L6: Increasing Administration in South Africa Flashcards
When did the British first have influence in South Africa?
Since 1806, when the cape colony (modern cape town) was first established
In 1867, what attracted fortune seekers to South Africa?
Diamond diggings along the Orange, Vaal and Harts river
Why was there a sudden interest in South Africa?
Financial interests as diamonds were first discovered in Kimberly in 1867
What was Kimberly?
A sprawling polyglot (multi languages) mining camp
By the end of 1871, how many people live in Kimberly?
Over 50,000
What did the new class of mining capitalists oversee?
The transition from diamond diggings to mining industry as joint-stock companies bought out diggers
What did the mining industry become by 1889?
Became a monopoly when De Beers Consolidated Mines (run by Cecil Rhodes) became the sole producer
Who claimed the diamond zone?
The Orange Free State
The South African Republic
Southern Tswana Chiefs
What did Robert W Keate do in October 1871?
At a special hearing he was found in favour of Waterboer
What did the British persuade Waterboer to do?
Britain persuaded Waterboer to request protection against his Boer rivals, and the area was annexed as Griquialand West
What is an annexation?
To take control of smaller area of land and add it to a larger area, country or empire
What did the annexation of diamond fields suggest?
That the British should create a more progressive policy for 174’s conservative government but it fell short of the colonial secretary’s goal
What was the colonial secretary’s (Lord Carnarvon) goal?
To see a greater unity in the South Africa region and more areas being apart of a self governing federation within the British empire
How did regions react to Carnarvon wanting them to become a self governing federation?
Cape colony and free state rejected ideas to join such state
Who did Carnarvon convince to join the self governing federation within the British empire?
The Transvaal region
Why did the Transvaal region agree to the British self governing federation?
The Transvaal republic was virtually bankrupt and had suffered military humiliation at the hands of the Pedi.
Also support for the president (Thomas Burgers) had declined
How did Carnarvon respond to the Transvaal region wanting to join?
He commisioned Sheptstone to annex the Transvaal after encountering resistance at the beginning of 1877, he proclaimed it a British colony a few months later
Why was the Transvaal region difficult to administer?
There was almost no money in the region and the British administrator was insensitive to Afrikaner and were serious clashes between tax payments
Who were Afrikaners?
White descendants of Dutch farmers living in the area
Who were 3 key Transvaal boers?
Paul Kruger
Piet Joubert
Marthinus Wessel Pretorus
What did these 3 key Transvaal boers do?
They opted to fight for independence
What ended Carnarvons ideas of a federation?
British defeats
What did the tension in Transvaal over British control lead to?
A short but intense period of conflict that temporarily shut down British hopes of a federation
This conflict was known as the First Boer war
When was the First Boer war?
1880-1881
What were the main causes of the First Boer war?
The expansion of the British empire
Problems within the Transvaal government
British annexation of the Transvaal
Boer opposition to the British rule in Transvaal
What were the problems within the Transvaal government?
Serious financial trouble because Boers didn’t pay their taxes
Public was disappointed with the leadership of government and president
The president didn’t resist the British annexation
How did the British annex the Transvaal?
A proclamation of annexation was read out in the Church square in the Capital of Transvaal
They replaced all flags with the Union Jack
Transvaal Republic didn’t exist; it was now the British colony of the Transvaal colony
Britain asked citizens to not resort to violence as it would create a negative expression
What was the nature of Boer opposition to the British annexation?
A petition was created of 6,500 signatures from Boers to London
A large group of Boers gathered in the capital of Transvaal to protest against the annexation
Newspapers were spread amongst Transvaal
How did the British underestimate the Boers during the war?
The Boers had 7000 soldiers whilst the British only had 1800 soldiers meaning they were severely outnumbered
How did the first Boer war end?
8 August the Boer government took office in Pretoria once again.
What did the Pretoria Convention of 1881 decide?
3 August 1881
the Transvaal republic still had to have its foreign relations and policies regarding black people approved by the British government.
The new state was also not allowed to expand towards the West. All these policies meant that the Transvaal was still under British
