Apartheid was a time in South Africa between 1948 and 1994 when the government made laws to discriminate against the coloured majority (Black, Indian, and Coloured people). The National Party ruled Africa during that time and made the laws. Everything, including medical care, education, and even the country's beaches were segregated by race. Apartheid did not end until Nelson Mandela was elected president.
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.
Volunteers begin a peaceful resistance to apartheid by breaking the laws they think are wrong. The peaceful protests include black people sitting on benches marked for white people only and being out in the city after the curfew set for blacks.
A law is passed that creates a separate education system for blacks and whites. Blacks are trained to prepare them for a life as part of the working class since it is not expected that they will be allowed to do anything more than that.
Nelson Mandela, an anti-apartheid activist, is arrested with several other people for fighting against apartheid. He is charged with treason, but after a four-year trial he is found not guilty.
The government passes new laws to create separate homelands, called Bantustans, for the major black groups in the country. The government does this to stop blacks from being citizens of South Africa.
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.
Mandela was the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, part of the African National Congress. He is arrested for his role in bombing government targets and sentenced to life in prison.
Prime Minister Ian Smith announces that Rhodesia has broken 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.
Due to apartheid, South Africa is removed from the United Nations. South Africa is not allowed back into the United Nations until apartheid ends in 1994.
Steve Biko, one of the organizers of the Soweto protest, is 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.
Paul Simon traveled to South Africa to make the album "Graceland" with local South African musicians. When the album is released on August 12, 1986, Simon is criticized by many people, including the African National Congress, for breaking the cultural boycott.
Even though he supported segregation at one time, President Frederik Willem de Klerk lifts the ban on the African National Congress in 1990. In 1993, de Klerk wins the Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela for helping end apartheid.
In the country's first election that allowed both whites and blacks to vote, Nelson Mandela is elected president of South Africa. He is the first black president in the history of South Africa.
While the end of apartheid opened the door for equal opportunity of all South Africans regardless of race, today’s South Africa struggles to correct the inequalities created by decades of apartheid.