Summary:
Aparteid was formally introduced into South Africa in 1948 and maintained a segregated society until its fall in 1994 due largely to the efforts of Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, South Africa was entirely colonized by European super powers due to the fact that South Africa had an abundant supply of natural resources including land for farming, and mineral resources such as mines. These mines are the center of production of diamonds, gold and platinum. These powers saw South Africa as an opportunity for themselves because it made a suitable port to supply ships on their way to India. Once these Europeans, known as Afrikaners, settled in South Africa, they drove many South Africans out of their homes and imposed the rule of Apartheid, creating a separation in society between the Afrikaners and South Africans.
Apartheid is the policy of racial segregation of blacks and whites. Apartheid was created in 1948 by the South African National Party. In Afrikaans, it stands for apartness. Along with separating the whites from the non whites, it separated the blacks from everyone else, including coloreds. The main goal of apartheid was to maintain the amount of blacks in government - less is more- it was set out to insure that whites would remain in power over the blacks.
Under apartheid, blacks were assigned to low paying jobs; they had no education, and thus were illiterate. Along with that, they were given separate homelands, regions where they stayed and even there were treated like foreigners. They didn't have the right to travel freely in their own land; therefore they had to carry passbooks with their picture and fingerprints and had to get permission from authorities before they went anywhere into the non black areas.
The apartheid fell in 1994 due to the resistance of black South Africans. Opposition to white domination had existed since the first white settlers arrived. In 1912, an organization was created- the African National Congress, and it was set up to oppose white domination. The ANC organized boycotts, marches, and strikes opposing the apartheid. Nelson Mandela was a young lawyer who was condemned to prison for life because he worked to put a stop to the apartheid. After spending nearly 30 years in prison, he was released, and worked side by side with F.W. de Klerk organizing powerful events that resisted the apartheid. Such acts were forcing the government to change its policies. In 1989 F.W de Klerk became South Africa's president. He abandoned apartheid, ended laws that were not in the blacks favor and finally allowed blacks the freedom to vote in their own land. After many years, blacks were finally being recognized in their own land.
Although the apartheid separated whites from blacks and handed the majority of the power to whites, which were the minority the fall of it has caused a turn around. Even though the whites still own most of the land, the blacks have their freedom and are working together for a newer, better South Africa.
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