Nelson Mandela is an important man in history because he led the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, even while imprisoned for a quarter century. His persistence in speaking out and taking action against apartheid led to the reform of the South African government. Mandela has been compared to other famous civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr. He changed the world for all black South Africans by removing apartheid from the South African government.

Before I begin on the life of Nelson Mandela, I would like to explain the word "apartheid." Apartheid is a policy of racial segregation. The word apartheid means "separateness" in the Afrikaans language (Encarta CD-ROM) and it described the racial division between the governing white minority population and the black majority population. The South African government introduced apartheid as part of the campaign in the 1948 elections, and with the pro-apartheid victory...