The Sepoy Rebellion was the First War of Independence in 1857. I was when Indian soldiers rebelled against the British authorities. An event that led directly to the Sepoy Rebellion was when there was a new rifle that came out and it was said to have been covered in a mix of cow and pig fat, both of which are sacred or religiously important to Hindus and Muslims. They found this very offensive and refused to use them. The authorities were not very happy with that decision of theirs and so many were put into jail, publicly humiliated, stripped in public, and sentenced to labor. Later, there was a big jail break which then caused a chain of jail breaks to occur. People heard about them and so many other people escaped. Then they invaded Delhi and replaced the current leader with a previous leader. Afterwards, the people who took part in the escape from the jails were tried and then strapped to and blasted by a cannon. From the document Aftermath of the First war of Independence they said "The Indians called it 'the Devil's Wind.'"
In my other blog I defined nationalism as "Nationalism is a person or groups "loyalty and devotion to a nation" I think that they were doing this out of nationalism because they were fighting back against the people who were selling things that disgraced their culture and religion. They were fighting because they were disrespected and thought of badly and wanted that to stop. The British was rude to the Indians and they called them "barbarians without any culture." (document Factors responsible for unrest amongst Indian masses) I think that their reasons for fighting was for pride in themselves and in their culture and religion. They were fighting for respect because the British disrespected them and the Indians wanted to make that change.
*Just about all Documents in Packet Used (not sure how to cite)
To me, nationalism is pride in your country, ethnicity, religion, etc. The Hindus and Muslims were pissed because the bullets that they used were covered in cow and pig fat. The cow is holy to the Hindus, and the pig is holy to the Muslims. Obviously they would be furious. They stood together and stood up for themselves. That is a true display of nationalism, to me.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree with Mark, to me nationalism is pride in ones country and or something they truly would stand up for and love and are devoted to. Which could very much well be religion as well, so i do under stand why some religions are angry with the new guns because the bullets are made with products of big and cow which is against their religion. So Hindus for example have nationalism in their religion for standing against the new bullets.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you entirely the Sepoy Rebellion was a nationalist movement. They were fighting for their beliefs and as you say "fighting for respect." After reading your blog however I saw that you said that they were sentenced to labor, what types of labor do you mean? Because I'm not sure if the Sepoys were of high class or low. If they were part of the low class a farmer perhaps and they were sentence to labor wouldn't that be their previous life style. I'm not sure if you know but if you can elaborate on that, that would be great. Also something to add that I think i ties on with this is that some of the Sepoys did use the rifles (we saw this on the movie on Friday) and because of that they were outcasts, they became the untouchables. As you can see it was a very serious matter. The Sepoys were true to their beliefs and stood up for them. That is why I agree with you that the Sepoys Rebellion displayed nationalism.
ReplyDeleteKarla, you were wondering about the Sepoys being sentenced to labor. Although they may have been farmers before, a job which includes lots of manual labor, that is likely not the job they would maintain after being sentenced. When they were sentenced to labor, they were more likely to end up cleaning the gutters or sweeping the streets (as we saw in a clip during our last class). Another likely difference in their lifestyle after being sentenced to labor is that they would probably receive very little pay, if any, for their work.
ReplyDeleteI think Megan did a really good job on explaining what Nationalism means. I read her blog and realized that being Nationalistic towards ones country is doing anything you can (even putting yourself in danger) to save your own country. The way she put it into words reminded me of the movie clip we watched in class. The soldiers were so dedicated to their nation that they would give up their own life to do something they didnt feel was nationalistic. Someone who is that courageous should be well honored and should be talked highly of, as in our case, all of the soldiers in Iraq, putting their life on the line for our country's safety.
ReplyDeleteAnother definition of nationalism...
ReplyDeleteNationalism is by definition someone's devotion to their country, but as I said in my blog and as Kaitlin said, I think it should apply to religion and it should be supporting or fighting for something you are devoted to or feel strongly about. Going by that definition religion, and therefore this situation would be considered very nationalist but looking back at this I would if it is more for pride in their religion and to protect their image and how they are viewed. As we said in class, they were originally viewed as a higher class because they were helping the British but when they heard about the cartridges they felt offended and they realized that they really weren't treated very differently than the other people. Being offended and realizing that in a sense they had been betrayed and trick I think that is what sparked the sense of needing to build up their pride in their religion and in themselves. Therefore I am not sure if nationalism connects by definition to self-respect and respect for their culture. I think that for this to be connected to "nationalism," then nationalism needs to be altered a little by definition to fit the situation more properly. I think, for this situation, nationalism is having pride in something you feel strongly about or connected to and feel the as if you need to protect or support for you to feel respected and worthy.
Elle, although i respect the intentions of both the Sepoy soldiers and our soldiers in Iraq, it doesn't seem to me like they represent nationalism in the same way. Our soldiers in Iraq put their life on the line to make a better life for Iraqis and to ensure our safety at home. The Sepoy soldiers, on the other hand, were willing to commit suicide rather than do something that went against their beliefs. Our soldiers fight physically for what they believe in, while the Sepoy soldiers rebel against the British commanders by refusing to fight. I'm not saying that you're idea of how American soldiers and Sepoy soldiers show their nationalism is wrong, i just wanted to point out how their ways differ.
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