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Apartheid starts
Apartheid begins after the National Party wins the South African General Election 1948. The Party's all-white members establish laws to enforce racial segregation, classifying all South African citizens as either 'White', 'Black', 'Coloured', or 'Asian'. -
Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act
The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, Act No 55 of 1949 was published in South African Legislation. The law stated that no people of differing 'races' could marry each other in South Africa. -
Population Registration Act
The Population Registration Act, Act No 55 of 1949 was passed by the National Party of South Africa, stating that all residents living in South Africa be classified into four new 'races' based on their physical characteristics. They could be classified as being 'Black', 'White', 'Coloured', or 'Asian'. -
Group Areas Act
The Group Areas Act, Act No 41 of 1950 was passed under South Africa's National Party. The new law ruled that each 'race' live in allocated areas, and physically forced people out of their land if they were not supposed to live there. -
Bantu Authorities Act
The Bantu Authorities Act, Act No 68 of 1951, was a new law which legalised the government's efforts to deport and relocate Blacks into new living areas (homelands), separating them from the rest of South Africa's people. -
Seperate Registration of Voters Act
The Seperate Registration of Voters Act, ACt No 46 of 1951 was an act passed by the South African National Party, which sought to remove non-white voters from the voters' roll. -
Defiance Campaign
The Defiance Campaign was an uprising effort led by the Afican National Congress(ANC) which encouraged Blacks to disobey racist Apartheid laws. The ANC wanted the jails to fill up with new criminals who broke the law, offsetting the police force and creating chaos globally as more and more criminals were thrown into jail for breaking absurd laws. -
Treason Trials
156 anti-apartheid activists were arrested for treason, in which all of the defendents were found not guilty. The trials lasted about 6 years. -
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Nelson Mandela is arrested
Nelson Mandela is arrested on the 5th of August, 1962 for treason crimes. On the 7th November 1962, he is sentenced to five years in prison for leaving the country without a passport and inciting workers to go on strike, a defiant movement which would have sparked a rebellion. On the 11th of June 1964, Mandela is convicted of sabotage with seven others. The next day, the 12th of June, Mandela and the seven others were sentenced to life in prison. -
Nelson Mandela is released from prison
Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster Prison, and he addresses thousands of supporters from a balcony in Cape Town. -
Apartheid ends
On the 27th of April, people of ALL races were allowed to vote, a total of 22 million people. The ANC had the most votes, with Nelson Mandela as its president. -
Nelson Mandela becomes president
Nelson Mandela was democratically inaugurated as South Africa's President, after more than three centuries of White rule.
Mandela set out to abolish all Apartheid rules and strived for a racially equal South Africa.
