South Africa Dbq

While Constantinople was being sacked by the Ottomans in 1453, changing the most key trading hub in the world to the Islamic stronghold of Istanbul, Europe was suffering from the unjust role of monarchs. With exploration to the Americas and West Indies beginning in 1492. Europeans had various reasons for departing their homelands and going to settle in the new world, including religious, commercial, and developmental reasons.

During the interwar period in the 1930’s, World War One had affected most of the world’s regions either politically, socially, and/or economically, especially the Middle East and South Asia. World War One mainly affected South Asia socially due to the increased conflicts between the English and Indians and the spread of nationalism, whereas the Middle East was predominantly affected politically with the Mandate System coming into effect. However, both South Asia and the Middle East were impacted economically. The Middle East during the interwar period was impacted politically as after World War I, as they were placed under temporary British and French rule as a result of the dissolution the Ottoman Empire, this was called the Mandate System.

Africa transcended before European arrival for many reasons such as their wealth, trade, and developed government.

Neolithic people that had lived in Egypt began to travel toward the northern corner of the continent of Africa. Records and writing show the ruins of the early civilizations, and the setting of Sub- Saharan Africa had a great impact on human growth. Kingdoms thrived through this time because of the natural resources that the geography of Africa provided. The ancient Kingdoms of Africa were Ghana, Mali, and Songhai. They are located in the western region of Africa. The kingdoms became very prosperous and their achievements impacted the following world that grew in the later years.

After the Civil War, legislation was passed by Congress starting the reconstruction of the South. This reconstruction started in 1867 under the Reconstruction Act and ended in 1877 as part of the Compromise of 1877. Many people believed that a New South would form due to this reconstruction. This New South can be defined as a South that has completely abandoned all roots and traces of their past use of slavery and Confederate ideas. But, by 1900, the term “New South” did not become a reality, due to the continuation of an agricultural based economic system, the presence of blatant and widespread racism, and political views that greatly resembled pre-Civil war political views..

The Great African Land Race: Expanding European Territory Since the 1500’s, Europeans have been utilizing Africa as a center for trading and slavery. But in the early 1880’s, Africa became more of an interest to Europeans like King Leopold who wanted to expand their control over the world. The rush to conquer the mysterious continent began. Many factors caused Europeans to take part in land grabbing; however, the largest force driving Europeans towards imperialism in Africa was the desire for power through riches and natural African resources, which allowed Europeans to expand their economy and territory. Europeans quickly began to seize as much land as they could in Africa in order to win the great race for power.

The development and growth of civilizations in African history were contradicted by several American and European historians in the sixteenth and early twentieth centuries. The reason for this lack of understanding is because the focus was mainly on Europe’s chaotic society at the time. In addition, Africa didn’t have physically written documents to present their actual history. Instead, it was orally passed down. This is why historians have falsely concluded that Africa was an uncivilized “Dark Continent.” But what does it mean to be civilized? A group of people is characterized as civilized when they are organized as a society, and able to advance it. Since West and East Africa were able to develop advanced forms of economy, education, and government, they are characterized as civilized

Between 1948 and 1959, there was much opposition to Apartheid after its execution in 1948 by the National Party. Due to the apartheid laws being of a racial legislation, primarily promoting white supremacy and the discrimination of Black and colored individuals throughout South Africa, there would be no doubt that some form of opposition would be present. The opposition came in forms of the ANC and PAC primarily, two resistance parties in support of the improvement of Blacks throughout South Africa. Despite this however, it could be argued that their opposition was primarily unsuccessful due to their lack for de jure change in the system.

Apartheid is an Afrikaans word for apartness and also the title of an infamous system of racial segregation that governed South Africa for almost 50 years. It was a system wherein white people dominated socially, economically and politically at the expense of black people, and had its roots in the colonial period; when the Europeans first reached Africa to obtain raw materials and exploit the natives for labour, justifying their actions with Kipling’s The White Man’s Burden, that expressed the white man’s duty to civilise non-whites. South Africa retained its discriminatory laws and homelands up until 1994 when apartheid finally was abolished. Resistance campaigns and freedom fighters, such as Nelson Mandela, are most commonly credited with

Mandela once said, “A man who takes away another man’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness.” (Page 32). This quote is an accurate description of all the people who supported the apartheid in South Africa starting when the National Party was elected in 1948. Knowing why this happened and what brought the apartheid to an end is vital to not making the same detrimental mistake again. Apartheid came to an end because of internal unrest, external pressure, and great leaders.

Racism, discrimination and degradation faced by Blacks and other ethnic minorities under the apartheid system was not unlike the segregation and intimidation faced by African-Americans in the Jim Crow south. Jim Crow system of segregation that kept Blacks from fully participating in public and civic activities and relegated African-Americans to substandard conditions at work, school and even in the home. Blacks in South Africa were under the clutches of an overt, national policy of racism and segregation implemented by the country’s highest level of government. Civil and human rights abuses of Blacks in South Africa at the hand of the country’s white minority occurred long before apartheid officially began, but the system’s official start brought strict, sweeping laws such as the rule that all persons in South Africa to be categorized as white, Black, colored and Indian, without exception. Like in the U.S. during Jim Crow, Blacks and whites were not allowed to marry and sexual relations between members of different races was a criminal offense.

The apartheid of South Africa was a time of constant fear and unknown and tested faith in the people who it continuously impacted.

The national party achieved power in South Africa in 1948 the government, usually comprised on “white people”, and racially segregated the country by a policy under the Apartheid legislation system. With this new policy in place the black South African people were forced to live segregated from the white people and use separate public facilities. There were many attempts to overthrow the Apartheid regime, it persisted to control for almost 50 years.

The word “apartheid” means “separateness” in Afrikaans Language. Human Rights, according to “Article 1, UN Declaration of Rights” states that “ All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in spirit of brotherhood”. The native Africans were being segregated from the whites and were treated as second class citizens. The black residents felt that the apartheid policies violated their rights. Human rights of South African natives were violated when a racial segregation system, called Apartheid, based upon skin color was established by the South African government. Although there were various international responses, the actions of such groups as

South Africa really began to suffer when apartheid was written into the law. Apartheid was first introduced in the 1948 election that the Afrikaner National Party won. The plan was to take the already existing segregation and expand it (Wright, 60). Apartheid was a system that segregated South Africa’s population racially and considered non-whites inferior (“History of South Africa in the apartheid era”). Apartheid was designed to make it