LIWA

Struggle for Freedom (I)

ICSE Class 8 · History & Civics · Chapter 10

What this chapter covers

Key definitions

Economic exploitation is the use of a country's land, labour and wealth mainly for the benefit of another country, leaving the people of the first country poorer.

Western education is the system of schooling in English that taught modern subjects such as science, history, economics and political thought, along with the ideas of European thinkers.

Constitutional methods are lawful and peaceful ways of seeking change, such as petitions, speeches, resolutions and debates in councils, without breaking any law.

Divide and rule is a method of control in which a ruling power keeps people weak by encouraging divisions among them, so that they cannot unite against it.

Swadeshi means "of one's own country", and as a movement it called on Indians to use goods made in India and to support Indian industries.

Boycott is the refusal to buy, use or deal with something as a form of protest, and in 1905 it meant the refusal to buy British goods, especially British cloth.

Swaraj means self-rule, that is, the government of a country by its own people instead of by foreign rulers.

Key points

Questions answered

Define nationalism.
Nationalism is the feeling of belonging to one nation, together with the wish that the nation should be free, united and governed in the interest of its own people.
What did Indian leaders mean by the "drain of wealth"?
They meant that a large part of India's wealth went to Britain every year as salaries, pensions, interest and profits, with nothing coming back in return, and that this was a main cause of Indian poverty.
Give two ways in which Western education helped the rise of nationalism.
It gave educated Indians a common language, English, to share ideas across regions. It also introduced them to ideas of liberty, equality and democracy.
How did newspapers reach people who could not buy or read them?
A single copy was often read aloud in a village square, library or tea shop, so many people heard the news.
Why was the Vernacular Press Act of 1878 seen as unfair?
It punished newspapers in Indian languages but did not apply to English newspapers, so it discriminated against Indian papers.
When and where was the first session of the Indian National Congress held, and who presided?
It was held in Bombay from 28 to 31 December 1885, with Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee as President.
State any three objectives of the early Congress.
To promote friendship among nationalists from different regions, to build national unity above differences of religion, region and caste, and to place Indian demands before the government.
Name any two methods and two demands of the Moderates.
Methods: petitions and resolutions. Demands: holding the Civil Service examination in India, and expanding legislative councils.