Apartheid in South Africa and how it ended

Grade 10 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to D, all summaries in our words, written today. Card A: Apartheid, Afrikaans for "apartness," was introduced by the National Party government in 1948. The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act followed in 1949. In 1950 the Population Registration Act registered every person by racial group, and the Group Areas Act set separate areas for each group in the cities. The Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Act of 1959 left a small share of the land, as "homelands," for Black South Africans, the vast majority of the people. Card B: The African National Congress (ANC) was founded in 1912. In 1949 it adopted a Programme of Action of strikes and non-violent protest. In 1952 its Defiance Campaign asked people to use "white" facilities and to refuse to carry passes. The Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) was formed in 1959. On March 21, 1960, during a PAC campaign against the pass laws, police opened fire on unarmed protesters at Sharpeville, and 69 people lost their lives. The ANC and PAC were outlawed that year. Card C: In 1974 Afrikaans was made compulsory alongside English as a language of instruction. On June 16, 1976, students marched peacefully in Soweto in protest. Estimates of the marchers run from 1,000 to 10,000. Police opened fire. The official figure was 23 deaths; some reports said at least 200. Card D: Nelson Mandela joined the ANC in 1944. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on June 12, 1964, and held on Robben Island until 1982, then at Pollsmoor Prison. He left prison on February 11, 1990, after 27 years. He was elected ANC president in 1991.

2. 1.

   Card A summarizes the laws of 1948 to 1959. Ari asks whether it shows how those laws affected daily life.

   • Yes; a law that sets separate areas for each group shows how people lived in them
   • Yes; the Population Registration Act shows how many people were registered by group
   • No; it lists what the laws set up, not what people lived through under them
   • Yes; the 1994 election result shows how people felt about those laws
3. 2.

   Card C gives 23 deaths from an official figure and at least 200 from some reports. Bo asks which figure a careful writer should use.

   • The official 23, since an official count is the most trustworthy source here
   • The 200, since later reports correct early ones when they differ
   • About 112, the average of the two, since a middle figure splits the difference
   • Both, labeled as official and reported, with the gap noted
4. 3.

   Card D summarizes Mandela's life. Esme asks whether it shows why Mandela was sentenced to life in 1964.

   • Yes; card B says he led the Defiance Campaign, which led to the sentence
   • No; it gives the date and the sentence, not the charges or the reasons
   • Yes; a sentence of life shows how serious the court thought his acts were
   • Yes; joining the ANC in 1944 is the reason the court gave for the sentence
5. 4.

   A student says the Group Areas Act of 1950 set up the homelands. What does card A say, Jun asks?

   • No; the 1950 Act set city areas, and the 1959 Act left land as homelands
   • Partly; the homelands began in 1949, when the first race law passed, then grew in 1959
   • Yes; separate city areas in 1950 were a first step to the homelands of 1959
   • Yes; card A puts the homelands and the city areas under the same 1950 Act
6. 5.

   Which claim do cards A and B back together, Kira asks?

   • The pass laws were the cause of the ANC's protests, since card B mentions refusing passes
   • Protest ended the laws by 1952, since the Defiance Campaign made the government give way
   • The ANC adopted non-violent protest in 1948, the year apartheid began
   • New race laws came from 1948, and the ANC answered with non-violent protest
7. 6.

   Luz asks which claim about Sharpeville card B backs.

   • The ANC organized the protest at Sharpeville, and the PAC alone was outlawed afterwards
   • Police fired on unarmed protesters during a PAC campaign against the pass laws
   • The firing at Sharpeville brought an end to the pass laws within a few years
   • The ANC and PAC were outlawed first, which is why the crowd gathered that day
8. 7.

   Card B says the ANC adopted non-violent protest in 1949. Card D says Mandela was sentenced in 1964. Pia asks what the two cards show about Mandela's opposition.

   • Mandela led the Defiance Campaign in 1952, as card B reports of the ANC's campaign
   • Mandela wrote the Programme of Action in 1949, since he had joined the ANC five years earlier
   • His ANC adopted non-violent protest in 1949; the cards do not give his own views
   • Non-violent protest failed, since he was sentenced to life in 1964 for opposing the government
9. 8.

   Card D says Mandela left prison in 1990 after 27 years. It dates his sentence to June 1964. Ren asks what the gap between 26 and 27 shows.

   • The 27 years run from the sentence, so his release in 1990 came a year too early
   • The extra year is 1982, when he moved from Robben Island to Pollsmoor Prison, so it adds a year
   • The card is off by one year, so one of its two dates must be wrong and should be fixed
   • 1964 to 1990 is 26 years, so the 27 counts time in custody before the sentence
10. 9.

    Card C gives 1,000 to 10,000 marchers and 23 to at least 200 deaths. Tala asks what share of marchers lost their lives.

    • It could be anywhere from about 0.2 to 20 percent, so the card cannot give one rate
    • About 20 percent, since reports of at least 200 over the smallest crowd are most telling
    • About 0.2 percent, since the official 23 over the largest estimate of 10,000 is the safe figure
    • About 2 percent, since 23 of 1,000 and 200 of 10,000 give nearly the same share
11. 10.

    Card A says the 1959 Act left a small share of the land for the vast majority of the people. Zee asks what a reader can conclude about land per person.

    • Each person had a small plot, which card A can show from the homelands law of 1959
    • Black South Africans held about 13 percent of the land, as card A states in its summary
    • Black South Africans had far less land per person; card A gives no exact shares
    • Land per person got smaller after 1959, as the Act took more land each year