Apartheid and the History of South Africa

Paper Summary:

This paper asserts that in order to understand the reasons and roots of apartheid, one must first understand the history of South Africa. The author therefore provides a detailed historical account of South Africa from the fifteenth century until today, including colonization, slavery, industrial development and the leadership of Hendrik French Verwoerd, the prime minister responsible for introducing apartheid. The second half of the paper is devoted to a study of the anti-apartheid movement, culminating in the election of Nelson Mandela.

From the Paper:

"Until the fifteenth century tribes in South Africa remained isolated from the rest of the world. However, late in the fifteenth century the Portuguese began to explore the western coastline of South Africa in search of an easier route to Asia. By1497, five years after Christopher Columbus had crossed the Atlantic under Portuguese patronage, Vasco da Gama led a Portuguese expedition that rounded the tip of South Africa, sailed along the east African coastline, and then crossed the Indian Ocean reaching Calicut, India."

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