Civil Disobedience In Nelson Mandela

Apartheid activist Nelson Mandela once said that “there is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” This relates to civil disobedience because it shows that a life that is less then what you should have or want should not make a person content (Mandela). Civil disobedience is a form of protest where protestors violate a law to prove a point that they feel a certain law is wrong and show how they feel. Most activists that practice civil disobedience are calm, thoughtful, and understand the legal penalties (Suber). The purpose of civil disobedience is often to change laws and protect the rights of some group or people. It also represents an important concept that sometimes

Nelson Mandela was born July 18, 1918, into a royal family who spoke Xhosa and were a Thembu tribe in the South African village of Mvezo. His father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, served as chief there during his life. His mother, Nosekeni Fanny, was the third wive out of four, who gave birth to nine daughters and four sons. After the death of his father in 1927, Nelson Mandela, who was nine years old, became known by his birth name and was adopted (Mandela). He eventually became the ward of the Paramount Chief and ended up going to a local mission primary school and that was where he was given the name Nelson. He enrolled at the university of Fort Hare in 1939 (Johnson).The next year, he and other students, including Oliver Tambo a friend and business partner of his, got sent home for participating in a boycott against the university policies. Upon returning home he learned that his guardian had planned an arranged marriage for him and fled to Johannesburg. He became a law clerk while completing his bachelor’s degree (Nelson). Nelson Mandela was married three times in his life and had six children which includes four girls and two boys. His daughter, Makaziwe had died as an infant in 1948; his son, Madiba Thembekile ended up dying in a car accident in 1969; and his other son Makgatho Lewanika had died of an AIDS-related illness in 2005

Nelson Mandela, who was part of the ANC tried to tour the country and encourage people to take part in civil disobedience to stop the law. He was arrested, with others, and convicted even though they had "advised their followers to adopt a peaceful course of action and to avoid all violence". He ended up getting a suspended sentence and had his movements forbidden (Johnson). During a raid on a farm in Rivona, the government found evidence of the ANC’s plan and charged Nelson Mandela and eight co-defendants with trying to overthrow the government. The ensuing trial that became known as the Rivonia trial was one of Nelson Mandela central roles against apartheid (Delviscio). His inspiration for protesting apartheid is, as he said, that“[I]t would be wrong and unrealistic for African leaders to continue preaching peace and nonviolence at a time when the government met our peaceful demands with force. It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle.” Nelson Mandela was also a part of MK and under his plan, MK launched a sabotage campaign against the government, which had recently declared South Africa a republic that was withdrawn from the British Commonwealth (Johnson). Nelson