Which speech did Nelson Mandela deliver from the dock at the Rivonia Trial in 1964?

Nelson Mandela delivered the speech titled “I Am Prepared to Die” from the dock at the Rivonia Trial in 1964.

Mandela gave the speech on 20 April 1964 at the Palace of Justice in Pretoria. He was one of the accused leaders charged with sabotage and conspiracy in a trial that followed a police raid on the ANC’s underground headquarters at Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia, Johannesburg.

The speech explained the goals of the struggle against apartheid and criticized a political system based on racial domination. Mandela acknowledged that the accused had supported armed resistance after peaceful opposition had been suppressed. He concluded by describing his ideal of a democratic and free society and said it was an ideal for which he was prepared to die.

The trial ended with life sentences rather than the death penalty. The speech is sometimes confused with the title of Mandela’s autobiography or with the phrase “an ideal for which I am prepared to die,” which is its famous closing formulation rather than the usual title.