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🧠 Study Notes: Apartheid South Africa (1940s – 1960s)
Topic 5: How Unique Was Apartheid?
⸻
1️⃣
What Was Apartheid?
Definition:
Apartheid was a system of legal racial segregation and white domination introduced
by the National Party in 1948 and lasted until 1994.
Goal:
To keep races separate in every part of life — where they lived, worked, went to
school, married, and even used public facilities.
🧩 Key Words:
• Segregation = keeping population groups separate
• Underground = secret resistance against apartheid
⸻
2️⃣
Before Apartheid: From Segregation to Apartheid (1910 – 1948)
Racism and Segregation in the 1920s – 1930s
• Even before 1948, South Africa already had racial discrimination.
• Black people had no political rights (except a small group in the
Cape).
• White settlers dominated jobs, land, and housing.
Segregation Policies That Set the Foundation:
Area Example of Segregation
Land ownership 1913 Land Act – Africans could only own land in “reserves” (7 %
of land).
Urban areas Pass Laws controlled movement of black people to towns.
Education Separate schools; limited black education.
Politics Only whites could vote and rule.
Jobs “Job Reservation” gave white workers the best positions.
🧠 Remember:
Segregation already existed → Apartheid expanded it to every part of life.
⸻
3️⃣
The National Party and the 1948 Election
Why Did the NP Win?
• Whites feared black competition for jobs after World War II.
• The NP promised to protect white jobs and privileges.
• NP used Afrikaner nationalism and racist propaganda to gain votes.
Why Did They Adopt Apartheid?
• To keep white control (economically, politically, socially).
• To unite poor Afrikaners with richer whites under one system.
• To “solve the native question” through strict racial separation.
, ⸻
4️⃣
Laws That Created the Apartheid State
Once the NP came to power, it passed apartheid laws between 1948 – 1960:
Year Law Purpose
1949 Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act Banned marriages between races.
1950 Population Registration Act Classified everyone by race.
Group Areas Act Set separate residential areas for each race.
Immorality Act Forbade sexual relations between races.
1953 Bantu Education Act Designed inferior education for black learners.
1953 Separate Amenities Act Enforced “Whites Only” facilities.
1959 Separate Universities Act Banned mixed-race higher education.
🧠 Memory trick:
👉 P-G-I-B-S-S = Population – Group – Immorality – Bantu Education – Separate
Amenities – Separate Universities.
⸻
5️⃣
Daily Life Under Apartheid
• People lived in racially separate areas.
• Blacks carried pass books to move between places.
• Inferior schools prepared them only for low-skill jobs.
• “Whites Only” signs were everywhere — parks, benches, beaches, buses.
📸 Example photo: “Europeans Only” benches show how normal discrimination became.
⸻
6️⃣
Resistance Against Apartheid (1950s – 1960s)
Peaceful Resistance
Group Actions
ANC (African National Congress) Defiance Campaign (1952) – mass civil
disobedience.
SAIC (South African Indian Congress) Worked with ANC on joint campaigns.
Women’s March (1956) 20 000 women protested Pass Laws in Pretoria.
Freedom Charter (1955) Congress of the People adopted it → “All shall be equal.”
Treason Trial (1956 – 61) Government arrested 156 leaders, including Mandela.
Turning Point: Sharpeville (1960)
• Protest against pass laws.
• Police opened fire → 69 people killed.
• Marked the end of peaceful protest → ANC and PAC were banned.
• Resistance went underground; beginning of armed struggle.
⸻
7️⃣
Opposition & Repression
• The government silenced critics using:
• Suppression of Communism Act (1950) – banned organizations.
• Arrests, banning orders, and censorship.
• Resistance leaders operated secretly to continue the fight.
⸻
🧠 Study Notes: Apartheid South Africa (1940s – 1960s)
Topic 5: How Unique Was Apartheid?
⸻
1️⃣
What Was Apartheid?
Definition:
Apartheid was a system of legal racial segregation and white domination introduced
by the National Party in 1948 and lasted until 1994.
Goal:
To keep races separate in every part of life — where they lived, worked, went to
school, married, and even used public facilities.
🧩 Key Words:
• Segregation = keeping population groups separate
• Underground = secret resistance against apartheid
⸻
2️⃣
Before Apartheid: From Segregation to Apartheid (1910 – 1948)
Racism and Segregation in the 1920s – 1930s
• Even before 1948, South Africa already had racial discrimination.
• Black people had no political rights (except a small group in the
Cape).
• White settlers dominated jobs, land, and housing.
Segregation Policies That Set the Foundation:
Area Example of Segregation
Land ownership 1913 Land Act – Africans could only own land in “reserves” (7 %
of land).
Urban areas Pass Laws controlled movement of black people to towns.
Education Separate schools; limited black education.
Politics Only whites could vote and rule.
Jobs “Job Reservation” gave white workers the best positions.
🧠 Remember:
Segregation already existed → Apartheid expanded it to every part of life.
⸻
3️⃣
The National Party and the 1948 Election
Why Did the NP Win?
• Whites feared black competition for jobs after World War II.
• The NP promised to protect white jobs and privileges.
• NP used Afrikaner nationalism and racist propaganda to gain votes.
Why Did They Adopt Apartheid?
• To keep white control (economically, politically, socially).
• To unite poor Afrikaners with richer whites under one system.
• To “solve the native question” through strict racial separation.
, ⸻
4️⃣
Laws That Created the Apartheid State
Once the NP came to power, it passed apartheid laws between 1948 – 1960:
Year Law Purpose
1949 Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act Banned marriages between races.
1950 Population Registration Act Classified everyone by race.
Group Areas Act Set separate residential areas for each race.
Immorality Act Forbade sexual relations between races.
1953 Bantu Education Act Designed inferior education for black learners.
1953 Separate Amenities Act Enforced “Whites Only” facilities.
1959 Separate Universities Act Banned mixed-race higher education.
🧠 Memory trick:
👉 P-G-I-B-S-S = Population – Group – Immorality – Bantu Education – Separate
Amenities – Separate Universities.
⸻
5️⃣
Daily Life Under Apartheid
• People lived in racially separate areas.
• Blacks carried pass books to move between places.
• Inferior schools prepared them only for low-skill jobs.
• “Whites Only” signs were everywhere — parks, benches, beaches, buses.
📸 Example photo: “Europeans Only” benches show how normal discrimination became.
⸻
6️⃣
Resistance Against Apartheid (1950s – 1960s)
Peaceful Resistance
Group Actions
ANC (African National Congress) Defiance Campaign (1952) – mass civil
disobedience.
SAIC (South African Indian Congress) Worked with ANC on joint campaigns.
Women’s March (1956) 20 000 women protested Pass Laws in Pretoria.
Freedom Charter (1955) Congress of the People adopted it → “All shall be equal.”
Treason Trial (1956 – 61) Government arrested 156 leaders, including Mandela.
Turning Point: Sharpeville (1960)
• Protest against pass laws.
• Police opened fire → 69 people killed.
• Marked the end of peaceful protest → ANC and PAC were banned.
• Resistance went underground; beginning of armed struggle.
⸻
7️⃣
Opposition & Repression
• The government silenced critics using:
• Suppression of Communism Act (1950) – banned organizations.
• Arrests, banning orders, and censorship.
• Resistance leaders operated secretly to continue the fight.
⸻
