ANC at 100: A Timeline of the Struggle

A visual timeline of the ANC’s struggle for freedom.

1912 – A Revolution Is Born - The organization known today as the African National Congress was founded on January 8, 1912, under the original name of the South African Native National Congress. The birth of the ANC required cooperation between differing tribes, and religious groups who shared the goal of liberating Black South Africans from colonialism and racial oppression.This year, South Africans will commemorate the birth of the organization that helped usher the country towards an inclusive democracy with a series of celebrations held in the city of Mangaung. —Naeesa Aziz(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
The End of Apartheid - Freedom Day signifies the end of more than 300 years of colonialism, segregation and white minority rule in South Africa, as well as the establishment of a new democratic government, a new state and a new constitution.(Photo: Keystone/Getty Images)
1948 – Apartheid Rules the Day - Apartheid, a legal system of racial segregation, is officially adopted after the conservative National Party is voted into office. The system classified all South Africans into four racial groups, instituted strict segregation in all areas of life and stripped Blacks of their national citizenship.(Photo: Evening Standard/Getty Images)1955 – Races Form an Alliance - An anti-apartheid interracial coalition called the Congress Alliance is formed and holds the Congress of the People convention in Soweto. At the convention, Congress members, including ANC delegates, adopt the Freedom Charter, which demanded a nonracial democracy and a socialist-based economy.(Photo: OFF/AFP/Getty Images)

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1912 – A Revolution Is Born - The organization known today as the African National Congress was founded on January 8, 1912, under the original name of the South African Native National Congress. The birth of the ANC required cooperation between differing tribes, and religious groups who shared the goal of liberating Black South Africans from colonialism and racial oppression.This year, South Africans will commemorate the birth of the organization that helped usher the country towards an inclusive democracy with a series of celebrations held in the city of Mangaung. —Naeesa Aziz(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

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