World Regional Georgraphy Unit 6 - Research Paper Example

Identification Number Number and Assignment Number and Apartheid started in South Africa in 1948. This was after the National Party gained power. The word apartheid was used to refer to the separation between the white settlers and the black (Africans). The whites were the minority while the blacks (Africans) were the majority but apartheid was introduced to ensure that the whites would continue to dominate the country (Beinart & Dubow, 1995). Before independence, racial segregation in South Africa was intensive.

This racial segregation had started way back in seventeenth century when Dutch colonizers made laws that separated black Afrikaans from white settlers. When the British colonizers came in 1795, the laws became more powerful thus, further racial segregation. During this time, Africans were separated from the white settlers and were forced to live in different areas that were later referred to as reserves. Land Act of 1913 facilitated this separation further (Beinart & Dubow, 1995). The economic woes brought about by the World War II increased the racial segregation in South Africa.

When National Party gained power in 1948, the new government enacted the apartheid law that ensured that the white race dominated. This law also ensured that the white lived in different areas from the Africans. South Africans were also divided along the tribal lines and their powers decreased. The Population Registration Act was enacted in 1950 and it required all South African races to be classified as black (Africans), whites or colored. Those who failed to adhere to this law were punished harshly.

The Department of Home Affairs was responsible for this act. Another core of the apartheid policy was the Group Areas Act which was formed in 1950. This act marked the areas of land based on the race that occupy the areas. The other laws that placed more restrictions on the black South Africans were the Natives Urban Areas Act and the Natives Labor Act from in 1952 and 1953 respectively (Berridge, 1992). Some political parties were against this apartheid policy and they formed a movement to resist the policy.

These parties included ANC (African National Congress) of 1912 and PAC (Pan Africanist Congress) of 1958. These two movements managed to ban the South African government through violent campaigns (Berridge, 1992). SASO (South African Students Association) which was formed in 1960 also joined the other parties in resisting the policy. Apartheid policy ended in 1994 when all adults were allowed to vote during that election. The late Nelson Mandela was voted as the president. ReferencesBeinart, W.

, & Dubow, S. (1995). Segregation and apartheid in twentieth-century South Africa. London: Routledge.Berridge, G. (1992). South Africa, the colonial powers and "African defence": The rise and fall of the white entente, 1948-60. New York: St. Martins Press.