Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be on the U.S Terror Watch List for more than 20 years and then be elected as your country’s president a year after you are removed from this list? This is what Nelson Mandela went through for many years of his life. Although many people have changed the face of government throughout the world, Nelson Mandela had had a huge impact on South Africa’s government system because of his childhood, prison life, and his presidency. Mandela had a very normal childhood compared to the rest of the kids in his country. Rolihlahla Mandela was born on July 18, 1918 to mother Nonquaphi Nosekeni and father Nkosi Mphakanyishwa Gadla Mandela. His father died when he was only 12 years old but that did not …show more content…
Mandela helped lead the ANC’s campaign for the Defiance of Unjust Laws and opened the first black law firm in South Africa, Also in the same year, he started studying at the University of London after his imprisonment where he did not complete his degree. All in all, Mandela’s childhood was pretty normal compared to the other children in his schools. Even though Mandela’s childhood was as normal as any other child’s, he would spend the next 58 years of his life going from prison to prison and facing numerous harsh punishments. The first time Nelson was imprisoned was in 1932. Between being in prison, he got his LLB through the University of South Africa in 1989. He was then charged with suppression of Communism for the participation in the Defiance Campaign in 1952. Mandela was sentenced to nine months of hard labor and was suspended for two years. He was banned for the first time at the end of the year in 1952 and was only allowed to watch in secret as the Freedom Charter was adopted. On December 5, 1955, he was arrested on the country-wide police swoop that led to the Treason Trial in 1956. During this trial, Nelson married Winnie Madikizela and had two daughters; the divorced in 1996. Before the Treason Trial ended, Mandela wrote to Prime Minister Verwoerd and asked for a non-racial national convention and warned that if he did not agree that there would be a national strike against South Africa becoming a republic. He then went
First, in Rolihlahla Mandela’s(Nelson Mandela) childhood many things happened. For example, his father died when he was only nine years old (www.History.com Staff). He was adopted by the new chief and lived with him from that point on(www.Biography.com). He was the first one in his family to go to school and to go to college(www.sahistory.com). He studied law in every college he went to but never got his degree because he didn’t feel like getting his degree(www.sahistory.com. He got his name Nelson from his teacher, and lived with that name since then. When Nelson
Nelson grew up farming, herding cattle, and attending a christian elementary school while being apart of an african tribe (Nelson Mandela 1). Mandela grew up around tribal chiefs and elders, that helped him understand african self government and heritage better (Tyle 1). Nelsons tribe name was Rolihlahla but was changed to Nelson by a teacher at the school he attended (Nelson Mandela 1). Rolihlahla translates to one who brings trouble upon himself, which describes the journey through fighting for his rights his whole life (Nelson Mandela 1). When Nelson grew older he renounced his hereditary right to the tribal chiefdom and he entered college hoping to graduate with a law degree. He attended the University college of Fort Hare which he was expelled from in 1940 for leading a student strike and Witwatersrand University. He graduated and received his law degree in 1942 from the University of South Africa (Nelson Mandela 1). Nelson married Evelyn Ntoko Mase in 1944 and had four children which were Thembekile, Makaziwe, Makgatho and another Makaziwe Mandela (Nelson Mandela 1). There is only one of them alive today and there is two of the children with the same name because the first one died at the age of nine months. So they decided to name the younger sister after her. Thembekile died in a car accident at a relatively young age and Makgatho died at the age of 54 from AIDS (Nelson Mandela 1). Nelson Mandela ended up getting divorced from evelyn in 1956 (Nelson Mandela 1). On June fourteenth, 1958 he married Nomzamo Winnie Madikileza, who was a political activist (Nelson Mandela 1). He had two children with his second wife which were Zenani and Zindziswa Mandela (Nelson Mandela 1). He divorced Nomzamo in 1996 and he married his third and final wife in 1998 (Nelson Mandela 1). Her name was Graca Machel and she was a human rights activist along with Nelson Mandela (Nelson Mandela 1). He died at the age of 95 on
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
To start with, Nelson Mandela was born in Transkei on 18 July 1918.Mandela's birthday (July 18) was proclaimed "Mandela Day" to advance global peace and celebrate the South African leader's legacy. Nelson Mandela's father, who might have been ordained to be A chief, served Likewise an instructorship on tribal chiefs for a couple years regardless lost both Likewise much title Moreover fortune through a banter with the local colonial magistrate. Mandela, though only an infant at that time, was greatly affected by the incidents. Gradually he developed an interest in African history where he learned how African people had lived in peace until the coming of the white people. Nelson Mandela went to university and graduated with a low degree, after finishing the university, he opened a low business with a friend. Nelson Mandela led an effort to unite the people of South Africa because they differentiated between the Blacks and Whites. Nelson Mandela, after the years of unfair discrimination between the black and white people, got to be the first democratically elected president of
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
The government was whites-only. Most black people were poor.They worked on farms, and in factories and gold mines. Nelson went to a mission school, and then to college at Fort Hare University, he studied law, but left the university in 1939, after student protests about the way it was run. He went on with his studies, and became a lawyer in 1942. In 1944, Nelson Mandela joined the African National
Nelson Mandela remains to be one of the most influential people in the history of South Africa. He defeated apartheid and transformed South Africa into one united nation. Mandela showed phat resiliency by going from prisoner to president, but before he could accomplish all of this, he had a lot of work to do. His main focuses were on the freedoms and obligations of his people. He compared the two words and showed us in his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, what they meant to him.
Who was Nelson Mandela and how did he have an impact on racial problems in South Africa? Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela was born in South Africa. He grew up in Mvezo South Africa. The people that influenced him to take actions were Mahatma Gandhi, Walter Sisulu, and Albert Lutuli. There was this official policy that was called apartheid
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
Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison 18 of those years incarcerated on Robben Island and the rest at Pollsmoor Prison. While Mandela was on Robben Island he still was a strong symbol for black resistance who was for his release and led an international campaign. Mandela had a global political community that was still growing while he was in prison. That is when the South African government descried to move Mandela and the 10 ANC to another Prison the Pollsmoor Prison. They were hoping to cut off contact between them and the South African Government.
Over the years, Mandela had been banned, arrested and tried for Treason in 1956 and he was later acquitted. In 1961, Mandela became the commander of the African National Congress's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe. In 1962, Mandela left South Africa to raise money and gain international support for the ANC. As a result, he was arrested and and sentenced to five years for leaving the country without a passport and incitement. He began serving his time at the Pretoria Local Prison, and was later transferred to Robben Island. In April of 1984, he was sent to Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town. Four years later, he was moved to the Victor Verster Prison. Mandela refused to allow his afflictions to stand in the way of him expanding his knowledge. He once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Mandela taught himself to speak Afrikaans and learn about Afrikaner History. He used that as an advantage to communicate with the guards in their own language. Authorities would always switch around the guards if they felt like they were being too lenient in their treatment on the “famous prisoner”. Mandela also turned down many offers that were made by the
Nelson retained his dignity and remained a beacon of hope to his country, even through many years of jail time. Despite his own hardships, he was still there for his people in trying times, even through his 28 year imprisonment. Multiple offers were made so he could be set free, but he refused as they went against what he believed in. He
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
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.