The death of Nelson Mandela on December 5, 2013, prompted a global outpouring of tributes and opened up important teachable moments for social studies educators. Some news commentators noted that effusive media coverage ran the risk of turning Mandela retrospectively into such a saintly figure as to airbrush away his humanity and his struggles. This article highlights Mandela the freedom fighter and seeks to extend the teachable moment for educating students about him. It does so by focusing on a pivotal political-legal event in his life and, indeed, in twentieth century world history. In 1964, Nelson Mandela and his codefendants were on trial for their lives, charged with sabotage against the apartheid regime. Most of the defendants had been captured with incriminating evidence of their anti-apartheid activities during a police raid in Rivonia, a Johannesburg suburb. At the Rivonia political trial in Pretoria, South Africa, Mandela delivered a powerful and momentous speech. The stirring words by Nelson Mandela concluded his speech, which opened the defense's case. Many recent tributes marking Mandela's life and mourning his death often quoted this speech. This article examines the backstory to these famous words--the historical, political, and legal context in which they were spoken.