Thursday's class will be for checking in on your documentary projects - You need to have a "General Thesis" for your project.
Source # 1 - Colonial Rule of Africa & Ghana - click here
Source # 2 - Ghana Becomes Independent - click here
Source # 3 - Problems in Ghana after Independence - click here
Source # 4 - Independence Comes to Africa - click here
Biography - Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in 1918 to a chieftain family in the Xhosa tribe in South Africa. He was one of thirteen children. His father named him Rolihlahla, which means "pulling the branch of the tree", or more colloquially "troublemaker." The name Nelson was not given until his first day at school. Mandela attended a missionary school and college, before studying at the University of Fort Hare (South Africa's first university college for Black Africans). He was expelled from the Fort Hare for political activism. Mandela moved to black township outside of Johannesburg, where he worked as a clerk in a law firm and studied law at night. He studied law with Seretse Khama, who would later become the first president of an independent Botswana.
In 1944, Mandela joined the African National Congress or ANC. Mandela thought the organization was "a dying order of pseudo-liberalism and conservatism, of appeasement and compromise." Mandela and other young ANC leaders formed the African National Congress Youth League to change the ANC from the inside. Over the next few years, Mandela rose in leadership within the ANC.
In the early 1950’s, the South African government began to go after both Mandela and the ANC by using the Suppression of Communism Act to ban Mandela from holding an official position in the ANC and limiting his travel to the area around Johannesburg. In response, the ANC developed the M-plan (M for Mandela) that would allow the ANC to keep operating even if it was made an illegal organization by the government. In addition, Mandela secretly traveled around the country, including attending the Congress of the People in 1955 to watch the adoption of the Freedom Charter. The Freedom Charter begins with the statement, "We, the People of South Africa, declare for all our country and the world to know: that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people..."
In response to the Freedom Charter, the South African government arrested the leadership of the ANC and charged them with "high treason and a countrywide conspiracy to use violence to overthrow the present government and replace it with a communist state." However, in the "Treason Trial" the government was unable to prove its case and in 1961, Mandela and his 29 co-defendants were acquitted.
After the violent police response to the Sharpeville protests, Mandela had the ANC set up a military organization called “Spear of the Nation”. In addition, Mandela left South Africa to meet other African leaders and to go to Europe to get support. in 1962, when he returned to South Africa, Mandela was arrested and sentenced to five years for "incitement and illegally leaving the country".
While already in jail, the South African government put Mandela on trial and found guilty in 1964 for his leadership in the Spear of the Nation, which included counts of "sabotage, preparing for guerrilla warfare in SA, and for preparing an armed invasion of SA". Mandela sentenced to life in prison. In his final statement before being taken away, Mandela said,
"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. 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."
By 1989 it was clear that the South African government could not maintain the Apartheid system and the South African president FW de Klerk began secret meetings with Mandela about how to dismantle Apartheid. In 1990, de Klerk released Mandela from prison. After this, Mandela and de Klerk worked together to change the South African constitution to make it a democracy with voting rights for all. Both men shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for their work. In 1994, Mandela was elected president of South Africa. In his inaugural presidential speech, Mandela said,
"We have at last, achieved our political emancipation. we pledge ourselves to liberate all our people from the continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender, and other discrimination. Never, never, and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another... Let freedom reign. God Bless Africa!"
As president, Mandela worked to ease the dangerous political differences in his country and to build up the South African economy. To a remarkable degree he was successful in his aims. Mandela's skill at building compromise and his enormous personal authority helped him lead the transition to democracy. In an effort to help the country heal, he also backed the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission which offered amnesty (exemption from criminal prosecution) to those who had committed crimes during the apartheid era. This action helped to promote discussion about the country's history.
In 1997 Nelson Mandela stepped down as leader of the ANC in favor of Thabo Mbeki, and in 1999 he relinquished the post of president. In retirement Mandela campaigned for AIDS prevention and treatment and for more international support for African development. Mandela died in 2013 at age 95.
Source # 5 - Apartheid Falls in South Africa - click here
Note - You will have to be logged into your BHS Google account to watch the video
Source # 1 - Colonial Rule of Africa & Ghana - click here
Source # 2 - Ghana Becomes Independent - click here
Source # 3 - Problems in Ghana after Independence - click here
Source # 4 - Independence Comes to Africa - click here
Biography - Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in 1918 to a chieftain family in the Xhosa tribe in South Africa. He was one of thirteen children. His father named him Rolihlahla, which means "pulling the branch of the tree", or more colloquially "troublemaker." The name Nelson was not given until his first day at school. Mandela attended a missionary school and college, before studying at the University of Fort Hare (South Africa's first university college for Black Africans). He was expelled from the Fort Hare for political activism. Mandela moved to black township outside of Johannesburg, where he worked as a clerk in a law firm and studied law at night. He studied law with Seretse Khama, who would later become the first president of an independent Botswana.
In 1944, Mandela joined the African National Congress or ANC. Mandela thought the organization was "a dying order of pseudo-liberalism and conservatism, of appeasement and compromise." Mandela and other young ANC leaders formed the African National Congress Youth League to change the ANC from the inside. Over the next few years, Mandela rose in leadership within the ANC.
In the early 1950’s, the South African government began to go after both Mandela and the ANC by using the Suppression of Communism Act to ban Mandela from holding an official position in the ANC and limiting his travel to the area around Johannesburg. In response, the ANC developed the M-plan (M for Mandela) that would allow the ANC to keep operating even if it was made an illegal organization by the government. In addition, Mandela secretly traveled around the country, including attending the Congress of the People in 1955 to watch the adoption of the Freedom Charter. The Freedom Charter begins with the statement, "We, the People of South Africa, declare for all our country and the world to know: that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people..."
In response to the Freedom Charter, the South African government arrested the leadership of the ANC and charged them with "high treason and a countrywide conspiracy to use violence to overthrow the present government and replace it with a communist state." However, in the "Treason Trial" the government was unable to prove its case and in 1961, Mandela and his 29 co-defendants were acquitted.
After the violent police response to the Sharpeville protests, Mandela had the ANC set up a military organization called “Spear of the Nation”. In addition, Mandela left South Africa to meet other African leaders and to go to Europe to get support. in 1962, when he returned to South Africa, Mandela was arrested and sentenced to five years for "incitement and illegally leaving the country".
While already in jail, the South African government put Mandela on trial and found guilty in 1964 for his leadership in the Spear of the Nation, which included counts of "sabotage, preparing for guerrilla warfare in SA, and for preparing an armed invasion of SA". Mandela sentenced to life in prison. In his final statement before being taken away, Mandela said,
"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. 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."
By 1989 it was clear that the South African government could not maintain the Apartheid system and the South African president FW de Klerk began secret meetings with Mandela about how to dismantle Apartheid. In 1990, de Klerk released Mandela from prison. After this, Mandela and de Klerk worked together to change the South African constitution to make it a democracy with voting rights for all. Both men shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for their work. In 1994, Mandela was elected president of South Africa. In his inaugural presidential speech, Mandela said,
"We have at last, achieved our political emancipation. we pledge ourselves to liberate all our people from the continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender, and other discrimination. Never, never, and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another... Let freedom reign. God Bless Africa!"
As president, Mandela worked to ease the dangerous political differences in his country and to build up the South African economy. To a remarkable degree he was successful in his aims. Mandela's skill at building compromise and his enormous personal authority helped him lead the transition to democracy. In an effort to help the country heal, he also backed the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission which offered amnesty (exemption from criminal prosecution) to those who had committed crimes during the apartheid era. This action helped to promote discussion about the country's history.
In 1997 Nelson Mandela stepped down as leader of the ANC in favor of Thabo Mbeki, and in 1999 he relinquished the post of president. In retirement Mandela campaigned for AIDS prevention and treatment and for more international support for African development. Mandela died in 2013 at age 95.
Source # 5 - Apartheid Falls in South Africa - click here
Note - You will have to be logged into your BHS Google account to watch the video
