How did the apartheid system start?
Racial segregation had existed in Southern Africa for centuries. In the elections of 1948 the National Party took power and in the next few years made new apartheid laws. The new laws more strictly enforced segregation.
Why was the apartheid created in South Africa?
Strategists in the National Party invented apartheid as a means to cement their control over the economic and social system. Initially, aim of the apartheid was to maintain white domination while extending racial separation. With the enactment of apartheid laws in 1948, racial discrimination was institutionalized.
When did apartheid start and end?
The apartheid era in South African history refers to the time that the National Party led the country’s white minority government, from 1948 to 1994.
What exactly was the apartheid?
Apartheid (“apartness” in the language of Afrikaans) was a system of legislation that upheld segregationist policies against non-white citizens of South Africa. After the National Party gained power in South Africa in 1948, its all-white government immediately began enforcing existing policies of racial segregation.
Who started the apartheid in South Africa?
Hendrik Verwoerd
Called the ‘Architect of the Apartheid’ Hendrik Verwoerd was Prime Minister as leader of the National Party from 1958-66 and was key in shaping the implementation of apartheid policy.
How did the apartheid impact South Africa?
Though apartheid was supposedly designed to allow different races to develop on their own, it forced Black South Africans into poverty and hopelessness. Black people could not marry white people. They could not set up businesses in white areas. Everywhere from hospitals to beaches was segregated.
What apartheid means kids?
Apartheid was a system for keeping white people and nonwhites separated in South Africa. The word apartheid means “apartness” in Afrikaans, a language spoken in South Africa. The population of the country is mostly nonwhite. But for many years the white people of South Africa controlled the country’s government.