Chapter
Early Apartheid: 1948-1970
Learn about the early development of apartheid as the white South African government formed a legal system of racial hierarchy and non-white South Africans resisted these laws.
Subject
- History
- Social Studies
Grade
9–12Language
English — USPublished
About this Chapter
In the 1940s, the South African government formally established apartheid (“apartness”) as a legal system to divide racial groups into a social hierarchy. This chapter examines apartheid’s restrictive policies, its fervent white supporters, and its determined non-white opponents.
Essential Questions
- How did the white minority use apartheid to promote and protect its political, social, and economic power?
- What were the ideas, tactics, and strategies used by those who resisted apartheid?
- How did the implementation of apartheid change life for the South African people, and how did they respond?
Introduction: Early Apartheid: 1948-1970
Study the National Party’s implementation of strict racial laws, the forms of defiance by black South Africans and other minority groups, and the government’s harsh reaction to this defiance.
Apartheid Policies
Read the National Party’s 1948 statement in support of apartheid, which justifies separation as a way to preserve the white European race.
Experiencing Apartheid
Writer Mtutuzeli Matshoba provides a vivid account of life under apartheid through the story of his friend who was forcibly ejected from his home.
A Wife's Lament
Consider the unique experiences of black South African women during apartheid, many of whom were forced to live far away from their husbands on bantustans.
The Freedom Charter
Examine the 1955 Freedom Charter, established by the ANC and supporting groups, which calls for all races to enjoy equal rights, protections, and benefits under the law.
Women Rise Up Against Apartheid and Change the Movement
Activist Frances Baard details the struggle of Black South African women under apartheid and their active participation in anti-apartheid demonstrations, including the multiracial 1956 Women’s March on Pretoria.
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