Sharpeville: Apartheid Resistance

Establish the Facts

Establishing Source A Source B Source C Source D

the facts

What was the 5000 100 20 000

size of the
crowd?

Was the crowd no no no yes

armed and
dangerous?

Was the action yes no? yes yes

planned (the
gathering)?

Were the police Supposedly yes no no yes

acting in
self-defense?

Questions

1) Explain what you see happening in Source B. Use evidence from the photo to explain.
People running from police fire. You can tell that they are running from shooters
because in the background you can see people standing on a platform while holding
guns.

2) How do the intentions of source A and D differ? Would you say that one is more
reliable than the other? Why or why not?
I wouldn’t say that source A and source D are reliable, nor one more reliable than the
other. They are both clearly biased as seen from their language and how the source
accounts differ from actual witness accounts.

3) How reliable is Source C? Explain.

Source C is a primary source, however, the witness uses biased language and is
clearly supporting one side. But, it is still semi-reliable as it is a first hand witness
account and the witness looked very carefully to find evidence to support the
opposite argument. (tried to find dangerous weapons)
4) Using and referring to all the sources above, do you think that the crowd at Sharpeville
was armed and dangerous? Why or why not?
The crowd at Sharpeville was not armed and dangerous, but were deemed
dangerous due to “police witness”, a clear show of false information and bias.

5) Are sources B and C reliable accounts of what happened at Sharpeville? Why or why
not?
To a certain extent, yes. This is because the sources provide a perspective of the
events of smallville. However within these sources there is a potential for bias,
because one is a photograph taken which clearly shows people running away from
(presumably) the shooters, while the other is an eyewitness account. Eyewitness
accounts have the potential to be faulty because many people can see the same
event in a different way.