Nelson Mandela Research Paper

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Nelson Mandela

Rolihlahla Dalibhunga Mandela or better known as Nelson Mandela was said to be one of the most influential and important people of our time. He helped change South Africa's strict laws called the Apartheid. The Apartheid was a government policy that separated people of different races. Nelson Mandela, was a political prisoner who fought for equality in South Africa, throughout his journey of leadership, he has left a legacy on the world forever.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born into the madiba clan in the village of Mvezo, Transkei, on July 18th, 1918. His mother was Nonqaphi and his father was Nkosi Mphakanyiswa Gadla Mandela, principal counsellor to the acting king of the Thembu people, Jongintaba Dalindyebo. …show more content…

Nelson Mandela’s commitment to politics and the ANC grew stronger after the 1948 election victory of the Afrikaner dominated National Party, which introduced a formal system of racial classification and segregation apartheid that restricted nonwhites’ basic rights and barred them from the government while maintaining a white minority rule. In 1952, he was chosen as the national volunteer in chief of the defiance campaign with Maulvi Cachalia as his deputy. This campaign of civil disobedience against six unjust laws was a joint programme between the ANC and the South African Indian Congress. A two year diploma in law on top of his BA allowed Mandela to practice law, and in August 1952 he and Oliver Tambo established South Africa's first black law firm, Mandela and Tambo (Biography of Nelson Mandela). At the end of 1952 he was banned under the Riotous Assemblies Act for the first time. Mandela helped lead the ANC’s 1952 campaign for the defiance of unjust laws, traveling across the country to organize protests against discriminatory policies, and promoted the manifesto known as the Freedom Charter, ratified by the Congress of the people in 1955 (History.com Staff). Mandela was arrested in a country wide police swoop on December 5th, 1955, which led to the 1956 Treason Trial. Men and women of all races found themselves in the dock in the marathon trial that only ended when the last twenty eight were accused, including Mandela, were acquitted on March 29th, 1961. Days before the end of the Treason Trial, Mandela travelled to Pietermaritzburg to speak at the all in Africa conference, which resolved that he should write to Prime Minister Verwood requesting a national convention on a non-racial constitution, and to warn that should he not agree, there would be a national strike against South

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