Sharpeville Massacre of 1960

The movements of black South Africans have been restricted by pass laws since as early as the 1920s. The apartheid- supporting National Party government used these laws to impose greater segregation. The African National Congress (ANC) decided to construct protests going against the pass laws. On March 21, between 5,000 and 7,000 protestors marched towards the local police station in Sharpeville. The protestors offered their lives up for arrest in exchange for not carrying their pass books. Later the crowd grew to about 19,000 people throwing policemen off guard. Sabre jets and Harvard Trainers drew near the protest flying low over the crowd, protestors responded by throwing stones hitting three people. Police tried to arrest a suspected ringleader and warmed their men to lad firearms in case of an emergency. The warning threatened protestors, which led them to scatter everywhere. The shooting began shortly after a police commander was trampled on the ground. In total there were 69 fatalities.