Nelson Mandela source examination.

  In conclusion both sources although disagreeing with one another are fact. This makes them useful in its own right. Source A is basically speculating that Mr Mandela is in prison because of his politics, B because of his crimes. This is because of the parties involved. Source A is written by the ANC, which was attacking the government. Source B was the government defending itself. Both sources concentrate on the facts of one side of the story but neglect the other. This is a limitation but makes them no less useful as the sources they are. The fact that the South African government replied to these accusations tells us that they were feeling under pressure from the ANC. As far as the sources use in telling us why Mandela was put in prison they’re disagreement does limit the amount of use they are to us. They are not however useless but you would have to make a decision about which interpretation you believe or trust.      

Question 2.

  Source C is a cartoon from a British newspaper it depicts Dr Verwood in a deck chair just after his “aparthied is better described as a policy of good neighbours” speech. It is designed to “take the mick” out of the statement. It shows a tree bent over from the blacks side of the fence [neighbours] over to Dr Verwood who is fat and wears an evil grin. Next to him lies a massive pile of fruit. This fruit symbolises the “riches of South Africa.” He clearly has far more than he needs and upon finishing a piece of fruit he chucks the core back over the fence. Interpreted differently the cartoon may show. The riches of South Africa [and there were many 51% of the worlds gold and 83% of platinum] stolen from the blacks by the greedy minority of whites. The whites use those riches and chuck back the rubbish with an evil grin of satisfaction as they watch the blacks living in poverty. This would be the picture the cartoonist would have wanted you to see. The content of the source in this sense at least would have been reliable because the whites had stolen that tree “the riches of South Africa” they had used the fruit [money] to build themselves luxurious hospitals etc. They isolated the black population [segregated them]. Banned them from entering zones containing all the nice things the whites had bought. People even had to carry ID cards. There was strict punishment for anyone who disobeyed these rules and the legal system was biased. The “black areas” had run down poor quality buildings, poor hospitals and generally bad conditions to live in [the core of the fruit chucked back by the whites]. Remember that in 1995 the whites made up only 13% of South Africa’s population. So evidence shows the general idea created by the source was reliable however there were limitations. This was a cartoon in a British newspaper and therefore would have been heavily biased. British newspapers were against aparthied. The cartoon would have been drawn to ridicule the words of Dr Verwood. To show just what good neighbours they really are. It was a cartoon which undermines its reliability as a source. Cartoons were usually exaggerated take Dr Verwood his fatness and evil face would have been exaggerated by the cartoonist in order to get his point across.

  So in conclusion this source is reliable, despite being a biased and exaggerated cartoon written for an anti aparthied audience in order to discredit Dr verwood and the South African government. Its content and the way it portrays the way in which the government treated black people are correct.      

Question 3.

  Source D was from an article in the observer 1988. The source suggests that the South African Government was wrong to put Nelson Mandela in prison and that he has become more popular because of his imprisonment then he would have been free. It suggests that had Mandela Stayed out of prison he would have displayed the weaknesses that all polititions have. It suggests that because everyone was unhappy at the way Mandela was imprisoned they feel sorry for him. Therefore an ordinary man has been turned into a saint. The limitations of this source are that it is not fact but opinion and is from the anti aparthied point of view. Source E does not tell us an awful lot about whether the government were wrong to put Mandela in prison. It does tell us however that the detainment of leaders made the anti aparthied organisations even more determined and they made a point about highlighting it, saying despite all this “we will not be silenced.” However it is propagander and doesn’t really give us much information. Source F suggests that Nelson Mandela has become an icon. That people in Cape town 25 years after his imprisonment are campaigning on his behalf. That he is not forgotten and perhaps the other way round. The limitations are the amount the picture shows and tells you. In the frame you can only see 20 or 30 people this could be a tiny isolated and insignificant protest. Source G is a reliable and factual source written for British schools by Hamish Mcdonald and Barry Williamson as they looked back over the aparthied era. This is a good provenance because it is unbiased. The downside to this source however is its relevance to the question. It does tell us that Mandela was released from prison by President de Klerk. This tells us that in the end the Government did have to release Mandela. This was done by a president that began the abolition of apartheid which makes the idea less useful. Source H is from a book written by Nelson Mandela “long walk to freedom” this book would have been biased however this extract would have been from one of his speeches and therefore is reliable. The source tells us that whilst Mandela was in prison the black population made “tireless and heroic sacrifices” this tells us that there were big protest for his freedom whilst he was in prison. Source I is from a good unbiased provenance and is fact. It is however not of much use to us. The one point you could draw from the source is that partly as a result of all the protesting that was brought about by Mandelas imprisonment the government was forced to make changes including the election system. This concluded in the whites losing power. Source J was written in a magazine for European schools looking back on the aparthied era. The source suggests that Mandela was keen to work for peace and forgiveness and not violence as the South African Government had claimed. It is merely opinion and not fact. Source K is a song written in 1983 campaigning for the freedom of Nelson Mandela. The song made it to number one and stayed there. This shows the amount of support Mandela had even in britain. The limitations are that some people may have bought the song because they liked the tune.

  After analysing the sources I have come to the conclusion that the sources do not prove that putting Mandela in prison was a mistake they merely suggest it. It is up to you whether or not you agree with them. Take source D for example it claims Mandela became more powerful in prison than he would have had he stayed out of it. This is however opinion and therefore is not proof that the government were wrong to imprison him. Other sources are the same that although they present a strong case that they were wrong it is the type of question that can never be answered beyond all argument. This is especially true when you consider the alternatives the government had. They could kill him this would have created mass outrage at the time with a huge amount of immediate pressure put on the government. They could release him and let him carry on doing what he was doing terrorism. What choice did they have? This has to have an affect on the question as no matter how much the evidence suggests they made a mistake what would have happened if took another course of action? Would it have been worse? This is in my opinion the basic reason why it is impossible for the sources to PROVE that the South African government were wrong to put Nelson Mandela in prison.