No Easy Walk to Freedom

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Part 1 (Chapters 1-2)

Reading Check

1. What organized movement does Mandela first discuss?

2. Who formulated the “M” Plan?

3. What political party does Mandela criticize in reference to their constitution?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How did the “M” Plan demonstrate Mass Mobilization and Shifts in Strategies and Tactics for the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa?

2. What evidence in the first two chapters indicates that the anti-apartheid struggle embraced multiracialism?

Paired Resource

“Generational Conflict and African Nationalism in South Africa: The African National Congress, 1949 - 1959”

• This scholarly article explains the relationship among the ANC, the ANC Youth League, the Pan-Africanist Congress, and the Communist Party. It calls attention to the role of the ANCYL, which Mandela helped to create, in turning the ANC towards militancy, mass mobilization, and direct action. It also discusses laws and measures that the Nationalist government used from 1948 forward to repress Black African resistance to white supremacy. In addition, it includes discussion of the Defiance Campaign.
• Connects to themes of Mass Mobilization and Unity, Shifts in Strategies and Tactics, and the ANC’s Relationship to Other Political Parties
• Teacher-appropriate (not student-facing)

Part 2 (Chapters 3-5)

Reading Check

1. Who does Mandela suggest benefited from land apartheid policies?

2. What 1955 document was adopted by an alliance of people against the Nationalist government?

3. What coercive measures does Mandela identify in Chapter 4 as a means of creating a source of cheap Black labor out of the Native Reserves?

4. To what regime does Mandela compare the South African government?

5. What education policies does Mandela discuss?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does Mandela identify as the primary aim of apartheid policies?

2. Explain how the Separate Universities Education Act expanded the Bantu Education Act and why it aroused indignation from the masses.

Paired Resource

 “Racial Disparities in Education and the Role of Government”

• US Government Accountability Office discussion of racial inequities in the educational system and strategies for remedying them
• Though specific to Black Americans and POC in the United States, there are important parallels to the South African apartheid situation in terms of systemic racism and how it creates unequal educational and employment opportunities with intergenerational implications.
• What is the role that unequal education plays in maintaining white supremacy and privilege? Why do you think that Mandela emphasized education as such an important factor, both in maintaining white supremacy and resisting it?

“The Freedom Charter”

• Journal of Democracy reproduction of the 1955 charter
• Connects to the theme of Mass Mobilization and Unity
• Who were the parties to the Freedom Charter, and what does this alliance indicate about the mobilization strategy that defined the anti-apartheid struggle?

Part 3 (Chapters 6-9)

Reading Check

1. What political body adopted the Freedom Charter?

2. What group does Mandela identify as the principal force behind the democratic movement, and what group does he identify as potential allies?

3. What resistance tactic does Mandela discuss in Chapter 7?

4. What apartheid policy confined the Black South African population to 13% of the South African land?

5. What resolution did the ANC adopt in 1949?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why did Mandela defend the SACPO’s decision to participate in parliamentary elections?

2. What were the purported aims of the Bantustan policy, and what does Mandela identify as its actual intentions?

Paired Resource

“The Anti-Racism of Marxism: Past and Present”

• This chapter from Racism After Apartheid discusses the role of Marxism in the South African anti-apartheid struggle. The ANC’s Relationship to the Communist Party is a significant theme in No Easy Walk to Freedom. This article provides context for the relationship between socialism and antiracism broadly; it also helps to contextualize his identification of workers as the principal force of the democratic movement in Parts 1 and 3 and his later articulation of his personal political views and those of the ANC in Part 5.
• Teacher-appropriate (not student-facing)

“The Nelson Mandela Presidency”

• This article from South African History Online discusses Mandela’s presidency and important policy decisions.
• Connects to themes of Shifts in Strategies and Tactics and the ANC’s Relationship to Other Political Parties
• Based on this article, did Mandela’s tenure as president align with the views he expresses in No Easy Walk to Freedom? Why or why not? Does his presidency indicate further shifts in his political outlook and political strategies?

Part 4 (Chapters 10-13)

Reading Check

1. At what conference did the resistance alliance adopt resolutions calling for a national convention?

2. What representative body did the above conference create, and what was its task?

3. What was the first phase of the campaign of noncooperation/non-collaboration against the Nationalist government?

4. What issue/strategy sparked the most debate amongst those involved in the resistance struggle?

5. What did the South African people request from the international community in support of their struggle?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What resolutions were adopted at the All-In African Conference in Pietermaritzburg?

2. Why did Mandela insist on continuing the struggle from underground rather than surrendering himself to the police after they issued a warrant for his arrest?

Paired Resource

 “Do Economic Sanctions Work?”

• This CNBC International segment explores the efficacy of economic sanctions in the context of penalties imposed on Myanmar following a 2021 coup.
• Connects to themes of Mass Mobilization and Unity and Shifting Strategies and Tactics
• Why might the economic sanctions against South Africa have been successful when other economic sanctions have not had the intended effect of crippling the elite at whom they are targeted?

Part 5 (Chapters 14-15)

Reading Check

1. Why did Mandela ask the judge to recuse himself in the Pretoria Trial?

2. To whom did Verwoerd forward the NAC letters?

3. What apartheid policy was the topic of Abdul Moolla’s cross-examination?

4. What organization was the focus of the Rivonia Trial?

5. What was the above organization’s chosen tactic of violent resistance?

6. What political party does Mandela discuss in reference to their collaboration with the ANC?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why did Mandela choose to conduct his own defense in both trials?

2. Who does Mandela implicate in the ANC’s decision to adopt violent tactics, and why?

Recommended Next Reads

The Manifesto of Umkonto we Sizwe

• This is the Manifesto of Umkonto that Mandela discusses during the Rivonia Trial.
• Connects to the theme of Shifting Strategies and Tactics and Mass Mobilization and Unity

Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela

• Nelson Mandela’s 1994 autobiography connects to themes of Shifting Strategies and Tactics, Mass Mobilization and Unity, and the ANC’s Relationship to Other Political Parties.
• Long Walk to Freedom on SuperSummary

No Future Without Forgiveness by Desmond Tutu

• South African Archbishop Tutu’s 1999 memoir focuses on his work on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which aimed to promote national unity in the wake of apartheid. It also chronicles his experiences during the apartheid era.
• Connects to the theme of Shifting Strategies and Tactics
• No Future Without Forgiveness on SuperSummary