What was Nelson Mandela’s childhood like? Why, exactly, did he go to prison? What legacy did he leave?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Long Walk to Freedom<\/em> by Nelson Mandela chronicles his extraordinary life story. Mandela is known as one of history\u2019s great peacemakers, but his own life wasn\u2019t a peaceful one. He had to fight, every step of the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Continue reading for an overview of this important book, along with a short exercise to reflect on what you’ve read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Our overview of Long Walk to Freedom<\/em> by Nelson Mandela explores his experiences during four time periods: his childhood, his time as a young political activist, the years he spent in prison, and the time after his release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mandela spent his childhood in troubled, segregationist South Africa. Then, he fought against South Africa\u2019s racist government policies and its system of apartheid<\/a> from the 1940s to the 1960s, first using nonviolent methods but eventually forming a guerrilla group to fight for racial equality. He then spent 27 years in prison, where he became a worldwide symbol of the South African struggle for freedom. After his release from prison, he was elected President of South Africa, and his legacy is one of reconciliation between Black South Africans and their white former oppressors. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Long Walk to Freedom <\/em>explores Mandela\u2019s life chronologically\u2014arguably a logical structure for a memoir. In our over, we\u2019ll begin with some background information about South Africa\u2019s history of racial discrimination and apartheid to provide immediate context around Mandela\u2019s experiences. Then, we\u2019ll explore his experiences during four distinct periods: his childhood, his time as a young political activist, the years he spent in prison, and the time after his release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Note that Long Walk to Freedom <\/em>was published in 1994 and ends with Mandela being elected President of South Africa earlier that same year. However, Mandela lived until 2013. So, we’ll briefly describe the end of Mandela\u2019s life and the legacy he left behind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mandela notes that he lived in a time of brutal segregation and white supremacy<\/a> in South Africa\u2014first under British rule and then later under the South African government\u2019s apartheid policies. While British rule of South Africa officially ended in 1931, Mandela notes, white supremacy reached its peak in 1948, when the National Party (NP) came to power. <\/strong>The NP was an Afrikaner party\u2014the Afrikaners <\/em>are predominantly white South Africans descended from Dutch settlers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The NP ran on and then implemented an overtly racist policy<\/a> called apartheid<\/em> (literally \u201capartness\u201d). Mandela explains that apartheid categorized people living in South Africa as either white, Black, or Coloured (mixed race), with a separate category added later for Indians. Based on those categories, apartheid laws determined where certain racial groups were allowed to live, whom they were allowed to marry, and what jobs they were allowed to hold. Public areas were also segregated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Apartheid was designed to ensure that Black South Africans would remain subservient to whites and be treated as inferior in every way, forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mandela emphasizes that his struggle against this culture of oppression and apartheid wasn\u2019t just about securing legal rights for Blacks but also about fostering national and racial pride.<\/strong> <\/em>In short, Black South Africans had to believe<\/em> that they deserved to be free and that they had the ability to rule themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mandela explains that he was born in 1918, in a small South African village called Mvezo. He was a member of the Thembu tribe, which is part of the Xhosa nation. His father was the chief of Mvezo and the Thembu tribe. Unfortunately, he died when Mandela was only nine years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a child, Mandela had a reputation as a rabble-rouser. His strong sense of justice\u2014and his willingness to cause trouble in pursuit of justice\u2014would define his life and his greatest accomplishments.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mandela was the first member of his family to attend school. His mother became a Christian and baptized him into the Methodist church. Although Mandela\u2019s birth name was Rolihlahla, he received his Christian name “Nelson” from his teacher on his first day of school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Later, Mandela went to live with Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo in the city of Mqhekezweni, the capital of the Thembu province. As the adopted son of a clan chief living in a relatively large city, Mandela was able to get an excellent education for a Black South African of the time, eventually attending university. However, upon learning that Dalindyebo had arranged an unwanted marriage for him, Mandela left university without finishing his degree and fled to Johannesburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1942, Mandela finally earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and shortly afterward enrolled as a law student. However, he explains, after devoting his life to politics, he neglected his studies and repeatedly failed his final year of law school. He didn\u2019t officially earn a law degree until 1988\u2014over 40 years later\u2014when he completed his LL.B. (bachelor of laws) degree by correspondence while he was in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mandela notes that his lack of a law degree didn\u2019t stop him from getting heavily involved in both law and politics. In the early 1940s, he met Walter Sisulu, an anti-apartheid activist who soon became a prominent figure in Mandela\u2019s life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sisulu arranged a clerk job for Mandela at one of the largest law firms in Johannesburg, where Mandela met another Black clerk named Gaur Radebe. Sisulu and Radebe were both heavily involved with the African National Congress (ANC). The ANC sought to use peaceful methods to garner public support for overturning the laws that held back Black South Africans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mandela soon became involved with the ANC. However, Mandela notes, many people at the time had become frustrated with the ANC. That\u2019s why, in 1943, Mandela, Sisulu, and others spearheaded the creation of an ANC Youth League.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mandela explains that racial tensions in South Africa came to a head in 1948 when the National Party (NP) won a general election. The NP\u2019s leader, Daniel Malan, then implemented a sweeping and brutal system of oppression called apartheid<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mandela finally put his law studies to use in 1952 when he co-founded a firm dedicated to defending poor Black people<\/a> from the NP\u2019s unjust laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mandela explains that he initially tried to fight back against discrimination and apartheid using nonviolent methods. Eventually, however, Mandela and other ANC leaders became disillusioned with peaceful, legal tactics; they concluded that Black South Africans would need to fight for their freedom.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The ANC tasked Mandela with creating a guerilla force, legally separate from the ANC itself, to fight against the National Party. In 1961, he founded a fighting force called Umkhonto we Sizwe <\/em>(MK for short), which translates to \u201dSpear of the Nation.\u201d The MK relied on guerrilla tactics to disrupt the NP\u2019s operations, most notably by bombing government buildings and power stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In response to the ANC\u2019s escalating tactics, government forces aimed to capture and convict party leaders, including Mandela. Mandela was found and arrested in 1962.<\/strong> Mandela contended that he had no obligation to follow the NP’s laws, as he hadn\u2019t been allowed to vote in the election that put the NP in power. He further argued that the government had refused to listen to the ANC, leaving violence as their only recourse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mandela was convicted of all charges in 1964 and was sentenced to life in prison.<\/strong> Although his crimes would normally carry the death penalty, the NP was facing strong international resistance: Much of the world supported Mandela and opposed apartheid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mandela spent a total of 27 years in three prisons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the first 18 years, Mandela was held in a brutal facility called Robben Island<\/a> Prison. Prisoners were almost completely isolated from the outside world. While enduring these harsh conditions, Mandela had to stay alert for attempts on his life.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mandela notes that, at Robben Island, the prisoners engaged in numerous protests against the prison\u2019s inhumane conditions and practices. Most commonly, they went on hunger strikes. Mandela says that he advocated for more disruptive forms of protest, such as refusing to work or refusing to clean. However, he was often outvoted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1982, the authorities moved Mandela to Pollsmoor Maximum Security Prison, located near Cape Town. Mandela says that, compared to his previous situation, Pollsmoor seemed luxurious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1985, prison authorities moved Mandela to a solitary room. Though he regretted being separated from his compatriots, Mandela took advantage of his isolation to start writing letters to the government, trying to arrange a meeting between the ANC and the NP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mandela notes that, even while he was in prison, his name and message continued to spread. Resistance\u2014much of it violent\u2014built against the National Party as more and more South Africans joined Mandela\u2019s cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s why, in 1985, State President P. W. Botha offered to release Mandela from prison if he publicly denounced the ongoing violence against the government. Mandela refused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mandela recalls that, in 1988, he contracted tuberculosis. Once he\u2019d recovered, instead of returning to Pollsmoor, he was moved to Victor Verster Prison<\/a>. Mandela says that Victor Verster Prison had an excellent reputation and was much more comfortable than even Pollsmoor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mandela continued his efforts to arrange a meeting between ANC and NP leaders. In July of 1989, his efforts paid off and he had a brief meeting with State President Botha. It was the first time that party leaders had come together for peaceful talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1989, F. W. de Klerk became state president. At his order, Nelson Mandela was finally released from Victor Verster Prison on February 11, 1990.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Mandela, de Klerk\u2019s administration began the daunting project of dismantling apartheid. De Klerk met with Mandela in December of 1990 to discuss how South Africa could move forward as a unified nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mandela recalls that two of the largest problems that he and de Klerk had to overcome were Black South Africans\u2019 desire for revenge against their oppressors and white South Africans\u2019 fears that they themselves would be oppressed under a majority Black rule. The ANC\u2019s mission statement\u2014to be a party for all <\/em>South Africans, regardless of skin color\u2014was instrumental to the reconciliation process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Negotiations between the ANC and the National Party went on for years as party leaders hashed out how to dismantle the infrastructure of apartheid in a way that benefited everyone. Mandela and de Klerk jointly received the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize for their work in overturning apartheid and bringing democracy to South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mandela explains that he was elected president of the ANC in 1991. After he and de Klerk worked together to eliminate apartheid\u2019s race-based voting restrictions, Mandela went on to win South Africa\u2019s first democratic general election in 1994.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Once Mandela was installed as president, he appointed de Klerk as his second deputy president. This meant that de Klerk was Mandela\u2019s assistant and third-in-command of the government\u2014behind the first deputy president (Thabo Mbeki) and Mandela himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This wasn\u2019t the first general election held in South Africa, but it was <\/em>the first time that citizens of all races could vote: Therefore, it was the country\u2019s first truly democratic election. Furthermore, the constitution that de Klerk\u2019s administration drafted officially created an Office of the President\u2014previous leaders had held the title of Prime Minister or State President\u2014which is how Mandela became the first President of South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\nLong Walk to Freedom<\/em> by Nelson Mandela<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Background: Segregation and Apartheid<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
African Nationalism<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Mandela\u2019s Early Life<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Mandela\u2019s Education<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Mandela the Freedom Fighter<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Rise of Apartheid<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Escalating Violence Leads to Mandela\u2019s Arrest<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Mandela\u2019s Years in Prison<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Robben Island Prison: 1964-1982<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Pollsmoor Prison: 1982-1988<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Victor Verster Prison: 1988-1990<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Mandela\u2019s Freedom and Presidency<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Mandela and de Klerk Tear Down Apartheid<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
President Nelson Mandela<\/h4>\n\n\n\n