Nelson Mandela Prisoner to Freedom Essay

Nelson Mandela did some helpful things in his life but other people thought it was unacceptable and so he went to jail for no reason. Nelson Mandela was a great leader and left a legacy by winning epic political battles, by making everyone have their rights, and he was president not for the rich stuff but to help out with people’s health, housing, and education. In these next paragraphs they will talk about Nelson Mandela’s childhood. Also about his life in jail and why he went to jail. Lastly, about his president life and how he became president.

6) however, like Gandhi, he encouraged the volunteers not to retaliate. Mandela spent 26 years and 8 months in jail as punishment for his protesting however, he felt that “no sacrifice was too great in the struggle for freedom” (Doc. 9). He spent time in jail with other protesters that all felt that “whatever sentences [they] received, even the death sentence… [their] deaths would not be in vain” (Doc. 9). Freedom for the South African people from apartheid finally came in 1993. To Mandela this was not just the freedom of his people but “the freedom of all people, black and white” (Doc. 12). “South Africa’s New Democracy” rose after years of continuous nonviolence from the populace.

Mandela was a very important leader in the struggle against apartheid. Like many other struggle leaders, he was thrown in jail more than once and spent 27 years of his life in jail. He became an important symbol for human rights and anti-apartheid campaigns all over the world. In 1990 he was finally released from jail, and he became an important leader in the talks with President F.W. de Klerk about a South Africa free from apartheid.

While in prison many other ANC leaders were also found and arrested. They were all put on trial (Rivonia Trial) for sabotage, treason, and violent conspiracy. Mandela was sentenced to life in prison at the maximum security Robben Island Prison. Although in a maximum-security prison, Mandela was still able to keep in contact with the anti-apartheid movement secretly. For 18 years Mandela stayed at Robben Island, where he lived under harsh conditions with other political leaders. This time spent in the prison changed his attitude and made him become the great political leader that he is today. He realized that violence was not the answer to all his problems. Furthermore, many would think that this imprisonment would hurt the anti-apartheid movement, but in reality it helped much more. Many world leaders demanded that Mandela be

Nelson Mandela had to face many obstacles being imprisoned is one of the main obstacles. Nelson Mandela was "educated his fellow prisoners and providing inspiration so that prison life would not kill the zeal for their struggle." (Buckwalter 1). Even with all the odds stacked against him he never gave up. Mandela was given the

“To deny people their right to human rights is to challenge their very humanity. To impose on them a wretched life of hunger and deprivation is to dehumanize them. But such has been the terrible fate of all black persons in our country under the system of apartheid (“In Nelson Mandela’s own words”). Nelson Mandela was a moral compass symbolizing the struggle against racial oppression. Nelson Mandela emerged from prison after twenty-seven years to lead his country to justice. For twenty-seven years he sat in a cell because he believed in a country without apartheid, a country with freedom and human rights. He fought for a country where all people were equal, treated with respect and given equal opportunity. Nelson Mandela looms large in the

Mandela was imprisoned in South Africa from 1964-82. During the period of his imprisonment his public reputation grew. Upon his release from prison, he was considered the most prominent leader in black South Africa and he was a strong symbol of resistance in the anti-apartheid movement. Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s president in 1994. His main leadership qualities characteristics were his determination, persistence, focus and will.

"As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison." This was stated by former president of Africa, Nelson Mandela, who was sentenced to a 27-year sentence of imprisonment for standing up against a government that was committing egregious human rights abuses against black Southern Africans. Once Mandela was released in 1990, he went on to lead the way for the abolition of segregation four years later.

Every life comes with hardships and with every hardship comes some sort of setback be it big or small. Nelson Mandela said to his people “do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again”, and many times did he fall and get back up (Brainyquote). Nelson Mandela has always had a vision of South Africa where he and his people could live in a community without apartheid. As this vision became clear to him, and he began to act upon his thoughts, the white supremacists began their process on preventing him from achieving his goals. Nelson Mandela was first charge was furthering the aims of communism which ended his work towards an education due to his incardination and somewhat due to his financial status (Williams). This would not hold back his strive for a degree, upon his release he immediately focused on schooling (nelsonmandela). While jail time set him back Nelson Mandela soon continued his long trail to a degree at a University of London; determined to earn some sort of certificate of completion (Williams).

Nelson Mandela was a man who learned from his previously violent ways and thoroughly used peace to his advantage in his fight against apartheid, and in the leading of South Africa. Nelson Mandela grew up as a peaceful person and in 1943 went to law school for his degree. While in law school, he got very interested in politics and joined a radical protest group, the African National Congress (The ANC). The ANC got into a lot of trouble with the government for their ideas about a place without apartheid. Mandela was arrested in 1963 and sentenced to life in prison. The government let him out of

Nelson Mandela was the man who abolished Apartheid, freeing South Africa from the binds of racial segregation forever. However, it was not an easy road and Mandela needed patience, strength of character, focus, passion, understanding, perseverance, and most importantly, forgiveness, to achieve this. For more than forty years, black South Africans were subject to the harsh racial segregation of the Apartheid system; despite making up over 70% of South Africa’s population, they had little to no rights.

While in prison he was able to continue talks with President De Klerk of South Africa who released him from prison in 1990 and in 1993 he was given a Nobel Peace prize for his role in dismantling apartheid. This was also the year of the first all race election in over 300 years in South Africa. He was an advocate of promoting peace and equality on the national and global level. In later years Mandela spent his time as a woman’s rights activist and started a children’s fund to help children living in poverty as well as a campaign to fight AIDS which is what his son had died from.

Nelson Mandela in his book, Long Walk to Freedom argues through the first five parts that a black individual must deal, coop, and grow through a society that is hindering their lives' with apartheid and suppression of their rightful land. Rolihlanla Mphakanyiswa or clan name, Madiba was born on July 18, 1918 in a simple village of Mvezo, which was not accustomed to the happenings of South Africa as a whole. His father was an respected man who led a good life, but lost it because of a dispute with the magistrate. While, his mother was a hard-working woman full of daily choirs. His childhood was full of playing games with fellow children and having fun. In school, Mandela was given his English name of Nelson. After his father's death, he

I have always thought that Nelson Mandela has been one of the most important people in history. I find it very fascinating that one man could end the Apartheid and that is why I want to find out more about this. South Africa is a country with a past of enforced racism and separation of its multi-racial community. The White Europeans invaded South Africa and started a political system known as 'Apartheid' (meaning 'apartness'). This system severely restricted the rights and lifestyle of the non-White inhabitants of the country forcing them to live separately from the White Europeans. I have chosen to investigate how the Apartheid affected people’s lives, and also how and why the Apartheid system rose and fell in South Africa.

From 1964 to 1982, Mandela was kept in a maximum-security prison. In 1988, he was hospitalized for tuberculosis. Amidst increasing global pressures, the South African government under President F.W. de Klerk released Mandela from prison on February 11, 1990. On March 2, Mandela was chosen deputy president of the ANC, and he replaced the president in July 1991. Mandela and de Klerk worked to end apartheid and bring about a peaceful transition to nonracial democracy in South Africa.