Free At Last

FREE AT LAST!

INDIAN FREEDOM FIGHTERS IN THE UNITED STATES

British troops leave India, 1947. (Source: New York Times, June 4, 1947)

Through the networks developed by past leaders and the global admiration for Mahatma Gandhi, national opinion regarding independence for India turned positive by the late 1930’s.  Congress and other government agencies, the public, and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt were openly sympathetic.  With the outbreak of World War II, India’s cooperation and wartime contribution became vitally important for Allied success in Asia. The opportunity to push for India’s freedom was at hand. Faced with pressure from President Roosevelt, the awe inspiring force of the nonviolent freedom movement in India led by Mahatma Gandhi and the efforts of Indian freedom fighters worldwide, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill reluctantly agreed to end British rule.

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