The Congress of the People met in Kliptown

Kliptown

Kliptown is a suburb of the formerly black township of Soweto in Gauteng, South Africa, located about 17 km south-west of Johannesburg. The population of Kliptown is between 38,000 and 45,000 . Kliptown is the oldest residential district of Soweto, and was first laid out in 1891 on land which...

, Soweto

Soweto

Soweto is a lower-class-populated urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships...

, Johannesburg

Johannesburg

Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

 on June 26, 1955 to lay out the vision of the South African people. The Freedom Charter was the core statement of principles of the Congress Alliance

Congress Alliance

The Congress Alliance was an anti-apartheid coalition formed in South Africa in the 1950s. Led by the ANC, the Congress was a multi-racial alliance committed to a democratic South Africa.- Congress Alliance, multi-racial struggle, and the Freedom Charter :...

, consisting of the African National Congress

African National Congress

The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...

 (ANC), the South African Indian Congress

South African Indian Congress

The South African Indian Congress was an organization founded in 1924 in Natal , South Africa. The congress is famous for its strong participation by Mahatma Gandhi and other prominent South African Indian figures during the time. Umar Hajee Ahmed Jhaveri was elected the first president of the...

, the Coloured People's Congress, the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU), and the Congress of Democrats

South African Congress of Democrats

The Congress of Democrats was a radical, left white anti-apartheid organization founded in South Africa in late 1952 as part of the multi-racial Congress Alliance. The establishment of the COD sought to illustrate opposition to apartheid among whites...

. The Freedom Charter

Freedom Charter

The Freedom Charter was the statement of core principles of the South African Congress Alliance, which consisted of the African National Congress and its allies - the South African Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Democrats and the Coloured People's Congress...

became the manifesto of the African National Congress and the South African liberation struggle against apartheid.