Relations With Indigenous People (1857-90)

Question 1

What did Cecil Rhodes famously say about the race of the British?

Answer 1

‘We are the finest race in the world’ - shows how he believed he had the right to command control in SouthAfrica in late C.19

Question 2

When did Dutch settlers form a colony in South Africa (Boers)?

Answer 2

1652

Question 3

What does ‘Boer’ mean in Afrikaans?

Answer 3

Farmers

Question 4

When did Britain take over the Cape Colony and why?

Answer 4

1795 as Cape was a route to India so needed protection

Question 5

What were the actions and beliefs of the Boers as they arrived in SA?

Answer 5

Moved away from administrative centres and were fiercely independent, refusing any outside rule or influence

Question 6

How did Britain initially create hostility with the Boers?

Answer 6

Followed them and introduced new laws:
1823 - English ordered to be adopted as official language

Question 7

What was the Great Trek?

Answer 7

. The freedom of British slaves in 1833 law hit Boers hard as it threatened their economic stability as their farms depended on free labour. This meant large numbers of Boer’s moved away from the Cape Colony.

Question 8

What did the British allow the Boers in 1852?

Answer 8

Self-government. Republic of Transvaal born and OFS two years later
However, Britain still controlled part of their affairs

Question 9

Who were the Bantu people?

Answer 9

300-600 ethnic groups in Africa who spoke Bantu languages. Inhabit east and South Africa from central africa across the Great Lakes region down to South Africa.

Question 10

Where did some Boers move to from 1833?

Answer 10

North to Natal and then further to the interior of Africa, creating their own states.

Question 11

When did Britain annex Natal?

Answer 11

1845

Question 12

When did Britain come into conflict with Boers and Bantus?

Answer 12

2nd half of C.19

Question 13

What sparked the conflict between the Boers and Bantu?

Answer 13

1867: Europeans discovered diamonds near Kimberley on the Vaal River in West Griqualand, attracting white settlers and Bantu people in a ‘diamond rush’

Question 14

When did Britain annex Basutoland and why?

Answer 14

1868 as indigenous people there (Sotho people) were supposedly looking for protection against the Boers

Question 15

When did Britain annex West Griqualand and what was the response?

Answer 15

1871. 2000 of the Griqua people (mixed Boer and Khoikhoi descent) trekked east and formed east Griqualand in 1873

Question 16

When did Britain annex East Griqualand?

Answer 16

1874

Question 17

What did the Griqua people want?

Answer 17

To live outside colonial rule and escape racial prejudice

Question 18

What happened in 1875?

Answer 18

Boers rejected proposed federation of the British and Boer territories. This area became very unstable as Britain and Boers fought for greater control in an area that was so valuable for traders

Question 19

When was the Xhosa War and what happened?

Answer 19

1877-8. Britain easily disarms neighbouring communities and annexes them to the Cape Colony. However, the Boers couldn’t take the Pedi people’s independence in the Eastern Transvaal

Question 20

Why did Britain annex the Transvaal and when?

Answer 20

In 1877 as Britain claimed they needed to protect white European settlers against the Pedi and Zulu people

Question 21

When was the invasion of Zululand launched?

Answer 21

In January 1879 after Boers reluctantly accept British aid against the Zulus

Question 22

What happened in the invasion of Zululand?

Answer 22

Zulu army initially outmanoeuvres and defeats British at Isandlwana
July 1879: British defeat Zulus at Ulundi (capital of Zululand) once reinforcements arrive
Town burnt to ground
Zululand incorporated into Natal
Pedi people defeated at end of campaign

Question 23

When do Boers declare complete independence from Britain?

Answer 23

1880

Question 24

How had the Boers reacted to British control since 1880?

Answer 24

Rejected it, attacking British army garrisons across the Transvaal

Question 25

What happened at Majuba Hill and what did it cause?

Answer 25

British humiliation there in Feb 1881 as 150 Britons killed. Britain forced to sign convention of Pretoria (capital of Transvaal) - first Boer war

Question 26

What was the convention of Pretoria?

Answer 26

Recognised Boer self-government in the Transvaal (Britain still had a right to control some external affairs) - ended first Boer war (signed 3rd august 1881)

Question 27

When did Germans arrive in south-west Africa and what did this cause?

Answer 27

1884, created a fear that the Boers will ally with Germany. British annex Bechuanaland (territory between German SW Africa and the Transvaal) in 1885 to prevent this

Question 28

What did Britain do in Bechuanaland 1884-85?

Answer 28

1884: British military expedition of 4000 troops sent from Cape Town to area home to Tsawana tribes under leadership of major-general Charles Warren to assert British sovereignty there.

Jan 1885: Warren meets Kruger and assures him Boers could keep order in Bechuanaland
Warren ignored these promises and forced annexation
N. Bechunanaland became a protectorate
S. Bechuanaland became a Crown Colony

Question 29

What significant event happened in 1886?

Answer 29

Discovery of gold in the Transvaal attracted trading companies and non-Boer Europeans (Uitlanders)

Question 30

When did Rhodes receive a charter for his British South Africa company?

Answer 30

1889, sought to enrich himself but also extend the empire

Question 31

What were Rhode’s main aims with the BSAC in SA?

Answer 31

. Create a continuous land route from Cape Town to Egypt
- British completely controlled Egypt by 1882
. Sept 1890: BSAC established fort Salisbury in Mashonaland (home to the Shona people) for more area under British control
. By 1890, British dominance in SA still wasn’t fully secure

Question 32

What was the treatment of the Bantu/indigenous people like?

Answer 32

. Little care for them as their land was damaged by British settlers during expansion
. European discovery of diamonds and gold meant more wealth to the region, but the profits went to the white settlers
. Mining companies insisted on laws to be passed to limit the rights of black Africans to have claims over the mines or to trade in their products
- therefore, black Africans did manual labour and white people got the skilled jobs and profits
. Black workers were forbidden by law to live anywhere, had to stay in segregated neighbourhoods/mining compounds