8.RP.1.2

There is a Nobel Prize award for chemistry, physics, physiology, medicine, literature, peace, and economic sciences awarded annually. The Nobel Prizes were established in 1901, with an economics section added in 1969 (Nobel Prize). Winners are selected by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Awards are given to people who “Have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction or standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congress.” (The Nobel Peace Prize)

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. What do you think of when you hear that name? Apartheid? Morgan Freeman? South Africa? Freedom? Nelson Mandela has done a number of things in his lifetime. He was imprisoned during the oppressive Apartheid regime for allegedly “plotting to overthrow the [white run South African] government by violence”, along with seven other accused men. Mandela was incarcerated in Robben Island prison, off of Cape Town, South Africa from 1964 to 1982. There he was forced to work in the mines for 18 long years ( Nelson Mandela – Biography).

//“Did I make the right decision in leaving my family and letting my children from up without security? Wounds that cannot be seen are more painful than those that can be seen.”// //-Nelson Mandela// (Mandela, Smith)

After that he was contained at Pollsmoor Prison. Throughout his prison sentence, his reputation continued to grow. Soon he became a shining symbol resistance against the apartheid government and was widely known and accepted as the most prominent black leader in South Africa. When offered a compromise between his political position and his freedom he always refused. Mandela was released from prison on the 11th of February, 1990. After his release, he went back to his life’s work which had begun four decades before. Since 1960 the ANC had been banned, and then the first national conference was held in 1991, where Nelson Mandela was elected President of the ANC ( Nelson Mandela – Biography).

Later, in 1993, Nelson Mandela and Frederik Willem de Klerk were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for helping bring an end to South Africa’s apartheid government. Mandela then went on to become the president of South Africa on the 10th of May, 1994 (Mandela, Smith)

Although he did work extremely hard for equality and a non-apartheid government, there is another side to him that most people don’t know about. He had lots of people killed for his cause, he would organize murders and killings in order to get back at the government. He has done these things, but I think the good he has brought far outweighs the bad.

//“We are not yet free, we have merely achieved the freedom to be free, the right not to be oppressed. We have not yet taken the final step on our journey, but the first step on a longer and even more difficult road. For the free it is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”// //-Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, 1994// //(Mandela, Smith)//

//“At the end the bloodletting stopped. At the end, goodwill prevailed. At the end the overwhelming majority, both black and white, decided to invest in peace.”// //-President Nelson Mandela, To the Joint Houses of the Congress of the United States of America, 6 October 1994// //(Mandela, Smith)//

Citations:

This is an MLA style citation: "Nelson Mandela - Biography". Nobelprize.org. 9 Feb 2012 []

Nobel Peace Prize Winners - the Full List | World News | Guardian.co.uk." Latest US and World News, Sport and Comment from the Guardian | Guardiannews.com | The Guardian . Web. 13 Feb. 2012. [].

American Psychological Association (APA): Nobel Prize. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved February 13, 2012, from Dictionary.com website: [|http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nobel prize]

"The Nobel Peace Prize 1993". Nobelprize.org. 13 Feb 2012 []

"The Nobel Peace Prize". Nobelprize.org. 14 Feb 2012 []

Smith, Charlene. Mandela. Cape Town: Struik, 1999. Print.