1. Nelson Mandela became a leader in the African National Congress (ANC 2. Nelson Mandela was a civil rights leader in South Africa. 3. Mandela would spend the next 27 years in prison. 4. Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918 in Mvezo, South Africa A. . He fought against apartheid, a system where non-white citizens were segregated from whites and did not have equal rights. He served a good portion of his life in prison for his protests, but became a symbol for his people. Later he would become president of South Africa. B. . His birth name is Rolihlahla. He got the nickname Nelson from a teacher in school. Nelson was a member of Thimbu royalty and his father was chief of the city of Mvezo. He attended school and later college at the College of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand. At Witwatersrand, Mandela got his law degree and would meet some of his fellow activists against apartheid. C. . At first, he pushed hard for the congress and the protesters to follow Mohandas Gandhi's non-violence approach. At one point, he started to doubt that this approach would work and started up an armed branch of the ANC. He planned to bomb certain buildings, but only the buildings. He wanted to make sure that no one would be hurt. He was classified as a terrorist by the South African government and sent to prison. D. . His prison sentence brought international visibility to the anti- apartheid movement. He was finally released through international pressure in 1990. Once released from prison, Nelson continued his campaign to end apartheid. His hard work and life long effort paid off when all races were allowed to vote in the 1994 election. Nelson Mandela won the election and became president of South Africa. There were several times during the process where violence threatened to break out. Nelson was a strong force in keeping the calm and preventing a major civil war