NCERT Solutions Class 10 English Chapter 2: A Long Walk to Freedom Class

A Long Walk to Freedom is the 2nd chapter of the Class 10 English syllabus, which is the autobiography of Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid revolutionary and first black prime minister who served South Africa from 1994 -1999. The following is the summary of A Long Walk to Freedom Class 10 and the prose section which includes Mandela’s inauguration ceremony and excerpts from his speeches which illustrate the struggles Mandela had to undergo as a freedom fighter. Let’s learn everything about a long walk to Freedom Class 10 notes.

A Long Walk to Freedom Class 10 PDF

Nelson Mandela A Long Walk to Freedom Class 10 Summary

After nearly three centuries of white supremacy in South Africa, the country witnessed its first Black President, Nelson Mandela who be won the first and foremost democratic elections on May 10, 1994. Mandela’s party clocked in a historic win with 252 votes out of 400. A Long Walk to Freedom chapter in Class 10 is an extract from Nelson Mandela’s autobiography which elucidates the struggle faced by the black community in South Africa riddled with apartheid. Here is a summary of A Long Walk to Freedom:

• Mandela took his oath as the President in the Union Buildings amphitheatre in Pretoria in the presence of several prominent political figures and world leaders across the globe. He commenced his speech by addressing all the dignitaries and assured the citizens they would never experience similar suppression of one group over another.
• Nelson Mandela vowed that in the democratic country that he’d established there would never be discrimination against people, irrespective of caste, colour, creed or race and that government would treat people with due respect and equality.
• On this historic inauguration, the country’s citizens sang 2 national anthems. The white people sang ‘Nkosi Sikelel –iAfrika’ and the black people recited the iconic ‘Die Stem’ which was a stark reminder of the exploitation of the black community in South Africa.
• Deeply pained by the racist history, Nelson Mandela said that this type of discrimination of black people in their very own land was one of the harshest and most inhuman the world had ever known. He emphasised that people are not born to hate others on the basis of skin colour, background or religion and they can be taught to love because love comes naturally to human beings than hate. 

Must Read: Nelson Mandela International Day

• An important part of Mandela’s speech in A Long Walk to Freedom Class 10 extract, Mandela stated that a man has 2 obligations in his life; one towards his family and the other towards his motherland, countrymen and community and as per their own interests and inclinations, man is able to fulfil these obligations. However, as a black man in a country like South Africa, Mandela found it increasingly difficult to do so. As he became an adult, Mandela saw freedom as an illusion for his community.
• Mandela further believed that freedom was indivisible for all. Still, he saw that the black community is facing oppression and tyranny. It emulated the profound idea that the oppressor must be liberated just like the oppressed because a person who snatches another’s freedom is also a prisoner of similar oppression. Therefore the oppressor wasn’t any freer than the oppressed because they were bound by the same chains of oppression.

Must Read: Education of Nelson Mandela

A Long Walk to Freedom Class 10 Notes

Here is a rundown of this chapter to help you quickly revise A Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela:

• The chapter Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom starts with Nelson Mandela talking about how it is a beautiful day for the country since they are getting their first non-white democratically elected government. He then tells the names of the people who become deputy Presidents before he takes his oath as the president in the presence of foreign dignitaries, people of his beloved country, army officials and his daughter – Zenani.
• This beautiful grand inauguration was the first and largest gathering of international leaders in South Africa. His first speech as the president of South Africa hails this glorious moment as the victory of justice, peace and human dignity, which has been achieved with great difficulty after a very long fight against Apartheid. He concludes the speech by pledging to uplift his country’s people from poverty, deprivation, suffering, and discrimination.
• He also describes all the beautiful things that happen in the ceremony, like the show that jets, troop carriers and helicopters do with beautiful stunts and colours of the African national flag. When the defence forces and police salute and pledge loyalty to him, he is mindful of how far they have come because a few years before this day, the same officers would have arrested him instead of saluting him. The 2 national anthems playing with the whites singing the African and the Africans singing the anthem, which the state previously used, symbolized the harmony and peace he wanted to see in his country.
• Mandela seems a little overwhelmed when he takes his contemporary fighters’ names who worked and sacrificed for their country’s freedom and this day. He feels he is “the total of all the African patriots” who came before him and is saddened that he cannot personally thank them for all that they did for the country. He says he is no more virtuous or self-sacrificing than the next man, but he discovered that he could not enjoy whatever little freedom he had with the knowledge that his people were not free either.

Must Read: How Does Nelson Mandela Define the Meaning of Courage?

In Nelson Mandela’s A Long Walk to Freedom, Mandela stated his belief that his country is rich in minerals and metals, but the people of his country were the real greatest wealth for him “finer and truer than the purest diamond”. Nelson Mandela believes “No one is born hating another person because of his skin colour or background or religion.”

According to Mandela, people are born free of such prejudices. He says that the oppressor and the oppressed both needed to be liberated – the oppressor from their inhuman condition and the oppressor from their prison of hatred. Believing that men learn to hate, he says they can learn to love, which is easier because love comes easier to people than hate.

Here is the speech by Nelson Mandela that is covered in this chapter:

Also Read: The Frog and the Nightingale Summary Class 10 English

A Long Walk to Freedom Class 10  PPT

A long walk to freedom from Padma Lalitha

Nelson Mandela Class 10 Questions and Answers

Here are some important questions and answers for A Long Walk to Freedom Class 10:

Test your knowledge about A Long Walk to Freedom with this fun quiz.

Related Reads

Speech On Nelson Mandela	How Does Nelson Mandela Define the Meaning of Courage?
Nelson Mandela Quiz Questions: How Well Do You Know Nelson Mandela?	Top Great Leaders of the World
1-Minute Speech on Human Rights for Students	CBSE Notes and NCERT Solutions Class 10 English
Essay on Humanity in 100 to 300 Words	50 Inspiring & Great Personalities of India and the World!

FAQs

This was all about the A Long Walk to Freedom Class 10 Notes. We hope you find these notes useful. Confused about the best stream after 10th? Sign up for a free session with our counsellors at Leverage Edu and we will help you select the best field as per your interests and preferences.