Freedom Charter
Anti-apartheid founding document
The Freedom Charter is a 1955 document articulating the vision of a democratic, non-racial South Africa, adopted at the Congress of the People in Kliptown.
It became the foundational political program of the African National Congress and the anti-apartheid movement, declaring that South Africa belongs to all who live in it.
The charter's principles—equal rights, land redistribution, nationalization of key industries—later influenced South Africa's post-apartheid constitution.
- pass lawsFormally adopt binding rules
- segregationForced separation by group
- democracyRule by the people
- equalitySame status for all
- justiceFair treatment under law
Nelson Mandela · 1955 · trade unions · human rights · universal suffrage · liberation · self-determination · armed struggle · socialism · constitutional democracy · Steve Biko · civil liberties · Soweto uprising · Desmond Tutu · Soweto · land · struggle · ubuntu
- African IndependenceNelson Mandela, independence movement, national liberation, anti-colonial, armed struggle
- chartersroyal charters, town charters, city charters, Magna Carta
- ANCNelson Mandela, MK, Robben Island, Winnie Mandela, Youth League
- legal documentscontract, affidavit, deed, will, subpoena
- Rights LawsBill of Rights, Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, Equal Rights Amendment, 13th Amendment
Freedom CharterGroup Areas Act
Law dictating residence by race
apartheid laws · apartheid · white supremacy · racial segregation
Freedom Charterwhite nationalism
Ideology favoring Caucasian dominance