Nelson Mandela Research Paper

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Nelson Mandela was freed in 1990 after 27 years in prison and negotiated the end of apartheid in South Africa, bringing peace to a racially divided country and leading the fight for human rights around the world. Mandela helped bring an end to apartheid and gave inspiration to those affected by racial inequality. He studied law at the University of Witwatersrand, where he became involved in a movement against racial discrimination and forged key relationships with black and white activists. He joined the ANC in 1944 where he rapidly became very committed to its goals after the start of apartheid. In 1960 while the ANC (African National Congress) and PAC (Political Action Committee) were doing a peaceful protest police opened fire and killed 69 of the civilians. That event led to …show more content…
Mandela orchestrated a three-day national workers' strike, he was sentenced to five years in prison for leading the strike. He was re-tried for high treason based on the outline for the democratic government called the Freedom Charter. He was sentenced to life in the brutal prison of Robben Island in a small cell without a bed or plumbing and compelled to do hard labor. He spent 18 years there before being transferred to Pollsmoor Prison on the mainland. He was there for 6 years before F. W. de Klerk came to preside and lifted the ban on the ANC. He spent 2 more years there before February 11, 1990, when F. W. de Klerk ordered Mandela’s release. In 1993, Mandela and South African President F.W. de Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts in disassembling apartheid. On April 26, 1994, more than 22 million South Africans turned out to cast ballots in the country’s first multiracial parliamentary elections in history. The majority voted for the ANC to rule the government. Mandela was also selected to be the first black president of South

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