The Dharasana Salt Works Protest

WALKER: "They walked, with heads up, without music, or cheering, or any hope of escape from injury or death. It went on and on and on. Women carried the wounded bodies from the ditch until they dropped from exhaustion. But still it went on."



"Whatever moral ascendancy the West held was lost today. India is free — for she has taken all that steel and cruelty can give, and she has neither cringed nor retreated."

What did the NY Times reporter mean when he said the West had lost its "moral ascendancy"?

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5 responses
By "moral ascendancy", I think the reporter means that the West thought it was higher up than India. This we confirmed with learning about "white man's burden" and such. Not only that, I think he's saying that because the Indians took the punishment and tolerated it, that the West has no more control over India. Governmental control was lost in this as well as control over the souls and thoughts of the people.
— Jocelyn Kupets
I agree with Jocelyn that the west believed they were "higher up" and this act showed that they were not. The British were cruel and brutal which shows no morals at all. The Indians however stood up for what they believed in and never got violent. It was a moral victory for India because they showed they had class and dignity. The British however made themselves look horrible and evil to the Indians and to the world.
— Charlie Sprayregen
Of all the passive resistance acts, i believe that this was the most effective. This showed that the Indians weren't scared of death or pain because all they wanted was equality and freedom and no force could stop their dream.
— Brett Barich
We can compare the relationship of the British colonizers and the Indians who were colonized to that of an animal trainer and its animal. The British felt as if they had great superiority over the Indian people, who they considered to be savage, uncivilized animals. However, when the Indians bravely marched in a form of peaceful protest, they proved that they were the ones who were really morally superior, which made the British looked like animals.
— Sarah Schuman
When the NY Times reporter said the west has lost all moral ascendency, he meant that the British lost all power and domination. The Salt protests was an effective way of passive resistance that threatened the British and proved, like Brett said, that they weren't scared of death or pain, they only wanted equality and independence. Also the reporter said that "she" meaning India has neither cringed nor retreated meaning that they haven't even second guessed there choice to protest and use passive resistance, they have stayed strong.
— Gabrielle Lyons
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