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Apartheid Begins after 1948 election
Hoping to get votes from the white Africans, the National Party promises to make laws severely restricting black rights if they win the general election. The National Party defeats the United Party and apartheid begins. -
The AFrican National Congress starts the Defiance Campaign
Volunteers begin a resistance to apartheid by breaking the laws they think are wrong. The protests include black people sitting on benches marked for white people only and being out in the city after the curfew set for blacks. -
The Bantu Education Act is passed
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Nelson Mandela is arrested for treason
Nelson Mandela, an anti-apartheid activist is arrested with several other people for fighting against apartheid. He was charged with treason, but after a four-year trial he was found not guilty. -
Separate homelands are created for the major black groups
The government passed new laws to create separate homelands for the major black groups in the country. The government does this to stop blacks from being citizens of South AFrica. -
69 people are killed in the massace
Apartheid requires blacks to carry passbooks which contain personal information such as name, date of birth, and photos. When protestors show up at the Sharpeville police station without their passbooks, a riot breaks out and police kill 69 people. -
Rhodesia illegally gains independence from Great Britain
The Prime Minister announces that Rhodesia has broke away from Great Britain and that whites will control the government. Great Britain had been prepared to only grant independence if blacks were given some of the power in government -
South Africa gets expelled from the United Nations
Due to apartheid, South Africa got removed from the United Nations. South Africa is not allowed back into the United Nations until apartheid ends. -
Anti-apartheid activist Steve Bilko is killed
Steve Bilko, one of the organizers of the Soweto protest, got arrested on August 18, 1977. He dies in police custody on September 12 and the cause of death is severe brain damage, likely from being beaten by police. -
More than 600 students are killed in the Soweto Massacre
