Cath Senker - Nelson Mandela (Against the Odds Biographies)

1918

Nelson Mandela is born on July 18

1944

Mandela becomes leader of the ANC Youth League

1948

The National Party comes to power and introduces apartheid

1952

Mandela and Oliver Tambo set up the first black law practice in Johannesburg. TheANClaunches the Defiance Campaign. The Pass Law forces Africans to carry ID booklets

1955

The ANC and other anti-apartheid organizations attend the Congress of the Peopleandadopt the Freedom Charter

1956

The police arrest 156 leaders of the Congress of the People and put them on trial

1959

The Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) forms

1960

At a demonstration in Sharpeville, Transvaal, the police kill 69 protesters

1961

The ANC sets up Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK)

1964

Mandela and other ANC leaders are sentenced to life imprisonment

1970s

The Black Consciousness movement arises

1976

Thousands of children in Soweto, near Johannesburg, take part in an uprising, andtwoprotesters are shot dead by police

1983

The United Democratic Front (UDF) is launched Botha brings in a new constitutionthatsets up houses of parliament for Colored people and Indians

1985

Botha declares a state of emergency

1990

Nelson Mandela is released from prison Mangosutho Buthelezi forms the Inkatha FreedomParty(IFP)

1994

The ANC wins the first multiracial elections, and Nelson Mandela becomes presidentofSouth Africa

1994 1999

The Reconstruction and Development Program provides new homes, schools, electricity,andrunning water to poor black areas

1995

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is set up to investigate apartheidcrimes

1999

Mandela hands over the presidency to Thabo Mbeki

2013

Nelson Mandela dies at age 95

Find Out More

Books

Kramer, Barbara. Nelson Mandela . Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2014.

Mandela, Nelson, abridged by Chris van Wyk. Long Walk to Freedom. New York: RoaringBrook, 2009.

Nelson, Kadir. Nelson Mandela . New York: Katherine Tegen, 2013.

Ridley, Sarah. Nelson Mandela and His Struggle for Freedom (History Makers). Mankato,Minn.: Sea-to-Sea, 2013.

Web sites

www.history.com/topics/nelson-mandela

This web site has more information about Nelson Mandela and includes videos, speeches,and more.

www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/biography

The Nelson Mandela Foundation web site is full of information about Mandela, withlots of photos and videos.

www.nelsonmandelachildrensfund.com

This web site for the Nelson Mandela Childrens Fund includes information about Mandelaswork for charity.

Who Was Nelson Mandela?

On May 10, 1994, a dignified man in his seventies, dressed elegantly in a black suit,stood before a gathering of important people from 140 countries in the Union Buildingsin Pretoria, the capital city of South Africa. He solemnly accepted the office of of South Africa and promised to devote himself to the well-being of hiscountry, working toward peace between the different races that had fought each otherfor decades.

In the streets outside the Union Buildings, the atmosphere was electric. When thenew president appeared, a crowd of 100,000 black and white South Africans cheeredwildly, singing and dancing in celebration.

Against the odds, Nelson Mandela had just been elected as the countrys first blackpresident. The eyes of the whole world were on this significant event.

ANC leader

From 1948, white people ruled the mostly black country of South Africa. Nelson Mandelabecame a leader of the African National Congress (ANC), which fought for .He was sent to prison, but remained an important figure. After 27 years he was finallyreleased, and within four years, he became president.

UNDER EUROPEAN CONTROL

From the 19th century, European countries ruled most African lands. Great Britaingoverned South Africa until 1910, when white grew in all African countries. By 1980, they had all gainedindependence from white ruleexcept South Africa.

This is Nelson Mandela as a young man in 1950, at the start of his fight against.

What Was Nelson Mandelas Upbringing Like?

Nelson Mandela was born in 1918 in the Transkei, a coastal area of South Africa.He was the son of Chief Henry Mandela of the Madiba clan (family group). His motherbecame a Christian, giving up her traditional African religious customs.Nelson grew up in the countryside, playing in the hills, swimming in freshwater pools,and eating freshly roasted corn on the cob. But when he was just nine, his fatherdied, and the Regent (acting ruler) Jongintaba of the Thembu people took Nelson in.

This is the village of Qunu, where Nelson grew up. He used to play in the hills abovethe village.

Miners in the Robinson mine near Johannesburg, in 1900, hacked through rock by handto search for gold.

Regent Jongintaba ruled his community but had little power. In 1910, white settlershad formed the Union of South Africa and taken over most of the land. Under the 1913Natives Land Act, they set aside just 7 percent of the land for the African people,who made up four-fifths of the population. Black people were at the bottom of society,working as laborers on white peoples farms or in the mines, doing the dirty, dangerous,low-paid jobs. The government did not allow them to vote.

RACISM

European people settled in South Africa from the 17th century. Mostly Dutch, German,or French, they became known as Boers and, later, today. They felt itwas right for white people to control the country and its resources.

Schoolboy and student

Jongintaba was a Methodist, and he gave young Nelson a Christian education. Fromthe age of 16, Nelson attended Methodist boarding schools, where he studied Britishhistory and geography.

Despite his British education, Nelson believed in , the African idea that peoplewere human beings because they were part of a community. Even as a teenager, he alwayssaw the best in others.

Expelled for his principles

After finishing school in 1938, Nelson attended South African Native College (laterthe University College of Fort Hare). However, he was for campaigning againstthe terrible food served to the African students. He decided it was more importantto stick up for his community than to complete his studies.

White university students looked down on black students and shunned them. When Nelsonsat down in the university library, a white student moved away. But Nelson neverbore grudges. When he became president, he invited his university companions to aget-together, remarking, I am what I am both as a result of people who respectedand helped me, and of those who did not respect me and treated me badly.

Based on Anthony Sampsons biography of Nelson Mandela