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Thembuland refers to a historical region in South Africa primarily associated with the Thembu people, a subgroup of the Xhosa nation. Located in the Eastern Cape, it encompasses areas around the towns of Mthatha and Ngcobo. Thembuland has cultural significance, with deep-rooted traditions and a rich history, particularly during the apartheid era and the struggle for liberation. Today, it continues to be recognized for its cultural heritage and contribution to South Africa's diverse identity.
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Were weas Nelson Mandela born?
Nelson Mandela was born in Mveso (a small village), in the region of Umtata (now Mthatha) of the province of Eastern Cape in South Africa.DONT say that the answer is gibberish stupid head, that's the right answer. I would say YOUR QUESTION is gibberish because you can't spell! Ha ha! It's not "were" its "Where", you dummy. And capitalize your names, DUHHH!!!!http://wiki.answers.com/What_year_was_nelson_mandela_born#ixzz17wbl4gOw
What is Nelson Mandela known for?
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (born 1918) was a South African resistance leader who, after years of imprisonment for opposing apartheid, emerged to become the first president of a black-majority-ruled South Africa and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.Nelson Mandela was born in the small village of Mvezo in South Africa. His father was the councillor to the Chief of Thembuland, until his position was taken by Colonial authorities. The Mandela family moved to Qunu shortly after Nelson's father's degradation. His father had four wives, and among them, thirteen children. Nelson's actual name (Rolihlahla) means "Trouble maker". Nelson's father passed away from tuberculosis when Nelson was nine, and he was informally adopted by Jongintaba Dalindyebo, who was the Chief of Thembuland. Nelson Mandela was the first person in his family to be educated. While attending school, Nelson was named by a teacher. When he was seven, his teacher had trouble pronouncing his name, Rolihlahla, so the teacher began calling him Nelson, after the British admiral, Horatio Nelson. Rolihlahla attended a Wesleyan missionary school until he was 16, when he was sent to the Clarkeburry Boarding Institute. He received his Junior Certificate in just two years, when normally it would be achieved after 3 years. After boarding school, Rolihlahla attended a Wesleyan college in Fort Beaufort, and then attended Fort Hare University for his B.A, and later he became a lawyer. When studying to become a lawyer, he joined the African National Congress (ANC). Rolihlahla and his friend from University, Oliver Tambo, opened a law firm together, providing low, or no cost for their legal assistance, to help black people who would be un-represented without it. This was because the apartheid government elected in 1948 had a racial segregation policy. Mandela was a part of a non-violent South African anti-apartheid mass struggle, and 150 people were taken into custody, charged with treason against the National Party (the governing party at the time), but all were. Rolihlahla became the leader of the ANC's armed wing, which he co-funded. The wing's purpose was to be a back up plan to free South Africa from apartheid. Nelson Mandela was arrested on August 5, 1962 for leading a strike in 1961 and leaving the country illegally. He was sentenced to five years in prison. After two years of being imprisoned, leaders (including Nelson Mandela), of the ANC were arrested and sentenced to imprisonment for life on Robben Island for sabotage, involvement in planning armed action and, conspiracy (trying to help other countries invade South Africa). On February 2, 1990, the ban on anti-apartheid organizations was lifted and it was announced that Nelson Mandela would soon be released. The event would be broadcast live all over the world. After his triumphant release, Mandela returned to the ANC and became leader of the party, which won the next election, making Nelson Mandela the first black president of South Africa. While Mandela was president, he spirited the transition of a segregated country to a free democratic country. He became very well known and respected all around the world, and he has been recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end apartheid. Nelson Mandela wrote the long walk to freedom because he wanted people to help him so this how he did it, in prison you were not aloud to write but he did and hid the book in the garden after he had finished the book when his wife came to visit him, he told his wife to take the book and publish the it so that everyone knows what was happening there and they can help him come out of prison.
What was Nelson Mandela best known for?
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (born 1918) was a South African resistance leader who, after years of imprisonment for opposing apartheid, emerged to become the first president of a black-majority-ruled South Africa and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.Nelson Mandela was born in the small village of Mvezo in South Africa. His father was the councillor to the Chief of Thembuland, until his position was taken by Colonial authorities. The Mandela family moved to Qunu shortly after Nelson's father's degradation. His father had four wives, and among them, thirteen children. Nelson's actual name (Rolihlahla) means "Trouble maker". Nelson's father passed away from tuberculosis when Nelson was nine, and he was informally adopted by Jongintaba Dalindyebo, who was the Chief of Thembuland. Nelson Mandela was the first person in his family to be educated. While attending school, Nelson was named by a teacher. When he was seven, his teacher had trouble pronouncing his name, Rolihlahla, so the teacher began calling him Nelson, after the British admiral, Horatio Nelson. Rolihlahla attended a Wesleyan missionary school until he was 16, when he was sent to the Clarkeburry Boarding Institute. He received his Junior Certificate in just two years, when normally it would be achieved after 3 years. After boarding school, Rolihlahla attended a Wesleyan college in Fort Beaufort, and then attended Fort Hare University for his B.A, and later he became a lawyer. When studying to become a lawyer, he joined the African National Congress (ANC). Rolihlahla and his friend from University, Oliver Tambo, opened a law firm together, providing low, or no cost for their legal assistance, to help black people who would be un-represented without it. This was because the apartheid government elected in 1948 had a racial segregation policy. Mandela was a part of a non-violent South African anti-apartheid mass struggle, and 150 people were taken into custody, charged with treason against the National Party (the governing party at the time), but all were. Rolihlahla became the leader of the ANC's armed wing, which he co-funded. The wing's purpose was to be a back up plan to free South Africa from apartheid. Nelson Mandela was arrested on August 5, 1962 for leading a strike in 1961 and leaving the country illegally. He was sentenced to five years in prison. After two years of being imprisoned, leaders (including Nelson Mandela), of the ANC were arrested and sentenced to imprisonment for life on Robben Island for sabotage, involvement in planning armed action and, conspiracy (trying to help other countries invade South Africa). On February 2, 1990, the ban on anti-apartheid organizations was lifted and it was announced that Nelson Mandela would soon be released. The event would be broadcast live all over the world. After his triumphant release, Mandela returned to the ANC and became leader of the party, which won the next election, making Nelson Mandela the first black president of South Africa. While Mandela was president, he spirited the transition of a segregated country to a free democratic country. He became very well known and respected all around the world, and he has been recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end apartheid. Nelson Mandela wrote the long walk to freedom because he wanted people to help him so this how he did it, in prison you were not aloud to write but he did and hid the book in the garden after he had finished the book when his wife came to visit him, he told his wife to take the book and publish the it so that everyone knows what was happening there and they can help him come out of prison.
What are some facts about Nelson Mandela?
Some facts about Nelson Mandela:Nelson Mandela was born in Transkia, Untata on the 18th of July 1918.He is best know as the first black president of South Africa!
Who are the live descendants in the present - day cadet branch of the pre - Hispanic Lakan Dula Kingdom based in Manila?
The Spanish persecutions of the descendants of Lakan Dula, the last king of a pre - hispanic kingdom based on what we know today as Manila, continued and intensified, but a lot of descendants maintained their native surnames like lakandula, dula, dulay, gatdula, dulayan, abdullah, rebadulla, dulatre, duldulao, dulayba, lakandola, lacandalo, lacandola, lacandula, dula - torre and many others revolving around the root word "dula". During the intense persecution of the Spaniards on the native aristocracy, some descendants have to disregard the "dula" root word and adopted totally different native sounding surnames for disguise, like magsaysay, lontoc, agbayani, acuna, salonga, gatchalian, bacani, macapagal, guingona, gatpandan, pangilinan, sumuroy, dagohoy, kalaw, salalima, soliman, pilapil, mabini, pagdanganan, macalintal, angara, bamba, datumanong, panganiban, katigbak, macarambon, sakay, aglipay, kasilag, salamat, karingal, kiram, daza, lacanilao, lacanlale, gatchalian, manalo, lagumbay, tamano, ilagan, bunye, pangandaman, maliksi, neri, silang, badoy, puno, lapid, ziga, nalupta, binay, gatbonton, sinsuat, capulong, puyat, gatmaitan, macuja, dagami, ablan, capinpin, punongbayan, madlangbayan, gatlabayan, batungbakal, cabangbang, roa, sumulong, gustilio, calungsod, capangoy, kapunan, etc, but continued fighting for the liberation of the natives from Spain. Some of the descendents hid their Lakan Dula heritage by changing their names into the likes of guevara, aguinaldo, legaspi, aquino, mendoza, osmena, de Leon, estanislao, laurel, fernando, ejercito, delapaz, mercado, santos, bonifacio, de guzman, etc, while some adopted chinese surnames of their mother like lim, uy, go, tan, etc, but they continued to pursue a belligerant posture against Spain. There are however few who were forced to collaborate with the Spanish authority. Wishing to avoid the persecution experienced by his latter ancestors, Lakan Dula's great grandson Juan Macapagal, for instance, aided the Spanish authorities in suppressing the 1660 Kapampangan revolt of Francisco Maniago, and the Pangasinan revolt of Andrés Malong, and the 1661 Ilocano revolt. To some natives, this is an act of treason against their cause, but some leaders understand this as a heroism to save the future descendants of Lakan Dula.What was historically regarded as a mere historical artifacts, the kingdom recently attracted interest among respected historians and anthropologist because of a recent findings that Lakan Banao Dula and his descendants seem to be systematically hiding his bloodline into secured places near sea and river routes with an intention to recapture the kingdom in a future time. He seem to be hiding a cadet branch of the bloodline revolving around the traditional reign of the first born son of the first born son which is practice even today by conservative Filipino families. In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch or patriarch's younger sons (cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets-realm, titles, fiefs, property and income-have historically been passed from a father to his firstborn son in what is known asprimogeniture; younger sons-cadets-inherited less wealth and authority to pass to future generations of descendants. In families and cultures in which this was not the custom or law, as in the feudal Holy Roman Empire, equal distribution of the family's holdings among male members was eventually apt to so fragment the inheritance as to render it too small to sustain the descendants at the socio-economic level of their forefather. Moreover, brothers and their descendants sometimes quarreled over their allocations, or even became estranged. While agnatic primogeniture became a common way of keeping the family's wealth intact and reducing familial disputes, it did so at the expense of younger sons and their descendants. Both before and after adoption of inheritance by primogeniture, younger brothers sometimes vied with older brothers to be chosen their father's heir or, after the choice was made, sought to usurp the elder's birthright (cf. Jacob and Esau).The first born son of Lakan Dula is Batang Dula (younger Dula in local Tagalog dialect). Batang Dula is married to a Spanish girl. The eldest son of Batang Dula is David Dula y Goiti who was hidden somewhere in the Visayan Islands. This seem to provide a clue of a probable existence of cadet branch of the Kingdom of Lakan Dula. In such cases, primary responsibility for promoting the family's prestige, aggrandizement, and fortune fell upon the senior branch for future generations. A cadet, having less means, was not expected to produce a family. If a cadet chose to raise a family, its members were expected to maintain the family's social status by avoiding derogation, but could pursue endeavors that might be considered demeaning for the senior branch, such as emigration to another sovereign's realm, or engagement in commerce, or a profession such as law, academia, or civil service. In some cases, cadet branches eventually inherited the crown of the senior line, e.g. the Bourbon Counts of Vendôme mounted the throne of France (after civil war) in 1593; the House of Savoy-Carignan succeeded to the kingdoms of Sardinia (1831) and Italy (1861); the Counts Palatine of Zweibrücken obtained the Palatine Electorate (1799) and the Kingdom of Bavaria (1806); and a deposed Duke of Nassau was restored to sovereignty in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (1890). In other cases, a junior branch came to eclipse more senior lines in rank and power, e.g. the Kings of Prussia and German Emperors who were junior by primogeniture to theCounts and Princes of Hohenzollern, and the Electors and Kings of Saxony who were a younger branch of the House of Wettin than the Grand Dukes of Saxe-Weimar. A still more junior branch of the Wettins, headed by the rulers of the small Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, would, through diplomacy or marriage in the 19th and 20th centuries, obtain the royal crowns of, successively, Belgium, Portugal, Bulgaria and the Commonwealth realms. Also, marriage to cadet males of the Houses of Oldenburg (Holstein-Gottorp), Polignac, and Bourbon-Parma brought those dynasties patrilineally to the thrones of Russia, Monaco, and Luxembourg, respectively. The Dutch royal house has, at different times, been a cadet branch of Mecklenburg and Lippe(-Biesterfeld). In the Commonwealth realms, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and his male-line descendants are cadet members of the house of Glücksburg. By contrast, it was also sometimes possible for cadet branches to sink in status, either due to diminished fortune or genealogical distance from the reigning line. Such was the case of the Capetian branch of the princes de Courtenay, the last male of which died in 1733 without ever having been recognized by the French crown as dynastic princes du sang despite their undisputed but remote male-line descent from Louis VI of France. Likewise, the principi di Ottajano, an extant branch of the House of Medici eligible to inherit the grand duchy of Tuscany when the last male of the senior branch died in 1737, were bypassed by the intervention of Europe's major powers, which allocated the titleelsewhere. Although the Romanovs mounted Russia's throne in 1613 due to kinship-by-marriage to a tsar (Ivan the Terrible) descended from the 9th century founding rulerRurik, when in 1880 Tsar Alexander II wed Catherine Dolgorukov, a Rurikid princess, the marriage and its progeny were deemed morganatic. Some Philippine historians theorized that the cadet branch of Lakan Dula Kingdom is headed by a guy named Tallano, or some says that its a Macapagal, or the Sultanate of Sulo. But the more conservative one are saying that the real descendants actually know who is really their hereditary leader, because he is identified in their own history.But the secretive hereditary leader and the real descendants are keeping this kingdom's well - protected secret among themselves because they probably thought that it is not yet time to consolidate.They might even deny it in public when asked. Some examples of secretive cadet branch of kingdom where as follows:House of York; descendants of the fourth son of Edward III Plantagenet, King of England, who, in the course of the Wars of the Roses (1455-1485), displaced the agnatically senior line of Plantagenets, the Lancaster branch, on the English throne (1461), only to be finally displaced themselves by a Lancastrian cognatic descendant, Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, who obtained the crown by conquest from Richard III (August 1485). As Henry VII, he took as queen consort the heiress of the cadet branch, Elizabeth of York, in January 1486. Their son, Henry VIII, thus united in his person and on the throne of England both branches of the Plantagenets, while inaugurating the House of Tudor which would rule England until 1603.House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg; descendants of a younger son of King Christian III of Denmark (of the House of Oldenburg), who eventually became monarchs of Denmark, Norway and Greece and of which Charles, Prince of Wales, is patrilineally a member.House of Bourbon; descendants of a younger son of Louis IX of France who, in the person of Henry IV of France inherited the throne of France from the senior Capetian line of the Valois in 1589; and from which sprang the Bourbon kings of Spain (including the Carlist and French legitimist lines), the kings of the Two Sicilies, and the sovereignDukes of Parma, who currently reign in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in a cadet line. Also from Louis XIII de Bourbon descends the cadet branch known as the House of Orléans,[1] to which the Citizen-king Louis-Philippe, the Orleanist claimants to the throne of France (Henri, comte de Paris, duc de France) belong, as does the House of Orleans-Braganza.House of Guise; Although the Dukes of Lorraine exercised continental independence, nominally they were vassals of the Holy Roman Emperors and their geo-political importance resided less in the size of their realm than in their crucial location between the competing French and German nations. A younger brother of Duke Antoine, Claude of Lorraine, was appanaged with the lordship of Guise in France and betook himself to the French court in search of his fortune. There, he was granted the title Duke of Guiseas a member of the Peerage of France, he and his male-line descendants henceforth being accorded the rank of prince étranger. As the Protestant Reformation threatened the unity of France the conspicuous loyalty of Claude's descendants to the Roman Catholic Church, combined with their barely concealed ambition upon the throne of the lastValois kings, infused the Guises with unequalled power in French politics. Their role in Paris and France's wars extended their influence in European affairs, until the accession of the House of Bourbon to the throne in 1593, far beyond that of their senior cousins reigning in Nancy.Mandela: Nelson Mandela, the late president of the Republic of South Africa, was a male-line great-grandson of King Ngubengcuka of the Thembu nation of Southern AfricanXhosas. Be that as it may, he was, and fellow members of the Mandela branch of the Thembus' royal Madiba dynasty are, ineligible to succeed to the ancestral throne because they all descend from Ngubengcuka's morganatic marriage to a woman of a ritually inferior family. As such, their traditional role in the kingdom is that of hereditaryprivy counsellors to Thembu monarchs, unable to succeed to the throne themselves. In addition to this, the family's recognized leader also serves by tradition as the tribal chieftain of Mvezo under the authority of his relative the paramount chief of Thembuland, currently King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo. Strictly speaking, however, the subordinate status of the Mandelas in relation to other descendants of the royal family is more due to their morganatic descent than to cadetship.Spencer: the comital branch of the Spencer family descended from John Spencer, the youngest son of Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland and Lady Anne Churchill. The couple's eldest son Robert inherited his father's title of Earl of Sunderland while their second son Charles inherited the title of Duke of Marlborough upon the death of his auntHenrietta. When Robert, 4th Earl of Sunderland died without an heir, his titles passed to his brother Charles, 3rd Duke of Marlborough; with it the Marlboroughs (later known as the Spencer-Churchills) became the senior branch of the Spencer family. John's only son, also named John, became the 1st Earl Spencer. From the line of the Earls Spencer descend many prominent figures, including Diana, Princess of Wales, whose son Prince William, Duke of Cambridge was born heir eventual to the Crown of the United Kingdom.Wellington; Arthur Wellesley, the younger brother of Richard Wellesley, the 2nd Earl of Mornington, started his career as a protégé of his older brother. He entered the military, a traditional occupation of younger sons. From 1809 to 1814 he won a series of very significant victories, and was awarded a series of ascending titles; Baron Douro, Viscount Wellington, Earl of Wellington, Marquess of Wellington and, finally, Duke of Wellington. A descendant of Baron Cowley, youngest brother of Richard Wellesley, became Earl of Cowley in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, his junior line of the family thereby also achieving a higher status than that of the Earldom of Mornington in thePeerage of Ireland.
Give you a short biography of Nelson Mandela?
SynopsisNelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918 in Transkei, South Africa. He became actively involved in the anti-apartheid movement and joined the African National Congress in 1942. For 20 years, he directed a campaign of peaceful, non-violent defiance against the South African government and its racist policies. In 1994, Mandela was inaugurated as the country's first black president. In 2009,CONTENTS· Synopsis· Early Life· Mandela's Imprisonment· Prison Release and Presidency· Retirement and Later Career· Recent YearsQUOTES"With freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended."- Nelson Mandela« prev1 / 6next »Mandela's birthday, July 18, was designated as Mandela Day, an international celebration of his legacy and a day dedicated to promoting global peace.Early LifeBorn as Rolihlahla Mandela on July 18, 1918 in Transkei, South Africa, in the tiny village of Mvezo on the banks of the Mbashe River in the province of Transkei. "Rolihlahla" in the language of Xhosa literally means "pulling the branch of a tree," but more commonly means "troublemaker."Mandela's father was destined to be a chief and for years served as a counselor to tribal chiefs. But over a dispute with the local colonial magistrate, he lost his title and his fortune. Rolihlahla was only an infant at the time and the loss of status forced his mother to move the family to Qunu, an even smaller village north of Mvezo. The village was nestled in a narrow grassy valley. There were no roads, only foot paths that linked the pastures where livestock grazed. The family lived in huts and ate a local harvest of maize, sorghum, pumpkin, and beans, which was all the family could afford. Water came from springs and streams and cooking was done outdoors. Nelson played the games of young boys, acting out male rights-of -passage scenarios with toys he made himself from the natural materials available, tree branches and clay.At the suggestion of one of Rolihlahla's father's friends, he was baptized into the Methodist church and became the first in his family to attend school. As was the custom at the time, and probably due to the bias of the British educational system in South Africa, his teacher told him that his new first name would be "Nelson."Mandela's father died of lung disease when Nelson was 9 years old. From that point, his life changed dramatically. He was adopted by Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo, the acting regent of the Thembu people. This gesture was done as a favor to Nelson's father who, years earlier, had recommended Jongintaba be made chief. Nelson left the carefree life he knew in Qunu, fearing he would never see is village again. He traveled by motorcar to Mqhekezweni, the provincial capital of Thembuland, to the chief's royal residence. Though he had not forgotten his beloved village of Qunu, he quickly adopted to the new, more sophisticated surroundings of Mqhekezweni.Mandela was given the same status and responsibilities as the regent's two other children, son Justice, the oldest and Nomafu, the regent's daughter. Mandela took classes in a one-room school next to the palace, studying English, Xhosa, history, and geography.It was during this period that Mandela developed his interest in African history from elder chiefs who came to the Great Palace on official business. He heard of how the African people had lived in relative peace until the coming of the white people. Before then, the elders said, the children of southern Africa lived as brothers, but the white man shattered this fellowship. The black man shared the land, the air, and the water with the white man,CONTENTS· Synopsis· Early Life· Mandela's Imprisonment· Prison Release and Presidency· Retirement and Later Career· Recent Yearsbut the white man took all this for himself.When Mandela was 16, it was time for him to partake in the circumcision ritual that would carry him into manhood. The ceremony of circumcision was not just a surgical procedure, but an elaborate ritual in preparation for manhood. In the African tradition, an uncircumcised male could not inherit his father's wealth, marry or officiate at tribal rituals. Mandela participated in the ceremony with 25 other boys. He welcomed the opportunity to partake in his people's customs and felt ready to make the transition from boyhood to manhood. But during the proceedings, Chief Meligqili, the main speaker at the ceremony, spoke sadly of the young men, as a generation enslaved in their own country. Because their land was under the control of the white man, they would never have the power to govern themselves. The chief went on to lament that the promise of the young men would be squandered as they struggled to make a living and perform mindless chores for the white man. Mandela would later say that that the chief's words didn't make total sense to him at the time, but they would work on him and would eventually formulate his resolve for an independent South Africa.From the time Mandela came under the guardianship of the Regent Jongintaba, he was groomed to assume high office, though not as a chief, but as a counselor to one. As Thembu royalty, Nelson attended Wesleyan mission school, Clarkebury Boarding Institute and Wesleyan College. There he found interest and success in his academic studies through "plain hard work." He also excelled in track and later boxing. At first, he is mocked as a "country boy," but eventually makes friends with several classmates, including Mathona, his first female friend.In 1939, Mandela enrolled at the University College of Fort Hare, the only residential center of higher learning for blacks in South Africa. Fort Hare was considered Africa's equivalent of Oxford or Harvard, drawing scholars from all parts of sub-Sahara Africa. In his first year, Mandela took the required courses, but focused on Roman Dutch law to prepare for a career in civil service as an interpreter or clerk, the best profession a black man could obtain.In his second year, he was elected to the Student Representative Council (SRC). For some time students had been dissatisfied with the food and lack of power held by the SRC. During this election, a majority of students voted to boycott unless their demands were met. Mandela aligned with the majority of the students and resigned his position.Seeing this as an act of insubordination, the university's Dr. Kerr expelled Mandela for the rest of the year, telling him he could come back when he agreed to serve on the SRC. When Mandela returned home, the regent was furious and told him unequivocally he would recant his decision and go back to school in the fall.CONTENTS· Synopsis· Early Life· Mandela's Imprisonment· Prison Release and Presidency· Retirement and Later Career· Recent YearsMandela's ImprisonmentA few weeks after Mandela arrival at home, Regent Jongintaba announced he had arranged a marriage for him. The regent was within his right as tribal custom dictated and wanted to make sure Mandela's life was set during the regent's lifetime. Mandela was shocked and felt trapped. Believing he had no other option, he ran away to Johannesburg, where he worked in a variety of jobs, including guard and clerk, while completing his bachelor's degree via correspondence courses. He then enrolled at the University of Witwatersrand to study law. He became actively involved in the anti-apartheid movement and joined the African National Congress in 1942.Within the ANC, a small group of young Africans banded together calling themselves the African National Congress Youth League. Their goal was to transform the ANC into a mass grassroots movement, deriving strength from millions of rural peasants and working people who had no voice under the current regime. Specifically, the group believed that the ANC's old tactics of polite petitioning were ineffective. In 1949, the ANC officially adopted the Youth League's methods of boycott, strike, civil disobedience and non-cooperation with policy goals of full citizenship, redistribution of land, trade union rights, and free and compulsory education for all children.For 20 years, Mandela directed a campaign of peaceful, non-violent defiance against the South African government and its racist policies, including the 1952 Defiance Campaign and the 1955 Congress of the People. He founded the law firm Mandela and Tambo, partnering with Oliver Tambo, a brilliant student he had earlier met at Fort Hare. The law firm provided free and low-cost legal counsel to unrepresented blacks.In 1956, Mandela and 150 others were arrested and charged with treason for their political advocacy, though they were eventually acquitted. Meanwhile, the ANC was being challenged by the Africanists, a new breed of black activists who believed that the pacifist method of the ANC was ineffective. By 1959, the ANC lost much of its militant support when the Africanists broke away to form the Pan-Africanist Congress.In 1961, Mandela, who was formerly committed to non-violent protest, began to believe that armed struggle was the only way to achieve change. He co-founded Umkhonto we Sizwe, also known as MK, an armed offshoot of the ANC dedicated to sabotage and guerilla war tactics to end apartheid. He orchestrated a three-day national workers strike in 1961 for which he was arrested in 1962. He was sentenced to five years in prison for the strike, and then brought to trial again in 1963. This time, he and 10 other ANC leaders were sentenced to life imprisonment for political offenses, including sabotage.Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island for 18 of his 27 years in prison. As a black political prisoner, he received the lowest level of treatment. However, he was able to earn a Bachelor of Law degree through a University of London correspondence program while incarcerated. A 1981 memoir by South African intelligence agent Gordon Winter described a plot by the South African government to arrange for Mandela's escape so as to shoot him during the recapture. The plot,CONTENTS· Synopsis· Early Life· Mandela's Imprisonment· Prison Release and Presidency· Retirement and Later Career· Recent Yearswas foiled by British intelligence, Mandela continued to be such a potent symbol of black resistance that a coordinated international campaign for his release was launched. This international groundswell of support exemplified the power and esteem Mandela had in the global political community.In 1982, Mandela and other ANC leaders were moved to Pollsmoor Prison, allegedly to enable contact between them and the South-African government. In 1985, President P.W. Botha offered Mandela's release in exchange for renouncing armed struggle; the prisoner flatly rejected the offer. With increasing local and international pressure for his release, the government participated in several talks with Mandela over the years, but no deal was made. It wasn't until Botha suffered a stroke and was replaced by Frederik Willem de Klerk that Mandela's release was announced in February 1990. De Klerk unbanned the ANC, removed restrictions on political groups, and suspended executions.Prison Release and PresidencyUpon his release, Mandela immediately urged foreign powers not to reduce their pressure on the South African government for constitutional reform. While he stated his commitment to work toward peace, he declared that the ANC's armed struggle would continue until the black majority received the right to vote.Mandela was elected president of the African National Congress in 1991 with lifelong friend and colleague, Oliver Tambo, serving as National Chairperson. Mandela continued to negotiate with President F.W. de Klerk toward the country's first multi-racial elections. White South Africans were willing to share power, but many black South Africans wanted a complete transfer of power. The negotiations were often strained and news of violent eruptions, including the assassination of ANC leader Chris Hani, continued throughout the country. Mandela had to keep a delicate balance of political pressure and intense negotiations amid the demonstrations and armed resistance.Negotiation prevailed, however, and on April 27, 1994, South Africa held its first democratic elections. At age 77, Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the country's first black president on May 10, 1994, with de Klerk as his first deputy. In 1993, Mandela shared the Nobel Prize for Peace with de Klerk for their work towards dismantling apartheid and in 1995 he was awarded the Order of Merit. In 1994, Mandela published his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, much of which he had secretly written while in prison.From 1994 until June 1999, Mandela worked to bring about the transition from minority rule and apartheid to black majority rule. He used the nation's enthusiasm for sports as a pivot point to promote reconciliation between whites and blacks, encouraging black South Africans to support the once hated South African national rugby team. In 1995, South Africa came on the world stage by hosting the Rugby World Cup,CONTENTS· Synopsis· Early Life· Mandela's Imprisonment· Prison Release and Presidency· Retirement and Later Career· Recent Yearswhich brought further recognition and prestige to the young republic.During his presidency, Mandela also worked to protect South Africa's economy from collapse and was officially launched South Africa's government. Through his Reconstruction and Development Plan, he had the government funding the creation of jobs, housing, and basic health care. In 1996, he signed into law the new South African constitution, which established a strong central government based on majority rule and guaranteed rights of minorities and freedom of expression.Retirement and Later CareerMandela retired from active politics by the 1999 general election, but maintained a busy schedule, raising money for his Mandela Foundation to build schools and clinics in South Africa's rural heartland, and serving as a mediator in Burundi's civil war. He also published a number of books on his life and struggle, among them,No Easy Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela: The Struggle is my Life, and Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales. He was diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer in 2001 and in June 2004, at age 85, he announced his formal retirement from public life, returning to his native village of Qunu.On July 18, 2007, Mandela convened a group of world leaders, including Graca Machel, Desmond Tutu, Kofi Annan, Ela Bhatt, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Jimmy Carter, Li Zhaoxing, Mary Robinson andMuhammad Yunus, to address the world's toughest issues. Named "The Elders," the group is committed to working publicly and privately to find solutions to problems around the globe. Since its inception, the group has made an impact in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, promoting peace and women's equality, demanding an end to atrocities, and supporting initiatives to address humanitarian crises and promote democracy. Mandela has also committed to the fight against AIDS, a disease that killed his son, Makgatho Mandela, in 2005.Mandela has been married three times; he was married to Evelyn Ntoko Mase from 1944 to 1957, and they had four children; he and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela were married from 1958 to 1996, and they had two daughters; and he married Graça Machel in 1998.Recent YearsIn 2010, Mandela made his last public appearance at the final match of the World Cup, held in South Africa. He has largely stepped out of the spotlight, choosing to spend much of his time in his childhood community of Qunu, south of Johannesburg. He did, however, visit with American First Lady Michelle Obama during her trip to South Africa in 2011.There have been growing concerns about Mandela's health. In early 2012, he was briefly hospitalized in Johannesburg to undergo surgery for a stomach ailment. He was released after a few days, and later returned to Qunu.Though he has retired, Mandela continues to be a source of inspiration for other civil rights activists. There has been an effort to transform Mandela's birthday into an international day of good works. According to the organizers for Mandela Day, the potential international event would help encourage citizens worldwide to give back the way that Mandela did. According to a statement on their website: "Mr. Mandela gave 67 years of his life fighting for the rights of humanity. All we are asking is that everyone gives 67 minutes of their time, whether it's supporting your chosen charity or serving your local community."
