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14. June 1, 2004 ➳ Retires from Public Life

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14. June 1, 2004 ➳ Retires from Public Life

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On June 1, in Johannesburg, Mandela announced to the media he was retiring from public life and that he wanted to spend time with himself and his family. He said he had missed reading, thinking, quiet reflection, and he wanted to work on his upcoming memoirs, including a sequel to Long Walk to Freedom. Mandela's spokeswoman and assistant confirmed Mandela was still healthy and fine, but he felt he needed to spend more time with his family while his health was still in good condition. Although he was retiring from public life, Mandela stated he wouldn't be away from the public completely.

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13. May 10, 1994 ➳ Inaugurated as South Africa's First Black President

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13. May 10, 1994 ➳ Inaugurated as South Africa's First Black President

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After four days of voting in late April, the ANC won the national election by 62.6 percent. On May 10, Nelson Mandela was officially sworn in as South Africa's first black president, in the sandstone amphitheater formed by the Union Buildings in Pretoria. De Klerk and Thabo Mbeki were also sworn in and served as Mandela's deputy presidents during his term. Mandela's presidency was a significant event that was a part of the end of apartheid in South Africa. After only serving one term as South Africa's president, Mandela retired from the presidency.

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12. February 11, 1990 ➳ Released From Prison

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12. February 11, 1990 ➳ Released From Prison

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After de Klerk's inauguration, de Klerk soon informed Mandela about his release the day before it was scheduled. Mandela requested for his release to be delayed by a week so he could contact his family members, however the media had already been notified of Mandela's release and it could not have been postponed. On February 11, Mandela rode in a car that was driven a few hundred feet before a gate, before he and Winnie got out and walked together out of Victor Verster Prison through the gates. After walking out of the prison, Mandela went back inside the car and was driven to Cape Town for Mandela's speech in the City Hall.

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11. 1989-1992 ➳ Negotiations with de Klerk

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11. 1989-1992 ➳ Negotiations with de Klerk

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After President Botha resigned, de Klerk replaced him and began negotiations with Mandela, through the committee at first, to start dismantling the system of apartheid in the country. The two discussed multiple issues, like "group rights."  the new South African government, the Inkatha attacks, and political prisoners' releases. They eventually signed the Record of Understanding in 1992, which led the way to the national constitutional assembly and democratic government.

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After being convicted and sentence to life imprisonment in the Rivonia Trials, Mandela spent the next 18 years on Robben Island. During his years on Robben Island, Mandela worked on improving conditions for prisoners on the island. He sent complaints and met with several high positioned officers on the island to achieve his goals of a better life in prison and sometimes represented his fellow prison-mates in court. While he was there, he also continued his studies, wrote a manifesto, started a garden, worked in the lime quarry, collected seaweed from the sea, and was occasionally visited by his family members.

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10. 1985 ➳ Begins Negotiating with Coetsee

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10. 1985 ➳ Begins Negotiating with Coetsee

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After being sent off Robben Island and to Pollsmoor Prison, Mandela decided to start negotiating with the government, without consulting his colleagues first. After being denied negotiations with President Botha, Mandela started negotiating with Coetsee and an appointed committee of senior officials. During the discussions, Mandela explained to them how the Communist Party and ANC were separate entities, ideas of nationalization, and how they'd overcome the issue of majority rule. The negotiations with Coetsee and the committee were the beginnings to a long political process to end apartheid.

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An ANC hideout, Liliesleaf Farm, was raided by the law enforcement and everybody present at the farm was arrested. Mandela and his colleagues' first indictment was quashed, so the state had to redraw their indictment and they charged them with new crimes. The accused all pleaded not guilty, and the proceedings went on for months. Later, Mandela and the others who were accused were called to give statements from the dock to explain how the MK hadn't adopted Operation Mayibuye and that the MK and ANC weren't the same. They were all found guilty on almost all counts, and they were given prison time or life imprisonment, instead of the death sentence. Although appealing could've reduced Kathy's, Andrew's, and Elias' sentences, they decided against it as it would undermine their moral stance and the appellate court could've given them the death sentence if they thought the sentence they were given wasn't sufficient enough.

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At Cedara, Mandela and Cecil Williams were stopped by the police while they were driving, and they were arrested and taken to Pietermaritzburg. They were later taken to Johannesburg, where Mandela was tried with several others for inciting strikes and illegally leaving the country. He represented himself in court, with Joe Slovo as his legal adviser, and he used the trial as a way to show the racial injustice in the country, since there was no point in trying to defend himself. Mandela pleaded guilty and gave his plea of mitigation, which lasted over an hour. He was sentenced to five years in prison with no possibility of parole, and went to Pretoria Local to serve his sentence.

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Mandela and multiple members of the ANC decided to go underground, expecting another crackdown from the government on the organization. While underground, Mandela operated at night and was disguised as multiple occupations, such as a chauffeur, chef, or garden caretaker. Later, the government issued a warrant for Mandela's arrest, and was named the Black Pimpernel by the media, for being elusive and evading being captured by the law enforcement. He moved around the country in secret, attending meetings and working for the ANC. Many black policemen also aided Mandela from being caught.

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6. 1961 ➳ Mandela Establishes the Umkhonto we Sizwe

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6. 1961 ➳ Mandela Establishes the Umkhonto we Sizwe

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Mandela decided nonviolence wasn't working, and he argued with the ANC to suspend their principles of nonviolence. The ANC eventually agreed and Mandela established the Umkhonto we Sizwe, meaning "Spear of the Nation." He then recruited some of his colleagues, like Joe Slovo and Walter Sisulu, and militarist Communist Party members to join the Umkhonto we Sizwe. Mandela later started to study about ways to sabotage the government, by reading books from and about many leaders like Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, since he had no previous knowledge.

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4. 1952 ➳ Mandela Leads the Defiance Campaign

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4. 1952 ➳ Mandela Leads the Defiance Campaign

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Mandela led the Defiance Campaign, where people protested against racial separation laws. There were two stages to the Defiance Campaign that were proposed. The first stage was where trained volunteers would break a few of the laws in some cities by using or sitting in Whites Only areas. The police were notified ahead of time so that arrests could've been made with minimal disturbance. The second stage was where industrial strikes would occur across the country. For five months, over 8,500 people took part in the Defiance Campaign, and membership in the ANC went from 20,000 to 100,000.

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3. 1944 ➳ Mandela Founds the ANC's Youth League

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3. 1944 ➳ Mandela Founds the ANC's Youth League

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In 1942, Mandela joined the African National Congress, and two years later, he founded the ANC's Youth League. He founded the Youth League so he could help publicize the ANC and stage protests against the government's racist laws. The league was inspired by the Indians resisting the Asiatic Land Tenure Act, which limited their rights.

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Nelson Mandela died at the age of 95, after his last public appearance in 2010. He suffered from a recurring lung infection and was hospitalized multiple times due to it. Throughout his life, he led South Africa to the end of the brutal system of apartheid, and will be remembered by the world for his contribution to fighting racial injustices. Nelson Mandela is an inspiration to all and his story of fighting for his freedom will be passed along generations to continue inspiring future freedom fighters.

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Nelson Mandela was expelled from Fort Hare, when Mandela participated in a student strike against the schools' authorities. When Mandela was elected to Fort Hare's Student Representative Council, he resigned due to having an illegitimate election, even after when re-elections were held. Dr. Kerr later expelled Mandela for resigning from the SRC even after being warned about being expelled if he was to resign, which forced Mandela to leave Fort Hare.

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Karimi, Faith. “Nelson Mandela Dies at 95.” CNN, Cable News Network, 5 Dec. 2013, www.cnn.com/2013/12/05/world/africa/nelson-mandela/index.html.

Mandela, Nelson, and Richard W. Kelso. Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela with Connections. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1995.

Marshall, Leon. “ Nelson Mandela Bows Out of Public Life.” National Geographic, National Geographic Society, 2 June 2004, news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/06/0602_040602_mandela.html.

Associated Press. “TIMELINE: Key Events in Mandela's Life.” POLITICO, POLITICO, 5 Dec. 2013, 05:24, www.politico.com/story/2013/12/nelson-mandela-timeline-100746.

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Nelson Mandela was born to Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa and Nosekeni Fanny in Mvezo, a small village near the capital of Transkei.  He was born as Rolihlahla, a name given to him by his father, which colloquially means "troublemaker' in Xhosa. He moved to and grew up in Qunu, after his father lost his job as chief. He was later given the name Nelson on his first day of school by his school teacher.