South Africa: a history of separation and apartheid: 1652-1976

Unit 2: Migrations of people

In this unit, we will be looking at:

• Resistance to Colonial expansion• Burgher expansion• The British at the Cape, the 1820 settlers• Difaqane (Mfecane) and destruction• The Great Trek• The movement of Bantu tribes• Why did the Boers and the British become enemies?

Life was very difficult for the Khoikhoi in the 18th century:

• Disease• Xhosa and Trekboer (‘wandering farmers’) expansion• They faced attacks from the San because their tribes were

geographically and politically separated• Having lost their cattle to San raiders, a number of

Khoikhoi regrouped, and in turn, began to hunt and raid• These raiders came to be called ‘Khoisan’ by historians,

because they consisted of both groups of people

Resistance to colonial expansion

“[All] these [Khoikhoi], who formerly were rich in cattle, are now through the thefts of the Bushmen, entirely destitute of them. Some have been killed and some are scattered through wars with each other and with the [Xhosa]. Those who are still there consist of various groups, which have united together. They live like Bushmen from stealing, hunting and eating anything capable which they find in the field or along the shore”

(A report by a Dutch observer in 1752)

Left: Hottentots Holland Mountains covered in snow

Right: The view from the Hottentots Holland Mountain, showing the Helderberg basin

Burgher expansion

(‘Trekboers crossing the Karoo’, painted 1898)

• Burgher expansion continued north and eastward, and they adopted a semi-nomadic pastoralist lifestyle. They were the first of the ‘Trekboers’ (wandering farmers) in South Africa, who left the Cape in the interest of finding more land to farm on.

Task

Look at the painting presented on page 1 of your Unit 2 notes and describe what life may have been like for: a) the Trekboersb) the Khoikhoi

How did the presence of the British impact the lives of those living in the Cape?

• Xhosa are pushed to the land beyond the Kei River (see map in notes)• Boers were criticized for keeping slaves and for

implementing the ‘Hottentot codes’• 1807: The British ban the slave trade 1828: British ban the ‘Hottentot codes’ 1833: British government abolishes slavery inResult: 14 000 Boers, along with their Khoikhoi and black servants, leave the Cape Colony between 1835-1845. They were known as the VOORTREKKERS

The goal:

“to maintain such regulations as may suppress crime…to preserve proper relationships between master and servant…and to lead a more quiet life than we have heretofore done”

(Piet Retief) (emphasis added)

The Difaqane (Mfecane)

MEANING: The scattering of peoples

• When the Boers journeyed into the interior, they entered land that had been emptied by the Difaqane

• Background: → Shaka Zulu’s influence = tribes (e.g. Ndebele, Hlubi, Ngwane, Tlokwa) flee to the interior and fight for land

→Result: widespread starvation, death and devastation

Battle of Vegkop (1836): Boers face the Ndebele on the plateau. Result: Ndebele are driven off by Boers and other African allies

Battle of Blood River (16 December 1838): Andries Pretorius leads 500 Boers in a battle against the Zulus, to avenge the death of their former leader Piet Retief. Result: 3000 Zulus are killed and the Boers gain part of Zululand

Conflicts

The Great Trek continues

• The Boers establish the first Boer republic in Natal

(Capital: Pietermaritzburg)• The British navy arrives and occupies

Port Natal (Durban) in 1842, and the Boers trek into the interior (behind the Drakensberg)

WHY did they leave?Drawing depicting Piet Retief journeying through Craddock pass

RESULT: By 1850, the British had gained control of two coastal areas (the Cape Colony and Natal) and the Boers had established two republics (the Orange Free State and the Transvaal)

TaskTask

Turn to page 7 of your notes and complete source-based questions 2 and 3.

Conflict between the Boers and the British• End of 19th Century = Age of Imperialism

(empire-building) and the Scramble for Africa

• After a failed attempt to overthrow the government in the Boer republic and gain control of the gold mines, Cecil Rhodes, the appointed British Prime Minister of the Cape, resigns.

• Continued British attempts to gain control of the gold mines (and Boer resistance to their efforts) results in the beginning of The Boer War (1899-1902)

The Boer War (1899-1902)

After two years of fruitless attempts to gain control of the gold mines and establish a presence in the Boer republic, Lord Kitchner (the British commander) launches an aggressive attack and sends Boer women and children to concentration camps.

Why do you think he did this?

Result:

→ Short term: 28 000 Boer women and children (and thousands of black people) died in the camps due to disease and starvation. The Boers surrendered in 1902 and their two republics became part of the British Empire

→ Long term: A growing hatred grew between the British and the Boers and contributed to the emergence of Afrikaner nationalism.

Complete the source-based questions on page 10 of your note book.

“Landing of van Riebeeck at the Cape of Good Hope, 1652” by Charles Bell