Co-operation and conflict on the frontiers of the Cape Colony Flashcards
what happened when when British took colony from VOC
changed way of life in SA in 1806
Dutch were furious and when slavery was abolished they moved into interior to get away from British
what did the British authorities do in 1820 to stop the Xhosa raids.
persuaded British immigrants to settle on eastern frontier of the colony in order to stop them. constant wars and conflicts over boundaries and land.
describe the arrival of the British and the expanding of the frontiers of European settlement
led by Napoleon Bonaparte, France occupied part of Holland in 1795. Britain was afraid France would take over the Cape. at the time, trade between Britain and India was thriving. British ships were dependent on fresh produce that Cape halfway station provided for sailors, so they sent 9 warships to take over the Cape. VOC + British fought for 6 weeks, but British defeated them at Battle of Muizenburg and took control of Cape + sea route to India. VOC had internal quarrels which weakened its power and by 1799, it no longer existed.
in 1803, British handed Cape back to Holland because they were no longer at war with France. 3 years later in 1806, war broke out again and Britain went back to occupy the Cape for a second time. after few days of fighting, British defeated Butch at battle of Blaauwberg.
the British immediately began making improvements in their new colony, which consisted of about 22 000 settlers, 25 000 slaves, 15 000 Khoi-khoi and 1 000 freed slaves.
- British charged lower taxes than VOC
- farmers could sell their implements to anyone
- farming implements were imported
- new farming methods were introduced
- water taps were placed in streets on what is now Cape Town
- newspapers and horse-racing were introduced
- debating societies and cricket matches were introduced
1806 was a turning point in SA’s history. Dutch had ruled for 154 years. British rule ended in 1910 when Cape, Natal and the two Boer Republics formed a union to become SA.
describe the frontier wars on the eastern frontier of the European settlement
there were 9 frontier wars in the Suurveld area between 1779 and 1879. first 3 were fought between the Xhosa and the Trekboers over who had the right to graze their cattle in the area. the VOC sent a commando to help the Trekboers against the Xhosa and to draw up a peace treaty. they were unable to drive the Xhosa out of the area during these first 3 wars.
however, when British took over the Cape they sent well trained troops into the Suurveld. this was beginning of end of Xhosa independence. British governor Sir John Cradock, was determined to drive Xhosa out of Suurveld. he was protecting interests of Dutch farmers who were main suppliers of meat for Cape Town.
Military forts were built along Fish River to keep Xhosa out of Suurveld. in 1820, British settlers given farms in Suurveld. in 1830, occasional raids on settler farms by Xhosa turned into sixth fierce frontier war, led by Xhosa chief, Hintsa. this war left 7 000 people of both races homeless.
in 1835, Hintsa, who was trying to negotiate for peace, was captured and held by leader of British army, Colonel Harry Smith. after few days, Hintsa was wounded while escaping imprisonment and hid in a river. soldiers found him and shot him dead. his head cut off and sent back to Britain as trophy. Hintsa became Xhosa hero.
end result of bitter wars was that all territory and inhabitants in Eastern Cape came under British authority.
describe chief Maqoma
1798 - 1873
he was one of most famous Xhosa chiefs from the time of Frontier Wars because he dared to resist British:
- 1822, he founded his own kingdom on the banks of Kat River, which British declared neutral zone.
- 1829, after raiding colony continually, he was expelled from his land.
- 1834, he was defeated by colonial soldiers
- 1850, he grew determined to resist British and led guerrilla campaign against them in forested mountains
- 1858, he and wife Katyi were arrested and imprisoned on Robben Island.
- 1869, he was released and went back to his land
- 1871, he was found guilty of encouraging Xhosa to resist British and sent back to Robben Island
- 1873, died on Robben Island under mysterious circumstances.
what kind of man was Chief Maqoma and according to what.
oral traditions and missionary documents show what kind of man he was:
- intelligent and well spoken
- determined and ruled well
- one of the most distinguished generals of the Frontier Wars
- good leader of troops with goo fighting tactics
- a masterly politician and brilliant orator
what do the following mean guerrilla, orator, sensational and emotional
guerrilla - type of warfare in which small groups of soldiers make surprise attacks on their target and them move off quickly (Guerrilla is a Spanish word meaning “little war”.)
orator - speech maker
sensational - describing shocking details for the purpose of causing excitement
emotional - using words that make the reader feel sad, angry or happy.
describe what happened to the VOC when the frontier expanded inland
they didn’t have enough officials to police the Free Burghers and Trekboers, who were hundreds of km away from Cape Town. Dutch farmers formed their own commandos, so that they didn’t have to give up slaves.
what were the British government in the Cape Colony determined to do after 1806 and how did they do this.
they grew determined to control the unrest (violence) on the frontier. the colony was divided into districts which were governed by British officials. Dutch were allowed to choose their own magistrates and committees to run local affairs. in order to control the labour force, new laws were passed which forced European farmers to register their Khoi-khoi servants.
British government’s second objective was to push Khoi-khoi back beyond the Great Fish River. Colonel John Graham founded a Khoi-khoi regiment which was sent along with British soldiers to fight Xhosa on Eastern Frontier. Khoi-khoi given alcohol, tobacco and salaries in exchange for their services. they were very useful to British as they were excellent marksmen, wagon-drivers, trackers + guides.
Frontier Wars became more violent when British built 11 forts from which to watch Xhosa’s daily movements in Suurveld. eventually Eastern Frontier came under control of British.
describe the life of Andries Stockenström and his involvement on the Eastern Frontier of European settlement
wars on frontier were expensive. to save money, British made Andries Stockenström governor of Eastern Cape from 1836 - 1838 in hopes that he would be able to solve problems on frontier peacefully.
Stockenström, son of a Swedish magistrate, bought up in Cape Colony and later became assistant magistrate in Graaff-Reinet. he had been involved in Fourth Frontier war and knew lot about problems on Eastern Frontier.
after Sixth Frontier War in 1835, Stockenström tried to implement British government’s policy of creating peace between colonists and African farmers on frontier through negotiation. this policy known as Treaty System.
Xhosa chiefs signed treaties of friendship with British for next seven years. Stockenström tried to stop cattle raids through peaceful means. he asked Xhosa herders to stop cattle wandering onto settlers’ farms and asked settlers to negotiate with Xhosa / claim compensation from government for lost cattle instead of using violence.
many settlers in Easter Cape tried to have Stockenström removed from his government position. they were angry with him as they didn’t want to be friendly with Xhosa / Khoi-khoi. in 1842, drought struck Eastern Frontier and cattle theft increased. new governor of Cape put end to Treaty System and Seventh Frontier War broke out. Stockenström blamed for outbreak of the war. he left his official position and went to live on his farm near Graaff-Reinet. he died of bronchitis in London in 1864
describe the immigration of the British 1820 settlers
there were about 300 000 unemployed soldiers in Britain after Napoleonic Wars. they couldn’t get jobs as factory owners preferred to hire woman + children for lower wages.
Governor of Cape, Lord Charles Somerset, decided to bring some of them to Cape. he gave them farms along the Xhosa boundary to stop Xhosa from raiding colony.
British government set £50 000 aside for sea voyages, farms and implements. the promise that they would have own farms and new life was very attractive to unemployed who were living in terrible conditions in London.
during April + June 1820, about 4 000 British people arrived Port Elizabeth in 60 different groups. some of them lost relatives during long cramped voyage. they given small farms along boundary line of Eastern Frontier and supplied with tents, farming equipment and some food. most them didn’t know anything about farming. they soon had many problems: drought, diseases, floods, wild animals, Xhosa raids, lack of labour, long distances from towns and lack of transport. their farms too small to make a living.
after facing crop failures and starvation many them went to find work as teachers, lawyers, builders, shoemakers, carpenters and furniture makers in Grahamstown / Port Elizabeth. others that left behind expanded their farms and made great contributions to SA.
describe the abolition of slavery in 1834
after Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815, there was outcry about abuses that woman and children suffered while working long hours in factories + mines in Britain. ideas of equality + freedom developed at same time as demand fir abolition of slavery. these ideas spread to Cape.
Missionaries in SA, led by Dr John Philip, kept asking the British government to abolish slavery. at last a law called Ordinance 50 was passed in 1828:
- Khoi-khoi had equal rights to Europeans in Cape
- pass laws were abolished
- Khoi-khoi could own land
- 1834 all slaves were given their freedom
what were the questions that the slaves ask themselves after slavery was abolished and what happened to the slaves
what were they going to do? Where would they go? How could they get houses? Where would they go to get food and clothes?
an apprentice system established in which slaves could continue to do unpaid work for their owners for four years, after which they could go decide what they wanted to do. slave with skills like building, wagon-making, cooking, sewing and carpentry, were able find work easily. many farm labourers found themselves worse positions than before. large number of these labourers carried on working for former owners.
slave owners furious about abolition of slavery. they lost huge amounts money that they had invested in their slaves and owners who had treated slaves harshly lost their labourers. they also had to carry extra expense of paying salaries. colonists didn’t really accept idea that Khoi-khoi + freed slaves were equal to them. abolition of slaves was one reason why Dutch farmers decided to leave Cape and trek inland.
describe the Great Trek and the reasons why it happened.
between 1834 + 1836 about 12 000 Dutch people left Cape Colony. became known as Voortrekkers and their migration into interior of SA known as Great Trek. they were so angry with British for changing their way of life, that they prepared to face the dangers of the unknown.
Some of the reasons:
- abolition of slavery caused them lose money + source of cheap labour
- shocked at idea of slaves being able to take them to court.
- Dutch no longer official language. English new language used in schools + courts.
- their Dutch + Calvinist identity being threatened
- tired on constant unrest on Eastern Frontier
- all these reasons can be summed up in 1 sentence: the Voortrekkers wanted to be free of British control.
leaders like Louis Trichardt, Piet Retief, Hendrik Potgieter, Gerrit Maritz and Andries Pretorious organised families into groups of about 100 wagons each. these men played leading roles before + during Great Trek. ox-wagons carried household goods, family treasures, seeds + agricultural instruments. journey inland took over year.
Voortrekkers faced many difficulties on the way. these included having to cross mountains and deep rivers, tsetse flies, malaria, wild animals, lack of education for children and clashes with African tribes. some groups moved to Natal but when Britain took control of Natal in 1843 they left, many left to form own Trekker Republics in the SA interior.