The Response to Apartheid 1 1948-59

Question 1

Who did the South African population consist of in 1948?

Answer 1

Black Africans, Coloured people, Asian people and White people

Question 2

What was the population of Black Africans in 1946?

Answer 2

7,830,559

Question 3

What was the population of white people in 1946?

Answer 3

2,372,044

Question 4

What was the population of coloured people in 1946?

Answer 4

928,062

Question 5

What was the population of Indian people in 1946?

Answer 5

285,260

Question 6

How were the different races segregated before 1948?

Answer 6

With only a few exceptions, only white people could vote. Black African people in particular were treated as cheap labour, unable to compete with whites who were reserved the best jobs.

Question 7

What were the 3 laws affecting Africans before 1948?

Answer 7

Native Land Act 1913
Urban Areas Act 1923
Native Trusts and Lands Act 1936

Question 8

Native Land Act 1913

Answer 8

Land ownership limited to tribal reserves: 7% of total land in South Africa.

Question 9

Urban Areas Act 1923

Answer 9

Must live in townships in white areas.

Question 10

Native Trusts and Lands Act 1936

Answer 10

Tribal reserves could be extended to 13.6% of total land area of South Africa.

Question 11

What was the main reason for the urban and industrial growth in South Africa in the 20th century?

Answer 11

The mining industry: Precious metals, steel, gold and diamonds.
Large quantities of diamonds had been discovered in 1867 and gold in the Transvaal in 1887.

Question 12

What was the effect of the mining industry?

Answer 12

There was a huge demand for African migrant workers.
However, everywhere else in the South African economy remained mainly agricultural.

Question 13

What was the percentages of people who were living in urban areas by 1946?

Answer 13

African people- 23%
White people- 75%
Coloured people- 61%
Indian people- 71%

Question 14

What were townships?

Answer 14

Special settlements on the edge of urban areas, with basic homes for urban African workers. They were often crowded and insanitary.

Question 15

What does apartheid mean?

Answer 15

The strict separation of different racial groups in South Africa at the time. In Afrikaans, the word means ‘separate’ or ‘apartness’.

Question 16

Who were Afrikaner people descended from?

Answer 16

Holland and Germany
Their language Afrikaans is derived from German and Dutch

Question 17

What were the characteristics of Afrikaners?

Answer 17

Hard working, mainly farming land
Christian
Extreme racism
Determined to proceed with apartheid and white supremacy.

Question 18

What was the Great Trek and its significance?

Answer 18

When the British abolished slavery, many Boer settlers who kept slaves moved away into the vast hinterland. On the eve of the Battle of Blood River they asked God for victory and this subsequently became the basis of the belief that God had granted them the land of South Africa.

Question 19

What was the white justification for segregation?

Answer 19

-Most white people had racist views of African people as being lazy, untrustworthy and potentially dangerous.
-Ignorance and fears for their own safety if African people were given political or economic rights.
-There was a belief that segregation from white people was in the Africans’ best interests and that they were most happy and contented living separately from white people.

Question 20

What was the Broederband?

Answer 20

A highly influential movement set up in 1918 and dedicated to promoting their interests. During the apartheid era (1948-94) every South African leader was a member.

Question 21

What was the National Party?

Answer 21

The main Afrikaner party which promoted Afrikaner identity and values and was intent on imposing a system of apartheid, white supremacy and reducing ties with Britain.

Question 22

Why did Afrikaner people resent British influence?

Answer 22

-They had been defeated in the Boer War of 1899 to 1902 to expel the British and resented the settlement which was South Africa created as a British dominion.
-They had resented South Africa supporting Britain in the First World War: many had strong ties to Germany.
-They resented English speakers’ dominance in the economy.