BRITISH OCCUPATION AT THE CAPE_TOPIC 4_HISTORY FORM 2
BRITISH OCCUPATION AT THE CAPE
Britain
took control of the cape during the period of Mercantilism in Europe. In 1580 Sir Francis Drake became the
first British man to round the Cape of Good Hope.
At
the end of 18th century, The British became interested in seizing
the cape colony from the Dutch.
The
British first occupation of South Africa was in 1795 when they attacked and
defeated the Boers at the Cape. There was a peace treaty between the Dutch and
the British in 1802 and the Cape was given back to the Dutch in 1803. However,
in 1806 the British decided to re-occupy the Cape by defeating the Dutch.
MOTIVES FOR THE BRITISH
INTERESTS IN THE CAPE
(i)
They wanted to protect their ships on the sea route to India.
(ii)
They wanted to control the trade route on seawater (India & Asia).
(iii)
They wanted to protect themselves against ships of enemies.
(iv)
They wanted to get raw materials, market and area for investment.
(v)
They wanted to increase colonies.
TACTICS USED BY THE BRITISH
TO OCCUPY THE CAPE
(i) Introduction of land
legislation system, they aimed at discouraging pastoralism
among Boers and to encourage sedentary farming since the policy limited the
size of an individual's land. The Dutch thought that the British introduced the
land law to take land from the Boers and redistribute it to the landless
Khoikhoi so they opposed the land law.
(ii) Abolition of slave
trade and slavery in 1807, The British government abolished slave
trade in all their colonies and offered compensation for slaves but the money
was only paid in London as a result the majority did not get their
compensation. However, freeing slaves endangered the economic survival of the
Boers as they depended much on slave labor.
(iii) Imposition of the
English language as the as the official language, of
administering the law and justice and the medium of instruction in schools in
1822. Hence, English language replaced the Dutch as he official language.
(iv) Abolition of internal
trade restriction imposed by the Dutch company,
officials on the farmers and other settlers at the cape. This created more
trade opportunities as they could now trade freely without strictly control
from the administration.
(v) Introduction of the
pass in 1809, to reduce the exploitation of African labor
as the system required African workers to carry passbooks which indicated their
residence and employment, and those who did not carry them were regarded as
criminals. The pass prevented the Africans from moving from district to
district or moving into areas occupied by Europeans.
(vi) Introduction of
contract system, through this the Boers were to sign
contracts with their workers. In those contracts, they were to mention the
wages and other fringe benefits that they gave to their workers. Therefore, the
Boers regarded the contract system as British interference in the traditional
Boer-Africans relationship of master-servant.
(vii) Introduction of the
Black circuit court system in 1811, in order to reduce acts of
violence committed by European employers against African employees. The law
angered the Boers who considered themselves a superior race and thus natural
masters of the Africans.
(viii) Introduction of
English law, as the basis of the legal system in South
Africa.
(ix) Provision of financial
aid to the British settlers by the British government, this
encouraged more of its citizens to immigrate to the Cape as a result in 1820
some 300 British settlers arrived in South Africa increasing the total white population
by almost 12% within weeks.
THE BOERS TREK
A TREK
simply means a movement of people from one place to another in large groups.
BOER TREK
was the migration of the Boers from the Cape of Good Hope to other interior
parts of South Africa in order to find new settlement areas.
The
historical background of the Boers movement can be traced back with the arrival
of British towards the end of 18th century, who established their
administration at the cape colony. With presence of British, everything at the
cape changed into negative to Boers. For example, Bores were now treated of
equal status with the Africans.
The
migration took place from 1830s to 1840s where the Boers moved in groups of
families at different times to different parts of interior South Africa, in a
movement that later became known as the BOERS
GREAT TREK.
REASONS/CAUSES FOR THE
BOERS TREK
(i) Introduction of British
government, British established their settlements at the
Cape of Good Hope early in 19th century. Here, both Boers and
natives were under British domination. The Boer did not want to be under the
British government, that’s why they decided to move out from the Cape of Good
Hope, to interior where they could establish their independent states.
(ii) Abolition of slavery
and slave trade, the other fundamental change that British
rule brought about was the ending of the slave trade and then the total banning
of slavery. The British abolished slavery and slave trade in 1833 which was
established by the Boers. Nevertheless, many of the original Dutch settlers
were extremely unhappy about the emancipation of slaves.
(iii) Introduction of
English language as an official language, the coming of the
British led to introduction of English language as an official language in 1822
that was to be spoken by all people at the cape. This made the Boers to become
discontent hence Boer Trek.
(iv) Shortage of land at
the cape, the coming of the British at the cape led to increase
of population. The Cape of Good Hope became overpopulated. This led to shortage
of land hence Boers decided to move to interior in search of the new land for
agricultural undertakings.
(v) To transform the Composition
of the local white population, the British encouraged the
immigration of British settlers of South Africa with the aim of transforming
the Composition of the local white population.
(vi) British Introduced
land privatization, this put limitation on the amount of land
that one could own. This violated the Boers practice of owning large farms.
EFFECTS OF BOERS TREK
(i) Establishment of Boer
Republics, the movement of the Boer from the cape to interior led
to the establishment of two Boer Republics which were Transvaal Republic and
Orange Free State.
(ii) Occurrence of
Afro-Boer Wars, the movement of the Boers to the interior
led to conflicts between the Boers and Africans. This was due to the fact that
Boers confiscated natives’ lands. A good example of those conflicts was the
Zulu war with the Boers in 1837.
(iii) It accelerated
mfecane movements on the interior Southern Africa;
this is due to the fact that their penetration increased shortage of land in
the hinterland.
(iv) The Boers had in the interim
developed their own culture and language, in the interior
areas where they settled.
(v) Discovery of Minerals, The
Boer Trek also led to discovery of minerals in the interior parts of South
Africa. The minerals discovered in the interior were: Diamond discovered at
Kimberley in 1867 Gold discovered at Witwatersrand in 1880’s.
(vi) The Boers lost touch
with their homeland, their movement to the interior of South
Africa developed a new language and culture known as Afrikaans and referred to
themselves as Afrikaners.
(vii) The British regarded
the Boers as rebellious, The British colonial government felt
responsible for the cruel treatment to these Boers and hence influenced Boers
to move to the interior part of South Africa.
(viii) The Boers forcefully
took African resources, such as land and livestock in the
interior of South Africa.
BASIC
ASSIGNMENT/ ACTIVITIES TO DO
1.
Explain the meaning of industrial capitalism
2.
Explain the demands of industrial capitalism
3.
Explain the roles of the agents of industrial capitalism in preparing Africa
for colonialism
4.
Outline the major causes of the Boer Trek in South Africa.
5.
Write shot notes on the effects of the Boer Trek on people of South Africa.
6.
What are motives of the British at the Cape?
7.
Explain why the Boers managed to defeat the Africans in the interior of South
Africa.
8.
Mention five tactics used by British to occupy the Cape.
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