Scramble for Africa: Relations with Boers and Bantu

Question 1

Relations with the Boers and Bantu peoples in southern Africa:

1) During which wars, had Britain taken possession of the Cape Colony?
2) What were the Boer Republics to the north?
3) Who were the Boers descendants of?
4) Where did they move to?
5) When did the British start coming into conflict with the Boers and the Bantu?

Answer 1

1) Napoleonic Wars
2) The Orange Free State and Transvaal.
3) The 17th-century Dutch settlers from the Cape area.
4) From 1833, they moved to Natal, which the British annexed in 1845, subsequently causing them to move further inland.
5) 1850s

Question 2

Relations with Boers and Bantu, 1867-80:

1) Where were diamonds discovered in 1867?
2) How did this create greater friction?

Answer 2

1) Near Kimberly, on the Vaal River in West Griqualand.

2) It triggered a diamond rush, which attracted both white people and native Bantu people.

Question 3

1) When did the British annexe Basutoland, and what was their reason?

Answer 3

1) In 1868, they claimed that the indigenous people were seeking protection from the Boers.

Question 4

1) When was West Griqualand taken?
2) How did the natives respond to this?
3) When was Griqualand East annexed?

Answer 4

1) 1871
2) 2000 of them moved east and established Girqualand East in 1873.
3) 1874

Question 5

1) When did the British propose a federation of British and Boer territories, and what was the response?

Answer 5

1) In 1875, but the Boers rejected.

Question 6

1) Why did the area suffer from extreme instability?

Answer 6

1) Both the British and the Boers were trying to exert greater control, over an area that had become important for traders.

Question 7

1) What happend in the Xhosa war of 1877-78?

Answer 7

1) The British easily disarmed neighbouring tribesmen, and annexed their communities into the cape.

Question 8

1) How successful were the Boers in their conflict with the Pedi?

Answer 8

1) They weren’t successful, the Pedi had maintained their inedpendence in the eastern Transvaal.

Question 9

1) How did the British seize on this failure in 1877?

2) What was their excuse for doing this?

Answer 9

1) They announced the annexation of the Transvaal.
2) They needed to defend the European settlers against the Pedi and the Zulus, who were the most powerful African tribe in the area.

Question 10

1) How did the Boers react to British aid?

Answer 10

1) They reluctantly accepted.

Question 11

1) When did Britian invade Zululand?
2) Was this invasion successful?
3) Did British reinforcements help?
4) What happened to Ulundi, and which country was Zululand incorportated into?
5) To end the campaign, who did the British attack?
6) Once the Zulus had been defeated, what did the Boers do?

Answer 11

1) January 1879
2) The Zulu Army outmanoeuvred and defeated the British at Isandlwana later that month, forcing a retreat.
3) The British Army defeated the Zulus at their capital, Ulundi, in July 1979.
4) It was burnt to the ground, and Zululand was incorporated into Natal.
5) The Pedi.
6) They declared their independence from Britain, in 1880.

Question 12

Relations with Boers and Bantu, 1880-90:

1) From 1880, how did the Boers reject British control?
2) How many Britons were killed at Majuba Hill, in Februrary 1881.
3) What was the convetion of Pretoria?

Answer 12

1) They attacked British army garrisons across the Transvaal, which culminated in a humiliating British defeat.
2) 150 Britons
3) It recognised Boer self-government in the Transvaal, but the British still claimed the right to control external affairs.

Question 13

1) In 1884, how did the arrival of the Germans in south-west Africa, cause more problems?
2) How did Bechuanaland neutralise the German threat?

Answer 13

1) The British feared that the Boers might form an alliance with Germany.
2) In 1885, the British annexed a section of territory between German South-West Africa, and the Transvaal.

Question 14

1) Who led the annexation of Bechualand?
2) How many British and local troops were sent?
3) Why did Warren meet Kruger, in January 1885?
4) How did Warren treat these promises?
5) How was Bechunaland split into north and south?

Answer 14

1) Major-General Charles Warren.
2) 4000
3) Kruger gave assurances that the Boers could maintain order in Bechuanaland.
4) He ignored them, and annexed Bechuanaland.
5) Northern Bechuanaland became a protectorate, and the south became a crown colony.

Question 15

1) In 1886, what caused further instability?
2) Who was attracted to the area by the gold?
3) Who was a famous example of an Utilander?

Answer 15

1) New gold discoveries, at Witwatersrand near the Transvaal capital of Pretoria.
2) Non-Boer Europeans, knows as Utilanders.
3) Cecil Rhoades

Question 16

1) What was Cecil Rhodes known for?
2) What were his ultimate aims?
3) In September 1890, where did Rhoades’ company establish a fort?

Answer 16

1) He received a charter for his British South Africa Company, in October 1889.
2) To enrich himself, and extend the Empire. He wanted to create a continuous British land from Cape Town to Egypt.
3) At Salisbury, Mashonaland; forcing another area under British control.

Question 17

Treatment of the Bantu:

1) Did the resources increase the wealth of the indigenous people?
2) What laws did mining companies insist on passing?
3) What jobs did the black people do, in comparison to the white people?
4) What did the law say, about where black people could live?

Answer 17

1) The wealth of the region did increase, however most of the profits remained in the hands of the white settlers.
2) Laws that limited the rights of black Africans to have claims over the mines, or to trade in their product.
3) The blacks performed manual labour, whilst white people got the skilled jobs and reaped the profits.
4) They couldn’t live where they wanted, and many lived in segregated neighbourhoods or mining compounds.