Lee 2

Elizabeth LeeMrs. JanevskiEnglish P71/24/15Hero Summary 2: Nelson MandelaIn The terrorist who became South Africas first democratically elected president, Rolihlahla Mandela was born in South Africa. In his mission primary school, he received a new Catholic name- Nelson. In 1948, the National Party was elected to construct apartheid. In 1952, Mandela and the African National Congress began a Defiance Campaign aginst unfair laws. They toured the country, encouraging people to take part in civil disobedience. This lead to the government banning Mandela. But he continued to fight against apartheid, and he was arrested in 1956. Thankfully, he was acquitted. In 1960, the ANC was outlawed. In the same year, there was aa violent shooting at Sharpeville, where the police fatally shot 69 people who were peacefully protesting outside a police station. This lead Mandela to believe that violence could be more effective than nonviolence. So in 1962, Mandela traveled around Africa and England to gain support for the armed struggle against apartheid. Shortly after returning to South Africa, Mandela was arrested with the charges of leaving the country illegally and incitement to strike (Johnson 1). In 1964, Mandela and the ANC were discovered, and he and some others were sent to Robben Island for life imprisonment. However, when the new Nationalist president, F. W. de Klerk, was elected, Klerk fell under the pressure to release Mandela. In 1990, Mandela was set free after 27 years of imprisonment. In 1993, Klerk and Mandela were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The next year, Mandela became the first democratically elected president of South Africa. Despite the brutality of the previous regime and his own personal suffering, Nelson Mandela instituted a peace and reconciliation agenda, never faltering in his belief in democracy, equality and learning, holding out the hand of peace to those who had oppressed and deprived others (Johnson 1). Nelson Mandela dedicated his life to eliminating discrimination in his nation, should it be against blacks or against whites. He was a hero who treated all people with equality and justice (Johnson 1).