Colonial Violence (6) Flashcards
Other than weaving its way through the institutional heart of Xhosa society, what did colonialism employ?
Colonialism employed overt violence and arrogance.
What followed the claims of cattle-raiding in the Cape Colony was the formation of ____.
Commandos
What were commandos?
Commandos were basically men who undertook military patrols and they had the power to follow the trail of stolen cattle to the nearest Xhosa homestead wherein they would demand restitution and grab their cattle to make up for the losses of their own.
Were the commandos legitimate?
No, the reality was that sometimes colonialists were simply negligible in the care of their cattle and they would use the commandos for outright theft.
What were the commando outings like?
Nevertheless, the commando outings were sporadic and extremely violent with no distinction between the guilty and the innocent.
What did encroachment against the sanctification of the Chief’s authority include?
Blatant acts of disrespect and offensive attacks against the royal individuals themselves.
Why was the encroachment against the sanctification of the Chief’s authority such a shock to the Xhosa?
This, along with the destructive war tactics of the colonialists, was new to the Xhosa, because even “In traditional warfare, the life of a Chief was regarded as sacrosanct.”
What is a good example of the encroachment against the sanctification of the Chief’s authority?
Illustrative of this was King Hintsa’s assassination. Against the backdrop of the ‘6th Frontier War’, on the 29th of April 1835, King Hintsa entered the British camps on the Governor’s promise that he would be safe to negotiate purposes. However, they imprisoned the King and threatened him. When King Hintsa tried to escape during a point in which the party marched along near Nqabara River, he was shot in the back and his dead body was mutilated by the colonial soldiers.
What makes the colonialists different from other groups in the indigenous political system?
That they had no true intentions for integration. They had only intentions of usurping the power of the Xhosa Chiefs and uprooting the Xhosa nation from their land;
On what basis did the colonialist’s act?
On the basis of their perceived superiority and coveted agenda of bringing ‘civilization’ to Africa.
