Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela launched the militant arm of the African National Congress, to oppose the system of Apartheid with a combination of acts of civil disobedience as well as guerrilla warfare tactics against the South African government. Apartheid robbed the Black majority of their right to vote, the right to choose where to live and travel, and other basic freedoms in favor of the White minority. In the spirit of the armed, pan-African resistance to colonialism, racism, and apartheid that culminated in the 1960s and 1970s, Mandela campaigned against the increasingly violent White-power structure.
Upon returning to South Africa after receiving military training in Ethiopia, the troublemaker was caught and sentenced to life in prison during the 1964 Rivonia trials for “sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government.” Even as he faced life in prison, Mandela remained defiant at his trial saying, “I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
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