Nelson Mandela is important to us because he was the first democratically elected president of South Africa, after being imprisoned for 27 years, and overcoming the obstacles that inspired the world. Nelson Mandela was born Rolihlahla Mandela on July 18, 1918, in Mvezo, on the banks of the Mbashe River in Transkei, South Africa. He was later named Nelson when he entered school. Nelson was supposed to be raised and trained to be an advisor and chief one day. As chief, Gadla, Mandela’s father, had four wives, which was okay for their culture. His third wife had her own house and farm, and that’s where she lived with her children. Mandela’s had three childhood huts made with mud. One was for sleeping, one was for cooking, and the last was …show more content…
This is an organization for black people in South Africa. It was mostly made up of middle-aged people. While Nelson was in this organization he met Evelyn Mase. She was a country girl who was in school trying to become a nurse. At the end of the day they started seeing each other, and then they got married. In 1948 the ANC had really big problems. The National Party came to power in South Africa. The National Party is a political party in South Africa that had openly sided with Germany during World War II. These were the people that introduced apartheid, which is a policy or system of segregation or discrimination that goes by the skin color. Black people were not allowed to vote. Sooner or later the government passed a law that defined everybody by his or her skin color. The skin color dictated where they could live, who they could marry, what jobs they could have, and weather they could vote or not. On June 26, 1955 the ANC passed a document that tried to help the racial segregation stop. The government vetoed the document, so Mandela and one hundred and fifty-five people were charged with high treason. The government called it communism, and communism was outlawed in South Africa in the 1950s. They were taken to a prison in Johannesburg, and they were there for two weeks for the trial. During his time in jail him and his wife divorced, and she took the children with her. Soon after they