relations with indigenous people Flashcards
what did the boers see themselves as?
a distinct and unique group of pilgrims - afrikaners
they were hostile to both the british and the africans
1806
britain captured cape colony and it became a crucial naval base
1834
britain abolished slavery but the boers refused to accept it so crossed the orange and vaal rivers and set up two independence states
transvaal and the orange free state
1843
britain took control of natal
1845
britain accepted their independence
1870
cecil rhodes arrived in south africa and made a fortune from diamond mining
boers antagonised the zulus
1877
britain took control of the transvaal in 1877 to protect the boers from the zulu’s - britain promised the boers aid against the zulus.
british troops were dispatched and told to be used only against the zulus defensively.
bartle frere, high commissioner for south africa wanted to destroy the zulus so deliberately provoked a war.
1000 british soldiers were killed at isandhlwana - vengeance had to be had so a full scale war occurred.
defeated the zulus in 1879 after several months of hard fighting (2400 British dead) and a cost of £5 million.
1880
gladstone sacked bartle frere
december 1880 - boers declared a republic.
gladstone’s cabinet was divided on the issue - foreign secretary lord granville and colonial secretary lord derby wanted to accept what had happened by formally reversing the annexation and agreeing that the transvaal should be independent.
others favoured firmness - lord harrington wanted to teach the boers a lesson and discourage rebels elsewhere in the empire.
1881
gladstone decided to recognize the republic but before this could be announced the boers annihilated a small british force at majuba hill in 1881 - first boer war had begun.
british public wanted revenge but gladstone said that britain should put aside ‘unworthy emotions’
april 1881 - pretoria convention- peace treaty that ended the first boer war.
1884
settlers in the transvaal moved westwards into stellaland and it seemed they’d move into bechuanaland which cecil rhodes wanted to control for britain.
worried that the boers wanted all of the cape and therefore india would be at threat.
gladstone called a conference and the pretoria convention was replaced by a new agreement. britain insisted on a veto over the transvaal’s foreign policy and annexed bechuanaland. claimed that the annexation was necessary for peace. was also worried about germany in the south west of africa.
treaty made the boers resentful - they had been promised control over this area
1885
boers infiltrated bechuanaland
chamberlain urged action but gladstone refused
britain established a protectorate over bechuanaland
discover of gold began to transform the transvaal into the dominant economic power in south africa
1886
gold found in witwatersrand- bantu people forbidden to own gold mines and live in certain areas
1889
cecil rhodes set up the british south africa company- wanted to expand british control from north to south africa
treatment of bantu people
little thought given to bantu tribes whose land was increasingly eroded by the white settlers.
discovery of diamonds and gold increased wealth of region but profits remained in hand of the white settlers.
laws passed at the insistence of mining companies which limited rights of black africans to claims over the mines or to trade in their products.
black africans relegated to performing manual labour, while white people got the skilled jobs and reaped the profits.
black workers forbidden by law from living wherever they wanted and were forced to stay in segregated neighbourhoods or mining compounds.
