muslims.

Violence between Muslims and Hindus had been a continuous issue in India, and politicians like Jinnah feared that the Indian National Congress, which was dominated by Hindus, would not negotiate for the best interests of the Muslim population.

Multiple Choice

Gandhi and the Indian National Congress launched the Quit India Movement in response to which event?

• World War II

• Lahore Resolution

• Amritsar Massacre

• Homespun Movement

Quit India Movement

At the outbreak of WWII, the British pulled India into the conflict without consulting the elected Indian representatives. In response, all of the elected Indian officials resigned from the government. 

In 1942, Gandhi and the Indian National Congress launched the Quit India Movement, demanding immediate independence for India.  Gandhi urged the masses to act as an independent nation and not to follow the orders of the British. Almost the entire Congress leadership was put into confinement and the greater number of the Congress leaders spent the rest of the war in jail.

Despite a lack of direct leadership, large-scale protests and demonstrations were held all over India

Multiple Choice

In which year did India gain its independence from Britain?

• 1947

• 1950

• 1945

• 1940

Multiple Choice

Britain was afraid civil war would break out in India after they left because....

• of Gandhi's assassination

• of increased riots and violence between Hindus and Muslims

• of increased racism

• of retaliation against the British

Multiple Select

In 1947, British parliament passed the Indian Independence Act which officially.... (choose 2)

• Ended British rule in India

• Divided the colony into 2 separate nations: India and Pakistan

• Released Indian soldiers from service in World War II

• Unified India

Multiple Choice

Pakistan became a country for....

• Muslim Indians

• Hindu Indians

• Sikhs

• Secular Indians

Multiple Choice

True or False: Gandhi supported the Partition of India

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Gandhi's assassin, Nathuram Godse, was a nationalist Hindu who incorrectly blamed Gandhi for....

• Supporting Muslims and encouraging the Partition of India

• Supporting Hindus and encouraging the Partition of India

• Getting rid of the British

• Causing India's economic collapse