Nelson Mandela Research Paper

The Persistence of a Conviction

Nelson Mandela

Daniel Leal

Simon Atkinson

History

2014
Content

An Introduction to Mandela…………………….……………………............2

Apartheid and its Opponents…………………….……………………………3

The End of Apartheid……………………………………….…………………….5

Nelson Mandela as an Example……………………….……………………..6

Conclusion……………………………………………….…………………………….6

References....………………………………………………………………………….7

An introduction to Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela frequently talks about “The struggle is my life" but what struggle is he talking about? The struggle to end racism in South Africa, where of all races has certainly affected him, as it has to all Africans. How can he say he dedicated his life to the cause of anti-racism? Racism

He became a member of the African National Congress and gained the peoples trust up to a point to become the leader of this organization. Because of his actions of resistance against the apartheid government he was sent to jail and spent almost 30 years behind bars. In this period he became the leading icon of the antiapartheid movement within South Africa and internationally. When the apartheid government got to a peak, they were forced to make changes. A new president was elected and Mandela was set free from jail in 1990. Alongside with the ANC Mandela became an image of freedom in the whole world and it was the start of a revelation of people that wanted to have the same rights as everybody. Slowly, with the help of international pressure, apartheid started to fall into pieces and with his persistence and leadership, in 1994 he finally destroyed Apartheid by being elected as the first black president in South African history. In all his years as a politician he became an image for millions of people around the world showing that persistence and commitment could do things that seem impossible. With all the things that he did South Africa had a fresh start. Everybody had a voice and the non-whites where the majority. This was an influence to many countries and their black population. The most important thing that he did was to show the world that he and all the black people in the world where exactly the same as the white or ruling population in those years, and because of him the black people have the same exact rights as a average white