History Grade 11: The Rise of African Nationalism

Vocabulary flashcards covering Grade 11 history on the origins, key figures, legislation, and movements in the rise of African nationalism in South Africa.

African Peoples Organisation (APO)

A political organisation formed in 1902 in Cape Town consisting of educated Coloureds that used non-confrontational methods and legal appeals to defend civil rights and oppose racial discrimination.

APO Delegation to London (1909)

A mission sent to Britain to appeal for the rejection of the draft Act of Union and advocate for equal voting rights for all 'civilised' men across South Africa.

Union of South Africa (1910)

A self-governing state established in 1910 by merging two British colonies (Cape and Natal) and two Boer republics (Transvaal and Orange Free State) under a government consisting entirely of white men.

Cape Qualified Franchise

An earlier voting policy in the Cape allowing certain black men who met specific education and prosperity qualifications to vote for white parliamentarians, a privilege that was gradually dismantled.

South African National Natives Congress (SANNC)

An organisation established in Bloemfontein on 8 January 1912 to unite black African people to fight for their rights following the formation of the Union of South Africa; renamed the African National Congress (ANC) in 1923.

John Dube

The first President of the South African National Natives Congress (SANNC) elected upon its founding in 1912.

Sol Plaatjie

The first General Secretary of the South African National Natives Congress (SANNC).

Native Land Act of 1913

Legislation that allocated approximately $7\%$ (later increased to $13\%$) of South African land as native reserves, prohibiting Africans from buying, renting, or farming land outside these reserves.

Native Reserves

Designated land areas comprising $7\%$ to $13\%$ of the country where Africans were made citizens, stripping them of wider South African rights and worsening poverty and isolation.

Atlantic Charter

An international declaration establishing eight principles that recognised universal human rights, which inspired African nationalists to demand greater political freedom after World War II.

Jan Smuts

The Prime Minister of South Africa and leader of the South African Party (SAP) who endorsed the Atlantic Charter and recruited black South Africans during World War II with promises of post-war rewards.

Defence Act of 1912

Legislation ruling that only citizens of European descent could be combatants and bear arms, restricting the $123\,131$ non-European enlistees in the Union Defence Force (UDF) to non-combat roles such as porters, drivers, and labourers.

D.F. Malan

Leader of the National Party (NP) who defeated Jan Smuts in the 1948 election and officially introduced the system of Apartheid.

Dr. Alfred Xuma

Leader of the ANC elected in 1940 who centralised the organisation, rebuilt membership trust, and brought the ANC Youth League into the executive in 1944.

ANC Youth League (ANCYL)

A youth wing incorporated into the ANC executive in 1944 that introduced a more militant approach to resistance, featuring leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, Govan Mbeki, and Anton Lembede.

"African Claims in South Africa"

A 1943 document written by the ANC's Atlantic Charter Committee in Bloemfontein that outlined pathways toward an equal, racially integrated society and served as the blueprint for the Freedom Charter.

Freedom Charter

A foundational document adopted at Kliptown in 1955 that mapped out the vision for an equal, non-racial, and integrated democratic South Africa.

Pan African Congress (PAC)

A political organisation established under Robert Sobukwe that split from the ANC in rejection of the Freedom Charter, advocating a radical Africanist stance that South Africa belongs only to Africans.

Robert Sobukwe

The founder and leader of the Pan African Congress (PAC) who championed the Africanist debate and rejected multiracial cooperation with white groups.