Source set · 6 sources ✓ Lesson ready

How did people argue over apartheid in South Africa?

Supporters of apartheid make their case, the United Nations responds, and Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela argue for a different future.

Timeline of key events →Unit: Empire & Independence →

Teach it

✓ Lesson ready

A ready-to-run lesson for this set: Gallery Walk: Arguments and Answers on Apartheid. Slides include a hook, one slide per source, directions, a take-a-stand vote, an exit ticket, and a teacher script in the speaker notes.

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1. Hook: a striking quote 3-5 min

To me there seems to be two possible lines of development: Apartheid or Partnership.
A. L. Geyer, South African High Commissioner, speech in London (1953)

Ask: Geyer was defending apartheid to a British audience. What do you think each choice meant to him, and which did he fear?

2. Main activity: Gallery Walk: Arguments and Answers on Apartheid

Grouping: Pairs walk the room; 6 placards posted on the walls in date order

Materials (printables are in the Lesson Plan Doc)

Six gallery placards (print the evidence cards in the Lesson Plan Doc on full pages)
Sticky notes in two colors
Gallery walk recording sheet

Set up 3 min
Post the six placards in date order. Two come from supporters of apartheid (1948 and 1953); four come from the United Nations and opponents (1961 to 1990).
Walk 20 min
Pairs spend about 3 minutes per placard. On sticky notes: one color for the argument, the other for the reasons or values behind it.
Sort the notes 8 min
Bring the notes to the board under two headings: Arguments for apartheid and Answers to it. Ask: how did each side use words like “protect,” “freedom,” and “peace”?
Take a stand 7 min
Use the four-corners slide.
Exit ticket 5 min
Students answer on a slip before leaving.

Take a stand: What did the most to bring apartheid to an end?

A. International pressure (UN Resolution 1598)
B. Moral and religious appeals (Bishop Tutu, 1984)
C. Resistance inside South Africa, including sabotage (Mandela at the Rivonia Trial, 1964)
D. Mass action and negotiation (Mandela’s 1990 speech)

3. Pacing options

15-minute bell-ringer

3 min Hook: Geyer’s two choices
8 min Mini gallery: show the 1948 National Party statement and Mandela’s 1990 speech side by side; pairs list the argument in each
4 min Exit ticket question 1

Full 50-minute lesson

4 min Hook: Geyer
3 min Set up
20 min Gallery walk
8 min Sort the sticky notes
7 min Four corners
5 min Exit ticket
3 min Buffer

4. Exit ticket

Choose one argument for apartheid and one answer to it. Quote each one.
Mandela’s 1964 ideal and his 1990 demand are related. How?

5. Differentiation

Support

This set has no Adapted Docs yet; read key passages aloud or chunk them for struggling readers.
Highlight the key sentence on each placard before class.
Let pairs visit only four placards: 1948, 1961, 1964, and 1990.
Word bank: apartheid, segregation, franchise, universal suffrage, sanctions, sabotage.

Extension

Geyer gave his speech to an audience in London. How might his argument have been different for a South African audience?
Research the 1994 election in South Africa. Which of today’s sources predicted it best?

Suggested sequence

Leveled readings: 3 key passages in this set are adapted to about grade 4, 7, and 10 reading levels, shown next to the original wording.

Leveled readings (make a copy)

The National Party's Colour Policy (1948)
Document · Fordham University · World: 20th Century (1900-present) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 15 min
The South African National Party's 1948 statement of apartheid policy.
Ask: What did the National Party propose, and how did it justify separating South Africans by race?
Open with this source to frame the question.
Leveled reading Original ↗Copy Doc SOAPSTone HIPP / HAPP
A. L. Geyer: The Case for Apartheid, 1953
Document · Fordham University · World: 20th Century (1900-present) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 4 min
A. L. Geyer: The Case for Apartheid, 1953. A primary source from 1953, reproduced from Union of South Africa Government: Information Pamphlet. It begins: "The following speech was given before the Rotary Club of London on August 19, 1953. A supporter of apartheid explains why it..."
Ask: What arguments does Geyer use to defend apartheid to an international audience?
Original ↗SOAPSTone HIPP / HAPP
UN Resolution 1598: On Race Conflict in South Africa, 1961
Document · Fordham University · World: 20th Century (1900-present) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 3 min
UN Resolution 1598: On Race Conflict in South Africa, 1961. A primary source from 1961, reproduced from United Nations. It begins: "Resulting from the Policy of Apartheid in the Union of South Africa, April 13,1961 Recalling its previous resolutions on the question of..."
Ask: What does the United Nations ask South Africa to do, and what power did it have to enforce that?
Leveled reading Original ↗Copy Doc SOAPSTone HIPP / HAPP
Nelson Mandela Rivonia Trial Speech
Speech · United Nations · World: 20th Century (1900-present) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 20 min
Mandela's 1964 "I am prepared to die" statement.
Ask: What was Mandela prepared to die for?
Original ↗SOAPSTone HIPP / HAPP
Desmond Tutu (1931-2021): The Question of South Africa, 1984
Document · Fordham University · World: 20th Century (1900-present) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 10 min
Bishop Desmond Tutu (1931-2021) was the first Black Archbishop of Capetown, the head of the Anglican Church in South Africa.
Ask: What does Tutu ask the world to understand about apartheid, and what does he urge it to do?
Original ↗SOAPSTone HIPP / HAPP
Mandela: Speech on Release from Prison (1990)
Speech · Fordham University · Modern America (1970-present) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 15 min
Nelson Mandela's speech in Cape Town on the day of his release after 27 years in prison.
Ask: How had Mandela's message changed, or not, after 27 years?
Close with this source before writing.
Leveled reading Original ↗Copy Doc SOAPSTone HIPP / HAPP

Quick check

Five questions built only from this set’s sources: four multiple choice and one short answer. Print it or assign it in Google Classroom. The answer key gives the source line for every answer.

Quick check (make a copy)Answer key (make a copy)

Preview the questions

Which source in this set contains this passage? “Either we must follow the course of equality, which must eventually mean national suicide for the White race, or we must take the course of separation (apartheid)…”
In 1948, what two courses did the National Party say South Africa had to choose between?
Which source in this set contains this passage? “Need I say more to show that this policy of Partnership could, in South Africa, only mean the eventual disappearance of the white South African nation?”
What did Mandela (1990) say was the only way to peace and racial harmony?
Short answer: Choose two sources from this set. Using a specific detail from each, explain how they help answer the set’s question: “How did people argue over apartheid in South Africa?” Write 3 to 5 sentences.

Culminating writing prompt

Using evidence from at least three sources in this set, write an argument that answers the question: “How did people argue over apartheid in South Africa?” Cite each source by title, explain how its author, audience, and purpose affect its reliability, and respond to at least one counterargument.

Printable writing sheet (make a copy)

Build a DBQ DBQ packet (make a copy)

Students can plan with the Claim-Evidence-Reasoning organizer.