Nelson Mandela was born in Umtata, in the Transke territory of
             South Africa. His father was a chief of the Xhosa-speaking Tembu
             tribe. Mandela gave up his rights to succeed his father and instead
             prepared for a legal career. He attended the University College of
             Fort Hare, studied law by correspondence at Witwatersrand
             University, and received a law degree from the University of South
             Africa in 1942. That year in Soweto, he and a friend opened the first
             black law partnership in South Africa.
             Mandela joined the ANC in 1941 and helped from the
             organization's Youth League. In 1948, the South Africa government
             established it's policy of apartheid. The ANC called for equality for all
             races and began leading open resistance to the government charged
             Mandela with treason and other serious crimes, but, he was found
             not guilty in 1961. The government had outlawed the ANC in 1960,
             but Mandela renewed the protests and went into hiding. He was
             arrested in 1962, convicted of sabotage and conspiracy, and
             sentenced to life in prison, growing antiapartheid forces in South
             Africa argued that he should be freed. His wife at that time, Winnie
             Mandela, became a leading spokesperson for his cause. Shortly
             before Mandela's release in 1990, the government recognized the
             ANC'S a legal political organization.
             After leaving prison, Mandela agreed to suspend an armed
             struggle the ANC had been waging against the South African
             government. Over the objections of more radical ANC members, he
             urged conciliation with South African President de Klerk and other
             government leaders. He sought to obtain political power for the
             country's blacks in a peaceful way. In 1990 and 1991, the
             government repealed the laws that formed the legal basis of
             apartheid, but Mandela also negotiated an en
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