Nelson Mandela In The 1900's

In the 1900’s. South Africa was under rule of a black apartheid. This system ranked black South Africans, who consisted of the majority, only slightly higher than slaves. A man named Nelson Mandela went on a life-long mission to destroy the ways of the unfair government, and provide equal rights for all citizens. He fought his way up in society to preach his views, and faced many impediments along the way. Nelson Mandela was the most resilient human rights activist, who fought to destroy the South African apartheid. For most of existence, South Africa’s government was run by racially discriminating members. This system of apartheid discriminated against the overwhelming majority of black people. As society grew, the fight for equality grew
greater and anti-apartheid activist were emerging. On June 18th, 1918, Nelson Mandela was born, a man who would later become known as one of the most important equality fighters in the world. Being born to a royal family and tribe, which his dad was the chief of, Mandela was destined to thrive. He became the first person in his family to successfully receive a formal education. Not only did he gain his degree in a missionary school, he excelled both academically and athletically. In 1939, Mandela moved on to further his education at Fort Hare University. Just a year later, he was expelled for leading a strike and boycotting university policies. This mindset of fighting for his morals and rights developed to a greater extent as his life continued. “Every great dream begins with a dreamer.” (Every Great Dream...).
Nelson Mandela was the dreamer, with a dream to destroy the apartheid and earn equal rights. He was not a selfish man by any means, and wanted to save the other South African’s suffrage. In the 1900’s when Mandela began his pursuit, the citizens of South Africa were living under a skewed government. A white supremacy was running the black majority, and segregating laws were being passed to diminish any power given to black South Africans. By the mid 1950’s, the government had made it illegal for a white to get married to someone of an opposing race. This form of legislation even split up existing families, where the parents or children would not be labeled as the same race. This law was called The Population Registration Act of 1950, which ranked all South Africans by their race, and strengthened the apartheid. Many Land Acts were passed as well in the mid 1900’s, which would “set aside more than 80 percent of the country’s land for the white minority, and “pass laws” required non-whites to carry documents authorizing their presence in restricted areas”(History.com/nelson-mandela). This act resulted in over 3.5 million black South Africans being removed from their homes by force, and being pushed into poverty. As life became hopeless for the black South Africans, Nelson Mandela was one brave man who later became the change society
needed.
Throughout his whole life, Mandela had followed his heart, and never worried about consequences. When he returned home after his expulsion at Fort Hare University, his tribe had arranged a marriage for him, a common custom in his time. Mandela never let anyone tell him how to live his life, and subsequently ran away after hearing about his marriage. This was when Mandela began his anti-apartheid pursuit, and it started when he became involved with the ANC (African National Congress). The ANC was a group committed to overtaking the South African government, and giving its citizens the rights they deserve. After 20 years of peaceful protests, Mandela saw their work to be ineffective. His rallied group members made plans to bomb members of the government and start a guerilla warfare. While in the midst was making these plans, 11 ANC members including Mandela were sentenced to 5 years in prison in 1962 for encouraging a worker’s strike. A raid by the government on the ANC’s hideout discovered the plans of attack on them, which led to Mandela’s life sentence to prison on four accounts of sabotage. However, this did not slow him down. While he was under trial, Mandela pronounced, “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”(bbc.com). This willingness to die is the quality that made Mandela so powerful and successful with his hopes and dreams. Prison is a place for fugitives, murderers, and people with wrong morals.
Prison is a place for humans who mean harm towards this world. Prison is not a place for Nelson Mandela. The prison called Robben Island kept him in a tiny single cell, and fed him small rations daily. “But Robben Island became the crucible which transformed him”(Findingdulcinea.com). Prison was meant to slow down Mandela, but it only strengthened him and built his character. Even while Mandela was in prison, he still actively was involved with the ANC. Many of his speeches and writings were published and distributed along South Africa, which rallied many civilians to fight for his freedom. Mandela became a symbol against the government’s rule and laws, which led to many protests and rallies. The government has mentioned their secret, classified talks with Mandela while he spent time in prison, and this Ultimately led to his release after 27 long years. “His freedom was greeted with loud applause and celebration both within South Africa and around the world”(Costello). Not only was Mandela loved and cherished in South Africa, but he was a worldwide symbol of revolt against
apartheid. Promptly after his release, Mandela became actively involved in the ANC once again, but this time with the rallied citizens who were ready to fight with him. The ANC was battling harder than ever towards rights for the black majority to vote and live freely, and thanks to their hard work, eventually paid off. On April 27th, 1994, South America held their first democratic presidential elections. As the long anticipated election came to a halt, Nelson Mandela, at the age of 77, was elected president. Quick work was made of Mandela’s promises after being sworn into presidency, and he did a phenomenal job in satisfying the demographical conflicts. Major changes were put into effect throughout the country, including a new constitution with democratic morals centered around majority rule. After a five year term, Mandela had completed his dream of onsetting to end apartheid, and began to make the world a better place.
In conclusion, Nelson Mandela was a highly influential human rights activist, who fought to destroy the apartheid in South Africa. Resiliency was the greatest characteristic that was necessary to achieve his goal, as there were many challenges along the way. Support was given for Mandela’s quest from not only South Africa, but worldwide. A lack of courage or pride was never displayed, and his relentless efforts never came without consequences. His lifelong fight was all worth it in the end, when his presidency impacted all of the South Africans. Nelson Mandela was just a man with a full heart, who followed his dreams and significantly transformed our world for the better.