Apartheid in South Africa

On December 5, 1956 156 activists were arrested and were on trial for treason including Nelson Mandela. “In 1960, the ANC was outlawed. They had to conduct their meetings in secret from then on. Despite that, he would go to other public meetings and speak out against the repressive regime and secretly organise civil action like strikes and sit ins. However, he had to move around a lot because the authorities were looking for him and he kept evading them.”(History’s Heroes). Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress had to hold meetings in secret because they were afraid that they would be caught.

In response to the multitude of racial injustices black citizens began organizing and protesting the current system. This lead to many leaders being imprisoned, and specifically Nelson Mandela being thrown in jail in 1964 where he would remain until 1990. The imprisonment of Nelson Mandela and the exiling of many other black leaders by the South African government crushed the spirits of the people and stalled the protest efforts. Then in the 1970’s student protests increased once again with the Soweto uprising in 1976. This movement called the “Black consciousness” contained similar ties to other black movements in the United States at the time. Protests and music continued to fuel the rebellion through the 1980’s until serious traction came from the movement. As stated earlier Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990 and eventually elected president in 1994 and changing the racial aspect of South Africa from apartheid to electing a black president.

Mandela was arrested in a countrywide police swoop on 5 December 1955, which led to the 1956 Treason Trial (https://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/biography, website, Accessed 27/6/16). The trial went on for nearly five years and during this time period led to the militant faction of the ANC to split with the ANC in 1959 to form the Pan Africanist Congress. However on 21 March 1960, police killed 69 unarmed people due to a protest in Sharpeville against the racist laws directed to the black Africans. This protest led to the banning of both the ANC and the PAC which led to the movement losing much of it militant support. Mandela and 155 other activists were acquitted in 1961 and led to Mandela believing that armed struggle was the only way

Following tradition, Mandela 's guardian arranged a marriage for him and Mandela was not so happy with the idea. He thought his freedom was being taken away so he decided to run away to Johannesburg. There he had many jobs and he continued studying to get his degree. Mandela then joined the African National Congress in 1942, him along with a group of young Africans wanted to make a difference. Mandela participated in nonviolent acts of defiance against the government for almost 20 years. Part of this included the 1952 Defiance Campaign and the 1955 Congress of People. In 1956, many people were charged for treason and arrested, Nelson Mandela being one of them. After being released, he was arrested once again in 1961 for 5 years because he was the leader of a strike. In 1963, he was brought to trial again . He had many plans to escape, but the British intellegence force kept ruining them. Being in prison was difficult for Mandela, but he tried to remain helping his people. When President P.W. Botha suffered a stroke, he was replaced by

He strived to create a free, democratic country for all people. The 1950’s was a dangerous era for black people in South Africa. Mandela, being black, was an activist against the Apartheid state. In 1944, Mandela formed the African National Congress Youth League, an organization that encouraged leadership against the segregation in South Africa. Mandela was charged for treason in 1956, and sent to jail for causing uprisings towards unfair employers. After his trial, there was a protest against inequality towards black people in Sharpeville. Sixty nine black protesters were shot and killed by police. In response to the massacre, Mandela quickly formed a Guerrilla fighting group, called the uMkhonto we Sizwe, or “the spear of the nation.” In 1961, the ANC resorted to violence. The ANC used bombs to destroy government buildings and they killed innocent people. Unfortunately, on June 12, 1964, Nelson Mandela was convicted to a life’s time in jail. Many years later, F.W. de Klerk was elected president of South Africa. He wanted to dismantle the Apartheid, and in 1989 he repealed the ban on the ANC and released Mandela in 1990. Nelson Mandela became the face of social and political activism and advocacy, and was greeted by thousands of supporters who filled the

On December 5, 1956, Mandela and 155 other activists were arrested and went on trial for treason (history.com). All of them were relevied of charge in 1962 but, but in the meantime tensions within the ANC escalated. The next year police shot at black protesters in Sharpeville and killed 69 people. As a result, anger panic and riots began and the apartheid government banned both the ANC and the PAC. Therefore Mandela was forced to go underground and wear a disguise, he decided that it was time for a radical

South Africa kept the racial division in law , which denied blacks to vote and have simple rights . However , when Mandela was released from prison , he was able to negotiate with the president at the time . With all of Mandela's negotiating , the president was finally able to get black’s the simple rights to vote and much more . In addition , Mandela thought it was truly inhumane because some shouldn’t have rights just because they are a different color than whites . Furthermore , at the time was also trying to build a multiracial government that had all types of races in them so everyone had the same rights . Nelson thought that this was inhumane because whether you are white , black , or another type of race , it should create laws trying to keep whites safe from them ; The segregation was very unfair to any type of race except whites because blacks had to use bathroom that were nasty , and they wouldn’t be able to go into certain restaurants for their race . Furthermore , Mandela made the choice to end segregation because everyone should have freedom and the same rights for everyone

Former president of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Nelson Mandela achieved an incredible number of achievements during his lifetime. In 1943, Nelson enrolled at Witswaterand, a predominately white university, where he was exposed to people from different background and races. He was exposed to radical, liberal and Africanist thought, as well as discrimination and racism, it was during this time in Nelson’s life that he became interested in politics and also joined the African National Congress (ANC). In 1952, Mr. Mandela along with his partner Oliver Tambo, opened a law firm and began campaigning against apartheid, the system that oppressed the black majority devised by the all-white National Party. As the tension with the apartheid grew, Mr. Mandela went underground after the ANC was outlawed in 1960 following an event at Sharpeville when police shot dead 69 unarmed black protesters. The days of nonviolent resistance were over and the All-African National Action Council was formed with Mandela acting as honorary secretary, this militant organization used sabotage and other tactics to destruct government property as it continued the fight against apartheid. Following a raid of the group’s secret headquarters by the government, Mandela was charged with sabotage and attempting to violently

They struggled to keep their traditions such as, Eve of Atonement where “ I am God’s child. We bow down before God. We stand erect before Man.” Jewish’s ghetto theaters produced plays and concerts. Their teachers taught children lessons in secret schools. So that one-day people would find out the truth about the Nazi regime, most of all scholars kept records. Jewish freedom fighters fought the Nazi soldiers. Allied forces moved across Europe and liberated concentration camp prisoners as well as prisoners en route by forced march from one camp to another. May 7,1945 the day the German armed forces surrendered unconditionally. Resistance to apartheid within South Africa took many forms over the years, from non-violence demonstrations, protests and strikes to political action and eventually to armed resistance. ANC organized a mass meeting in 1952 during which the attendees burned their passbooks. The Congress of the People adopted a Freedom Charter in 1955 asserting that “South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black or white.” The government broke up the meeting and arrested 150 people, charging them with high treason. Resistance leaders were captured and sentence to long prison terms or executed. Nelson Mandela, founder of Umkhonto We Sizwe the military wing of the ANC, got incarcerated for 27 years for being a

Mandela travelled around Africa and visited England to gain support for Africa’s armed struggle. He traveled to Morocco and Ethiopia to receive military training, and had returned to South Africa in July 1962. Once Mandela returned to Africa, a month later he was arrested in a police roadblock outside of the town Howick on August 5,1962. Mandela was returning from KwaZulu-Natal, where he had gave ANC President Chief Albert Luthuli a brief summary of his trip. He was charged with leaving the country without a permit and inciting workers to strike. Mandela was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment, which he had began serving his sentence at the Pretoria Local Prison. On May 27, 1963 he was transferred to Robben Island and returned to Pretoria on June

Resistance leader, Nelson Mandela, was born in Umtata, South Africa on July 18, 1918. He was engaged in resistance against the ruling National Party's apartheid policies after 1948. He was the leader of an underground political movement called the African National Congress (ANC). Through all of this, he emerged to become the first president of a black-majority-ruled South Africa and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. "Mandela was inculcated with a tremendous sense of responsibility to his family and community, reflected in some of his childhood duties such as plowing land, herding cattle, and tending sheep" In a prison for 27 years, Nelson Mandela continued to remain a beacon of hope for South African segregated blacks. Including courage and strength, Mandela endured and peacefully fought the South African government to vanquish apartheid. Nelson Mandela was courageous because he was an activist against apartheid in South Africa. His courage is what separated him from the other blacks by taking a stand and being a role-model. Unlike the young leaders with whom he grew up, Mandela was ready to try every possible technique to destroy apartheid peacefully, though he, too, realized the futility of nonviolence in view of the conditions which prevailed in his country" This shows courage because he was willing to try nonviolence even though

In 1944 Mandela joined a political group called the African National Congress (ANC), which was a group that fought for “blacks” so they could have the equal amount of human rights like the “whites” in South Africa. According to BBC, “In 1948 the South African government came up with a law that kept the whites and blacks separated called Apartheid(“Primary History”).” With the help from an associate at ANC named Oliver Tambo, Nelson Mandela set up South Africa’s first black law firm so that poor people could come to them for help. 1956 was the year that Mandela and a group of 155 other people were arrested for treason. While in jail in 1960, other people from the ANC group held a demonstration against apartheid and the police shot and killed 69 people. That massacre gave Nelson Mandela more motivation to end the racial segregation going on. According to Biography.com, “He was released in 1961 and a year later he was arrested again for conspiring to overthrow the state and was sentenced to life in prison(“Nelson Mandela”

Such laws included the Population Registration Act of 1950, which classified the population by their race, banning interracial marriage, infuriating many. To end this unjust government, Mandela lead peaceful protests, but these actions were regarded as treasonous by the apartheid. The government also brought about the segregation of education, medical care, and several other public services, which Mandela greatly protested against, for he opposed the fact that these basic human rights were taken from the non-white African. In defiance of the apartheid’s mindset of black inferiority, Mandela established a law firm that was run by black, and also continued to speak out on behalf of colored African peacefully for two decades. Consequently, him and many others were arrested and charged with treason for their political advocacy in 1956, although the charge was acquitted eventually, still proving yet again the great amounts of involvement that Mandela

Nelson Mandela was a leader that has been fairly tried and convicted of complicity in many murders. His effort earned him his first suspended conviction under the suppression of communism act. Nelson Mandela, was a leader of the African national congress which was fighting apartheid, was accused of trying to overthrow the government, he was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. The government freed Mandela after he had spent twenty-seven years in prison and began to negotiation toward black majority rule. Some feared a racial bloodbath when white rule ended, with blacks taking revenge for past injustices.

The African National Congress (ANC) was founded in 1912 as a means to protect the rights of black persons. Through this party, a Programme of Action (1949) was born where protests and strikes were organized. This Programme evolved in 1952 with the launch of the Defiance Campaign. At this point, the ANCs goal was “. . . the liberation of the black majority and to equality before the law for all South Africans” (Walshe, 541). Some of the methods implemented may have been inspired by Gandhi’s actions as the ANC used similar methods as him (e.g., peaceful protest), and they began