The Effects of Westernization on the Ruling Class of South Africa

Between the years 1881 and 1914, African territory was being invaded by Europeans during the New Imperialism period. Before Europe’s invasion, Africa consisted of various tribes and had no central government due to this during the mid nineteenth century. Europe attempted to colonize Africa using harsh military force and resulted in the European Scramble for Africa. The European Scramble for Africa caused African leaders to have different reactions such as some wanting to have no conflicts, but peace, surrendering to the Europeans due to fear, and also attempting to fight back against the Europeans.

This triumph temporarily insures their independence. However, British forces returned in 1900 using the western railway line to make their advances. Boer forces began to flee leaving some major cities unprotected. This time period is known as the mobile war, according to the Anglo-Boer Museum. After the mobile war, the Boers grew weak and worried. In their final attempts to have their republics remain in power, they used guerilla warfare, unplanned attacks, to try and weaken England, but eventually, they surrendered by a vote from Boer representatives. With the Peace Treaty of Vereeniging, prisoners of war were released, and amnesty was given to the nations as well as relief funds. South Africa was now unified and united under English rule. Its people now must honor Edward VII as their ruler.

Africa has had a long and tumultuous road of colonization and decolonization the rush to colonize Africa started in the 17th century with the discovery of the vast amounts of gold, diamonds, and rubber with colonization hitting a fever pitch during World War I. However, the repercussions of colonization have left deep wounds that still remain unhealed in the 21st century. Early on, European nations such as Britain, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany and Belgium scrambled for territories. Countries wanted land so they could harvest the resources, increase trade, and gain power. The European colonization of Africa brought racism, civil unrest, and insatiable greed; all of which have had lasting impacts on Africa.

In the early 1880’s, the powers of Europe started to take control of regions in Africa and set up colonies there. In the beginning, colonization caused the Africans little harm, but before long, the Europeans started to take complete control of wherever they went. The Europeans used their advanced knowledge and technology to easily maneuver through the vast African landscape and used advanced weapons to take control of the African people and their land. The countries that claimed the most land and had the most significant effect on Africa were France, England, Belgium, and Germany. There were many reasons for the European countries to be competing against each other to gain colonies in Africa. One of the main reasons was that the

“Africans lost control of their land and their independence”.(World History:Patterns of Interactions, 2009, pg.784). Africa has also had difficulties with being able to sharing their

The gist of what happened is that there was an African partition, then expanding into African borders, then the Boer War took place. The Aftermath, Africans fight back and a divided

South Africa was colonised by both the Dutch and the British. In 1652, the Dutch East India Company established a settlement at present day Cape Town. Initially, this settlement was intended to be a rest stop and supply station for trading vessels and sailors that had to recuperate, but the colony ‘rapidly expanded into a settler colony in the years after its founding’ . The British took control of the territory in 1795 and in 1803, gave control of the Cape Colony to the Batavian Republic. Three years later, the British took control of the Cape once again. The Dutch government relinquished control over the Cape Colony to the British in 1814, under the terms of the Convention of London.

The Great Trek was migrate of Dutch colonists fleeing from British rule, causing them to migrate to South Africa to begin a new way of life. The colonists faced many persecutions and multiple hardships before, during, and after the migration (1). It began in the homeland of these people, history teaches people when a group of individuals face persecution, relocation soon follows to start a better life suitable for the person(1). The act of moving was a type rebellion against the policies the British government had instilled over it’s people.

In the 1680s many Dutch, German and French settlers arrived in South Africa. Years later in the 1800s the English arrived and fought for control of the land. The English gained control of the land by the late 1800s but lost it by the mid 1900s. They helped establish a society in which they were superior and the blacks were inferior. They did

In 1660, Parliament passed a Navigation Act that curtailed colonial trade with the Dutch (still the main source of slaves). That same year, England created a company, eventually known as the Royal African Company, and granted it a monopoly over trade in Africa, includ- ing slaves. Until 1698, the Royal Africa Company trafficked every person law- fully sold into slavery in an English

When Europeans moved into the bush of Southern Africa and realized that they were hopelessly outnumbered, they had to develop ways to create and maintain their authority over the native population. They had tremendous advantages in the obvious areas, as author Jared Diamond writes in his Pulitzer Prize winning book:

In the earlier days of South Africa which is an archeological playground, the inhabitants of the Southern part of the continent exclusively included the San and the Khoekhoe (known as the Khoisan).The San groups were identified as hunter and the Khoisans were farmers. The Bantus speaking people resided in the North but began migration to the eastern and northern – eastern part of South Africa prior to the inhabitation of the Europeans (Coovadia, Jewkes, Barron, Sanders, McIntyre, 2009). The first European settlement into South Africa, introduced small pox to the continent, which unintentionally affected the population size. In 1652, the first major European landing in South Africa was by Van Riebeecks and 90 of

The Khoekhoe were the first indigenous peoples to come into contact with the European settlers, which resulted in the spread of diseases, such as smallpox, to the Khoekhoe. By 1662, only ten years later, about two hundred fifty white Europeans were living in the colony. The colonists eventually started moving east where they encountered more indigenous peoples such as the Xhosa, Khoi, and Zulu. In the second half of the eighteenth century colonists from the Netherlands, Germany, and France were starting to lose their connection with Europe, giving birth to the Afrikaner state. In 1795, the British took the Cape over from the Dutch, and then in 1802, the Dutch took it back, only to have the British take control over the Cape in 1806 until 1910, when South Africa achieved independence from the British and white minority rule.

The twentieth century history of South Africa contains many struggles and obstacles as its people worked towards creating a more unified country. Modern human beings have inhabited South Africa for more than 100,000 years and a great deal of colonization has occurred within the last 300 years. During the late 18th century, 90 Dutchmen landed on the Cape of Good Hope as part of the Dutch East India Company, representing the first permanent settlers of South Africa. In 1652, they were instructed to build a fort and to start growing crops to aid the ships travelling along the Eastern trade route. Five short years later, approximately 250 white men occupied the area, bringing with them slaves to aid in growing more crops. Their farmland

The abolition of slave trade was passed by the British Parliament on 24 August 1833. This affected South Africa , which was a British colony at the time, as many colonists at the Cape had lots of capital invested in their slaves. Colonists were particularly annoyed because payment of the slaves was to be collected personally in England, and in many cases the cost of the trip would be more than the money received. (www.sahistory.org.za) In order to answer this key question, information relating the following questions has been researched: What were the implications of the Abolition? Was the affect positive or negative from the traders and slave point of view? What impact did the end of the external slave trade have on the cape slaves and