Apartheid South Africa - 1940's to 1950's Resistance Movements

Vocabulary flashcards detailing key events, organizations, leaders, and campaigns during the anti-apartheid resistance movement in South Africa in the 1940s and 1950s.

ANC's Programme of Action

A strategic shift where the ANC became more militant following the establishment of the ANCYL, utilizing boycotts, civil disobedience, and uprisings as a means of resistance against the apartheid government.

ANCYL

The ANC Youth League, whose establishment marked the transition of the ANC into a more militant movement using active civil disobedience.

May Day strike

A strike where workers demonstrated their dissatisfaction as part of the resistance against the apartheid government.

Defiance Campaign

A 1952 campaign where protesters deliberately broke laws by entering whites-only facilities, burning passes in public, and refusing to pay fines so that jails would become overcrowded and the apartheid system would crumble.

Congress Alliance

An alliance representing all racial groups that convened a conference to draw up a constitution for a non-racial South Africa.

Freedom Charter

A document developed at Kliptown on 25 and 26 June 1955 that represented the aspirations of all South Africans and became the blueprint for the new constitution of South Africa.

Women's march to Pretoria

A major non-violent protest on 9 August 1956 where 20 000 women of all races marched to the Union Buildings to protest against the introduction of pass laws for women.

Leaders of the 1956 Women's March

Lilian Ngoyi, Rahima Moosa, Sophie Williams, and Helen Joseph, who led 20 000 women to the Union Buildings.

Women's March Song

A song composed specifically for the 9 August 1956 march containing the lyrics: 'Strijdom, you have tampered with the women, you struck a rock.'

Prime Minister J.G. Strijdom

The Prime Minister of the apartheid government who refused to see the 20 000 women marching at the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956.

Nkosi Sikeleli Africa

The song sung by the women as they left the Union Buildings after Prime Minister J.G. Strijdom refused to meet with them.

High Treason Arrests

The 1956 arrest of 156 activists and Congress Alliance members who were accused of attempting to overthrow the government following defiance against apartheid.

Drill Hall

The location where the preliminary hearing for the 156 state-arrested activists took place over a period of two years starting in 1956.

1961 Treason Trial Outcome

The final result of the high treason trial by 1961, in which all 156 accused activists were set free.