Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 14 views

    Nelson Mandela

    Uploaded by

    ghada
    Nelson Mandela was born in 1918 in South Africa and grew up experiencing racial discrimination and the beginnings of apartheid. He became involved in activism through the African National Congress and advocated non-violent civil disobedience. After the Sharpeville massacre in 1960, he decided that non-violence was no longer effective and went underground to form the military wing of the ANC. He was imprisoned for 27 years for conspiring to overthrow the government but became an international symbol of resistance to apartheid. After his release in 1990, he continued his activism and in 1994 became South Africa's first black president, overseeing the transition to multiracial democracy.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Nelson Mandela

    Uploaded by

    ghada
    14 views3 pages
    Nelson Mandela was born in 1918 in South Africa and grew up experiencing racial discrimination and the beginnings of apartheid. He became involved in activism through the African National Congress and advocated non-violent civil disobedience. After the Sharpeville massacre in 1960, he decided that non-violence was no longer effective and went underground to form the military wing of the ANC. He was imprisoned for 27 years for conspiring to overthrow the government but became an international symbol of resistance to apartheid. After his release in 1990, he continued his activism and in 1994 became South Africa's first black president, overseeing the transition to multiracial democracy.

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Nelson Mandela was born in 1918 in South Africa and grew up experiencing racial discrimination and the beginnings of apartheid. He became involved in activism through the African National Congress and advocated non-violent civil disobedience. After the Sharpeville massacre in 1960, he decided that non-violence was no longer effective and went underground to form the military wing of the ANC. He was imprisoned for 27 years for conspiring to overthrow the government but became an international symbol of resistance to apartheid. After his release in 1990, he continued his activism and in 1994 became South Africa's first black president, overseeing the transition to multiracial democracy.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    14 views3 pages

    Nelson Mandela

    Uploaded by

    ghada
    Nelson Mandela was born in 1918 in South Africa and grew up experiencing racial discrimination and the beginnings of apartheid. He became involved in activism through the African National Congress and advocated non-violent civil disobedience. After the Sharpeville massacre in 1960, he decided that non-violence was no longer effective and went underground to form the military wing of the ANC. He was imprisoned for 27 years for conspiring to overthrow the government but became an international symbol of resistance to apartheid. After his release in 1990, he continued his activism and in 1994 became South Africa's first black president, overseeing the transition to multiracial democracy.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 3

    Nelson Mandela: Civil Rights Activist & President Of South

    Africa.
    Against overwhelming odds, he achieved his dream of equality
    for all south Africans. Nelson Mandela was born on July 18th
    1918 in a small South African village. His father, a tribal chief
    gave his son the name Rolihlahla. At the age of seven, he began
    his British education and his teacher gave him the name Nelson.
    When his father died, Nelson was sent to live with the leader of
    the fem bou people. He grew Nelson for leadership letting him
    sit in on council meetings, sending him to the finest schools.
    During a break from college, Nelson ran away to Johannesburg
    in order to avoid a pre-arranged marriage. It was 1941, and for
    the first time Nelson came face to face with a brutal reality of a
    racially divided South Africa. By entering the city as a kind of
    anonymous black person he gets a first hand experience of
    what black life is like for urban black South Africans at that
    time. He gets a kind of immediate confrontation with the
    white apartheid racist state. I think that he had two
    languages. He had a deep historical language from his own
    learning, his own tribal background. But I also think that he
    had the language of the law. He had a completely
    contemporary language and he brought those two together in
    the language of human Rights. He began attending meetings
    of the African National Congress. An organization that
    aimed to establish a democratic government. During this time,
    he married his first wife, Evelyn The apartheid regime really
    begins to kind of get built up after 1948. When the national
    party comes into power. They were the party of apartheid. A
    year later, the ANC adopted non-violent civil disobedience as
    official policy. In 1952, they launched the campaign of defiance
    of unjust laws and Nelson Mandela travelled to South Africa in
    support of that effort. The National Party government took
    steps to restrict Nelson's movements, banning him from
    attending any gatherings and confined him to Johannesburg. He
    was made the chief volunteer of the youth leagues' national
    defiance campaign, and that's when the authorities began to
    notice him. The government knew that they had someone that
    they could not look away from. He and Oliver Tambo decide to
    set up a law firm that would specialize in serving the black
    population. That will be a kind of low priced law firm, an
    accessible law firm. And that would specialize in defending
    black clients against the apartheid laws. In 1956, the
    government arrested Nelson and 150 other activists charging
    them with treason. Nelson's relentless dedication to activism
    took a toll on his personal life and his wife, Evelyn left him. As
    he waited four years for his trial, he met a beautiful, young
    independent minded Winne Madikizela, who would become his
    second wife in 1958. In 1960, the South African government
    outlawed the African National Congress. Mandela went
    underground and formed the Umkhontowe Sizwe, The" spirit
    of the nation."Umkhonto we Sizwe was formed after
    Sharpeville when 67 people were killed, men, women, and
    children and over 180 were wounded during a peaceful
    demonstration. It was at that time that Mandela realizes,
    and I think it was a very difficult decision for him that non-
    violent resistance was not enough.
    Since he was wanted by the government, he travelled
    abroad secretly gaining support for the cause. When he
    returned to South Africa, he was arrested and sentenced to five
    years in prison. While in prison, he was also charged with
    sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government.
    Mandela stood trial, but refused to defend himself because this
    would legitimize the states' case. Mandela received a life
    sentence to be served in the prison on Robin Island, a desolate
    rock island, seven miles off the coast of Cape Town. Instead of
    being forgotten in jail, Mandela became a symbol for the
    movement to end apartheid. During the 1980's, several offers
    of release were made to Mandela on the condition that he
    renounces violence. He refused. In February of 1990, the
    government declared the ANC legal and announced that
    Mandela was to be released. Here was this man who hasn't
    been seen for over a quarter Century walking out into the
    world. Now free at the age of 71, Mandela was named the head
    of the ANC.His work to bring an end to the apartheid
    earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. In 1994, for the
    first time in more than 300 years blacks in South Africa
    would have the opportunity to vote for their rulers. At the
    age of 75, Mandela was elected president in a landslide.
    Becoming the president, I think he really, really moved the
    World because this was a place that most us didn't think would
    ever see black Leadership. And so for him to rise to power, after
    being in jail for 27 years. I think it was just a really historical
    moment. Mandela proved to be a master politician knowing
    when to be unyielding and when to compromise.
    Unfortunately, his marriage to Winnie came to end in 1996.
    In 1998, Mandela married his third wife on his 80th birthday.
    The following year, he stepped down as president of the ANC.
    Nelson used his stature to help mediate the civil war in
    Burundi. He continues to work with human rights organizations
    and for AIDS awareness. I think that he will be known as one of
    the peaceful freedom fighters of our time.Nelson Mandela
    continues to be a defining symbol of how one man can truly
    make a difference in the world.

    You might also like