preview

Essay about Nelson Mandela's Effect on South Africa

Good Essays

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

Get Access