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

   • About 112, the average of the two, since a middle figure splits the difference
   • The 200, since later reports correct early ones when they differ
   • Both, labeled as official and reported, with the gap noted
   • The official 23, since an official count is the most trustworthy source here
3. 2.

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

   • No; it gives the date and the sentence, not the charges or the reasons
   • Yes; joining the ANC in 1944 is the reason the court gave for the sentence
   • Yes; card B says he led the Defiance Campaign, which led to the sentence
   • Yes; a sentence of life shows how serious the court thought his acts were
4. 3.

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

   • Partly; the homelands began in 1949, when the first race law passed, then grew in 1959
   • No; the 1950 Act set city areas, and the 1959 Act left land as homelands
   • Yes; card A puts the homelands and the city areas under the same 1950 Act
   • Yes; separate city areas in 1950 were a first step to the homelands of 1959
5. 4.

   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
6. 5.

   Luz asks which claim about Sharpeville card B backs.

   • 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
   • Police fired on unarmed protesters during a PAC campaign against the pass laws
   • The ANC organized the protest at Sharpeville, and the PAC alone was outlawed afterwards
7. 6.

   Cards B and C each describe police fire on protesters, in 1960 and in 1976. Milo asks what the pair shows.

   • Protest continued after the 1960 bans, but the cards do not link the events
   • Protest ended in 1960 when the ANC and PAC were outlawed, and began again in 1976
   • The 1976 march was a PAC campaign against the pass laws, like Sharpeville
   • The 1976 march was caused by the Sharpeville deaths 16 years earlier
8. 7.

   Card D says Mandela joined the ANC in 1944. Card A dates apartheid to 1948. Noah asks what the two dates show.

   • He joined the PAC in 1944, the year the Programme of Action was adopted
   • He joined four years after apartheid began, so the new laws prompted him to join the ANC
   • He was in the ANC four years before apartheid began, so his opposition came first
   • His opposition began in 1949, when the ANC adopted its Programme of Action
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 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
   • 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
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.

    • About 2 percent, since 23 of 1,000 and 200 of 10,000 give nearly the same share
    • About 0.2 percent, since the official 23 over the largest estimate of 10,000 is the safe figure
    • 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
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.

    • Black South Africans had far less land per person; card A gives no exact shares
    • 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
    • Land per person got smaller after 1959, as the Act took more land each year