Nelson Mandela
A Hero for All Ages
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
Outline of Presentation
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Historical Background
Apartheid in South Africa
Childhood
Education and Early Career
Political Activism
The Treason Trial
The Pan Africanist Congress
– The Sharpeville Massacre
Travel and Arrest
The Rivonia Trial
– “I am Prepared to Die”
Imprisonment
Release
The End of Apartheid
Presidency
Retirement
Historical Background
• South Africa populated by native tribes
– Xhosa, Zulu, and Sotho people
• Dutch arrived in 17th century
– Attracted by fertile land, mines with gold, diamonds
– Descendents referred to as Boers or Afrikaners
• Friction between two groups
• Afrikaner National Party created in 1940’s
– Asserted economic and social control over blacks
– Invented apartheid to maintain control
• “Separateness” in Afrikaans
Apartheid in South Africa
• Apartheid laws first appeared in 1949
– Prohibited interracial marriages
– Reserved better paying jobs for whites
– Segregation
• 1950 Population Regulation Act
– Required that all citizens be racially classified
• Black Africans forced to carry credentials
• 1951 Bantu Authorities Act
– Created four “homelands”
– Denationalized nine million
• 1953 Public Safety Act & Criminal Law Amendment Act
– Severe punishment for even non-violent protesting
• Fines, imprisonment, whippings
– Could be detained without a hearing for up to six months
• Thousands died in custody, often after torture
• Punished with death, exile, life imprisonment
Childhood
• Born July 18, 1918 in Mvezo, East Cape Province
– Small village
– Region a.k.a. Transkei
• Home to Xhosa-speaking Thembu tribe
• Named Rolihlahla (“troublemaker”)
• Son of Henry Mandela, Chief of Mvezo
– Advisor to Jongintaba Dalindyebo
• Paramount Chief of Thembu
• Guardian after father died in 1930
• Attended meetings conducted by Jongintaba
– Learned about governance
• Descendent of Thembu royalty
– Guaranteed position as royal advisor
Education and Early Career
• Attended Methodist missionary schools
– Renamed Nelson
• Enrolled at University of Fort Hare in 1938
– Befriended Oliver Tambo
• Both expelled in 1940 for political
activism
• Worked at law firm in Johannesburg
– Took course provided by University of
South Africa at night
• Obtained Bachelor’s degree in art in 1941
• Studied law at University of Witwatersrand
• Opened firm with Oliver Tambo in 1952
– First black African legal practice
Political Activism
• Joined African National Congress in 1944
• Formed Youth League with Oliver Tambo
– Secretary of ANCYL in 1947
• National Party won election of 1948
– New ANC president approved by ANCYL
• President of ANCYL in 1951
• Banned from ANC in 1952
– Prohibited from attending meetings or
holding an office
– Confined to Johannesburg area
• ANC operated underground
The Treason Trial
• 156 nationalists arrested December
5th, 1956
– Included Mandela and Albert
Luthuli, President of ANC
– Leaders of Congress Alliance
• Combination of five major
anti-apartheid organizations
• Charged with high treason
– Punishable by death
• Acquitted in March of 1961
The Pan Africanist Congress
• Formed by more radical members of ANC
– Rivalry between ANC and PAC
• 69 demonstrators killed at Sharpeville on March 21, 1960
• Both groups formed military wings in 1961
• Umkhonto we Sizwe (“Spear of the Nation”)
– Mandela appointed first commander of MK
• PAC’s Poqo and MK prepare sabotage
The Sharpeville Massacre
Travel and Arrest
• Mandela left country in secret in 1962
• Attended Conference of Pan-African Freedom Movement of East and
Central Africa
– Conference of African nationalist leaders in Addis Ababa
– Provided with Ethiopian passport by Haile Selassie
• Traveled to Algeria for military training
– Guerilla warfare
• Next to London to visit Tambo
– Arrested upon return
The Rivonia Trial
• Charged for leaving country
– Sentenced to five years in prison
• MK HQ at Lilieslief raided on
July 11th, 1963
– Arrested leaders charged with 221
counts of sabotage
• Mandela delivered four hour
statement
– “I am Prepared to Die”
• Sentenced to life imprisonment plus
five years
“ During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to
this struggle of the African people. I have fought
against white domination, and I have fought
against black domination. I have cherished the
ideal of a democratic and free society in which all
persons live together in harmony and with equal
opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for
and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which
I am prepared to die.”
Imprisonment
• Gained local and international support
– Pressured South African
government to release Mandela
• Hidden from media
– Moved several times
• Offered freedom in 1976
– Told that in exchange he must
withdraw from political activism
– Refused this and subsequent offers
Release
• Frederik Willem de Klerk
became president in 1989
– Lifted ban on all political
parties
– Released all political
prisoners not guilty of
violent crimes
• On February 11th, 1990
Mandela was released
The End of Apartheid
• Replaced Tambo as president of ANC
• Convention for Democratic South America
formed in 1991
– To negotiate transitional government
– Both Mandela and de Klerk involved
• Jointly awarded Nobel Peace Prize in
December of 1993
• First multiracial election in South Africa in
April of 1994
– ANC won by 62%
– Government of National Unity
• Maximum of five years while new
constitution formed
– Mandela became president of South Africa
Presidency
• Inaugurated May 10th, 1994
• First black president of South Africa
• Aimed to improve social and economic conditions
for black majority
– Large scale redistribution of wealth
• Truth and Reconciliation Commission
– Human rights violations from old regime
– Improved living standards of black population
• Better housing and education
• Violence control
– Afrikaner Resistance Movement
• Extremists opposing new government using
terrorism
• Legislation to protect workers
– Workplace safety, overtime pay, minimum wage
Retirement
• Decided not to run for
reelection in 1997
• Supported Thabo Mbeki
– Inaugurated June 16, 1999
• Retired from public life in 2004
• Committed to fight against
HIV/AIDS epidemic
– Son Makgatho Mandela died
of AIDS on January 6th, 2005
“ We have at last achieved our
political emancipation. We pledge
ourselves to liberate all our people
from the continuing bondage of
poverty, deprivation, suffering,
gender, and other discrimination
. . . Never, never, and never again
shall it be that this beautiful land
will again experience the
oppression of one by another. . .
Let freedom reign.”
Information Bibliography
Internet Sources:
Bobby-Evans, Alistair. “Biography: Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.” About, Inc. 2007. 5 Apr. 2007.
http://africanhistory.about.com/od/mandelanelson/a/bio_mandela.htm
Mandela: An Audio History. 2004. 5 Apr. 2007. http://www.radiodiaries.org/mandela/time2.html
“Mandela, Nelson.” Encyclopedia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopedia Britannica Online School Edition.
13 Mar. 2007. http://school.eb.com/article-9050484
“Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa.” Biography Resource Center. 14 Mar. 2007.
http://galenet.galegroup.com
Nixon, Rob. “Mandela, Messianism, and the Media.” Transition, No. 51. (1991), pp. 4255. JSTOR.
13 Mar. 2007. http://links.jstor.org
“The History of Apartheid in South Africa.” 1995. Computer Science Dept., Stanford U. 4 Apr. 2007.
http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~cale/cs201/apartheid.hist.html
Book Sources:
Oliver, Roland, and Anthony Atmore. Africa Since 1800. 5th ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Up, 2005.
Other Sources:
Mandela, Nelson. “Inaugural Address.” Union Building, Pretoria. 10 May 1994.
Mandela Nelson. “I Am Prepared to Die.” Pretoria Supreme Court, Transvaal. 20 Apr. 1964.
Image Bibliography
Slide 1: http://www.ic-creations.com/SouthAfrica/Pages/Men/menpic8.htm
Slide 2: http://www.southafrica.to/people/Quotes/NelsonMandela/NelsonMandela.htm
Slide 5: http://www.southafrica.to/people/Quotes/NelsonMandela/NelsonMandela.htm
Slide 6: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela's_statement_from_the_dock_at_the_Rivonia_Trial
Slide 7: https://segue.atlas.uiuc.edu/index.php?action=site&site=mbuckle2
Slide 8: http://www.jurgenschadeberg.com/c02.htm
Slide 10: http://www.andrelevy.net/photos/arc/apartheid/default.htm
Slide 12: http://www.ais.up.ac.za/human/bookmonth/april06/slovo3.jpg
Slide 14: http://167.206.67.164/WebImages/FA_HTMLs/dubowem/world_history_II.html
Slide 15: http://www.jwelford.demon.co.uk/brainwaremap/assert.html
Slide 16: http://joburg.twoday.net/topics/05...+Apartheid/
Slide 17: http://anniversary.sipri.org/book/book_html/images/sipri_40_www_img_32.jpg
Slide 18: http://www.truthrising.org/46664.html