Non-violent protests

What were the causes of the bus boycotts? (E S or P)

Tended to be economic rather than political

How come bus boycotts occured?

Occurred as a popular reaction of bus companies raising fares = thus boycotts related to the low wages and high unemployment rates

Were boycotts unsuccessful or successful?

Unlike other protests, bus boycotts were actually successful.
The Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce would intervene and persuade to lower the fares.

What did the success of the bus boycotts indicate?

Indicated the potential of organised popular action as an effective means of peaceful political protest.

What was a limitation of the bus boycotts

Contingent upon the decisions of the bus companies —> Meant ANC could not dictate the timing of any protests

What was the Defiance Campaign

Nonviolent protests in order to overwhelm the system in a coordinated campaign of defiance against apartheid

Give an example of the Defiance Campaign

Purposely going to places where their passports weren’t signed: thousand at a time = arrests = overwhelmed police station

What was the limitation of the Defiance Campaign

Philosophy of non-violent civil disobedience would be contrasted with violence from authorities
South Africa is totally controlled by the government

Reinforced apartheid: “we have to put coloured people in prison bc they dont act civilly”

Why did the ANC launch the Defiance Campaign

Simply had to find a more effective response to apartheid laws
Authorities had shown no incliniation to engage ANC in dialogue

What groups were created alongside the Defiance Campaign

Many diff races joined together to create a joint action committee, which had recommended a national campaign with civil disobedience at heart:

June 1952 —> Creation of National Action Committee (NAC)

Explain the 1st ever Defiance Campaign

‘Only’ 19 protestors shot
Official goal of the campaign was to force the gov to repeal six “unjust laws” such as Pass Laws Act

Pragmatism vs Ideology

• Fails because if you go on strike, that doesn’t attack the ideology of apartheid and the gov

• Malcolm X knew how to attack the ideology, MLK attacked pragmatically

Which leaders were involved in the start of the Defiance Campaign

ANC Meeting in Johannesburg —> Mandela, Sisulu, Dadoo, Kotane, Marks

Membership of the ANC grew rapidly from _____ members to ______ in 1953

<20,000 to 100,000+

Why the Defiance Campaign fail

• ANC didn’t achieve goal —> No laws repealed

• Gov emerged with even stronger powers: more laws

• Rural areas were hardly involved

• Campaign was viewed with hostility by White community

  • Similar to George Floyd Minneapolis: breaking into of small/white businesses. → Didn’t have any relation to the killing.

Which laws were created in response to Defiance Campaign

• Criminal Law Amendment Act

• Public Safety Act

What were the successes of the Defiance Campaign

• First time the ANC managed to coordinate an extended national campaign

• Set the stage for development of a true mass movement

• National and global profile of ANC grew enormously:

  • In 1953, the UN established a Commission on the Racial Situation in the Union of South Africa

  • marked the true beginning of international campaign vs apartheid

What was the COP

Congress of the People

• An alliance of anti-apartheid congress movements, of which the ANC was by far the largest

What did the COP come together to do:

• Forge a single popular front

• Expand membership to poorer Africans

• Create an ideological approach to attack Apartheid

Who proposed the idea of summing a national convention of congress parties?

Professor ZK Matthews in 1953

What was the plan of the COP

• Represent South Africans of all races unlike the national parliament

• It would draw up a Freedom Charter, a would be constitution for a democratic, post-apartheid SA

What was the purpose of creating the National Action Council (NAC) to organize the COP?

• NAC would recruite thousands of “freedom volunteers” to bring COP to the masses.

• Meetings were in factories, mining compounds, farms and homesteads at beginning of 1955.

  • Shows ordinary poorer SAs could get involved easily

• The volunteers also recorded the grievances of ordinary people and collected their signatures for the Million Signatures Campaign.

What did the Freedom Charter call for?

An end to the apartheid system, the election of a democratic, non-racial gov, and the equitable distribution of the country’s wealth and resources.

What did the apartheid gov argue about the Freedom Charter?

Argued that the Freedom Charter was a dangerous and revolutionary document.
Argues COP was designed to supplant the National Convention of 1908-1909.

• Government could therefore argue that the Freedom Charter, an embryonic consitution of a new SA, amounted to treason against the state.