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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Wiets Buys
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May 26 - June 9, 2025
Before 1811, the Boers were constantly engaged in an extremely difficult struggle just to retain the Zuurveld region.[306] On the other hand, the British-controlled border war from 1811 to 1812 completely expelled the Xhosas from the area.
After the Boers lived for a century under the loan farm system, Cradock introduced a new system known as "perpetual quitrent" on 6 August 1813.[318] This system, although more costly than the recognition fees previously paid on loan farms, offered greater security in land ownership due to the requirement for thorough land surveys and registration. For this reason, the Boers were initially eager to support the new quitrent system to thereby secure their property rights for their descendants. Under the new system, farmers not only had to pay significantly higher fees but were also responsible
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In the 1830s, the reduced land available to the Xhosa was no longer sufficient to sustain their population.[368] In defiance, Maqoma's half-brother, Xhoxho, took his cattle to graze in the Neutral Territory. On 12 December 1834, a British patrol attempted to expel him from the area and wounded him. This was the final provocation that led to the Sixth Xhosa War.[369] At that time, the colonial government had only 775 soldiers present on the eastern border,[370] including the 21st Light Dragoons, the Cape Corps, and the Royal African Corps. However, these soldiers were poorly trained, with the
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Although commandos had been abolished by the British government on 1 August 1834, D'Urban urgently had to reinstate them out of necessity. The entire civilian population between 18 and 45 years old was called to arms. One able-bodied man had to stay behind on each farm to protect it while all the other Boers joined their commandos.[383]
During the war, there was tension between members of the Boer commandos and the British regular troops, and several incidents occurred between them. The Boers had a strong aversion to the life of a permanent soldier, which essentially represented the opposite way of life compared to the Boers as individualists and free citizens. Tempers between the Boers and the British soldiers frequently flared up.[387]
In addition to their services in the Sixth Frontier War, the Boers also contributed 2,330 horses, ninety-two wagons and mostly their own food, for the six months in the field for the war. The government was supposed to bear all these costs. After months in the field, the Boers' clothes, hats, and shoes were completely worn out. The government did not contribute any clothing. Some commando members made clothes from raw cowhide.[407]
The Boers had to line up their horses in formation so that the British officers could commandeer the horses for further service. Receipts for £5 per horse were issued to the Boers, but they never received payment for the horses. The Boers had no choice but to give away the saddles along with the horses and walk home from Xhosaland with only their rifles. Weeks later, they arrived home emaciated, with worn-out clothes, sunburned, and without hats or shoes. In many cases, they found their farms burned down and all their herds stolen.[408]
All the livestock that the Boers or British soldiers recovered or confiscated from the Xhosas remained in government possession. It was later sold at auction. Many situations arose where Boers recognised their own herds but did not have the money to buy them back.
Boers were very indiviuliatic so they were taken advantage of
In many cases, Boers witnessed their beloved horses, with which they always had a strong bond, being sold at auctions. Much of the Boers' livestock was still in the hands of the Xhosas, and there was no chance of getting it back.[409] The Boers lost all their trust in the British government because of these events.
The Sixth Border War of 1834-1835 was a devastating blow to the Boers, plunging them into a state of desperation and distress. The Xhosas burned down 456 farmhouses and looted 5,700 horses, 115,000 cattle, and 161,000 sheep, financially...
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If the British government had met the Boers' needs, they might have stayed in the Cape and, like the Cape Afrikaners, became loyal British citizens. The Boers had no representation or participation in government on any level and there were no effective channels for them to voice their grievances, which reinforced their conviction that only a government established by themselves would promote their interests.
The Boers were compelled to act due to the "unbearable lack of security" along the Cape's eastern border, which posed a significant threat to their survival.[417] They decided to leave the Cape colony. The Great Trek, as the Boers’ migration movement would later become known, was a peaceful revolution that allowed the Boers to liberate themselves from British rule without taking up arms against a much larger and stronger power. The Great Trek did, however, not occur out of the blue. The idea of leaving the Cape and settling elsewhere began with a small group of Boers, and it required
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"The Great Trek was the Boer Frontiersman’s Declaration of Independence."
Individual ministers not only attempted to persuade members who wanted to trek to stay, but they also used their considerable social influence within their congregations to shape public opinion against the Trek.[442] They created a negative climate towards the Great Trek in the Cape by fostering negative perceptions of the Great Trek and of the Voortrekkers among those who remained.[443] The Dutch Reformed Church preached that the Boers should patiently wait until the government addressed the circumstances on the eastern frontier.[444]
the history of the Trek can be divided into two primary phases. The initial phase was characterised by the coordinated and structured movement of several significant groups of Trekkers.[463] During this phase, particularly in 1837, the larger trek parties embarked on their trek. The Boers migrated in family units or groups of family units, involving families, women, children, and the elderly. Their large herds of cattle and sheep required the Boers to disperse widely and proceed at a slow pace, rendering them susceptible to potential attacks and impeding their capacity for offensive military
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The Boers left the Cape precisely to lead a peaceful and tranquil life. Their leaders repeatedly expressed their intentions to live in peace and friendship with the African nations. Piet Retief articulated these intentions in his manifesto: "We declare solemnly that we leave this Colony with the desire to lead a quieter life than we have had up to now. We shall not harm any people, nor take the slightest property from anyone. But if attacked, we will consider ourselves fully justified in defending our persons and property to the utmost against any enemy.
According to the Rev. J. Ayliff, a Wesleyan Methodist Missionary, the Great Trek's origins were attributed to a sinister influence. He wrote about the Trek: "This mania could never have spread as it did, seeing it involved such fearful sacrifice of property, of ease of life, unless it had been fed by some secret evil influence - that was Satan."[487]
Although Cape Afrikaners made up 66% of the Cape's population, only a small fraction of them participated in the Great Trek. According to Dr Jan C. Visagie, in his book "Voortrekkerstamouers (Voortrekker ancestors) 1835—1845" (2nd edition), only 70 families from Clanwilliam (32), Worcester (24), Cape Town (8), Stellenbosch (4), and Franschhoek (2) embarked on the Great Trek alongside the Boers.
The Great Trek coincided with the conclusion of the Mfecane. The Mfecane was a period of widespread warfare and migrations among the Nguni and Sotho-Tswana societies in southern Africa during the 1820s and early 1830s.[498] Socio-economic factors, such as rapid population growth in certain areas resulting in land scarcity, were the underlying causes of the Mfecane. The rise of the Zulu kingdom and the formidable military campaigns led by King Shaka played a pivotal role in initiating and expanding the Mfecane.[499]
the Imperial government in London had decided not to annex Natal as a British colony. The Graham's Town Journal published the letter confirming this decision by the British government on 27 March 1835.[547] British State Secretary, Glenelg, once again confirmed the British government's decision not to annex Port Natal on 28 March 1836, despite Captain Gardiner's requests and Governor D'Urban's recommendation of it on 5 December 1835.[548] By September 1835, the first two small trek groups, the Tregardt trek and the Janse van Rensburg trek, had moved northward.[549]
The Winburg region was the first piece of land the Boers acquired from African nations.
By 3:00 pm, the Ndebele had ceased their attack. The Boers had lost Adolf Bronkhorst during the battle, while Christiaan Harmse's son, Christiaan Junior, had died earlier outside the camp when he was murdered while tending to their livestock in the field. The American missionaries at Mosega estimated the Ndebele's losses at around fifty.[585] The Battle of Vaal River was the first skirmish between the Boers and the Ndebele, as well as the first battle fought by Boers in the region that would later become the South African Republic (ZAR), also known as the Transvaal.[586]
Two Boers lost their lives during the Battle of Vegkop, while fourteen others were wounded. Nicolaas Potgieter and Piet Botha, the brother and son-in-law of Hendrik Potgieter, were buried on the battlefield that same evening. It is estimated that about 400 Ndebele warriors were killed in the battle, with 184 bodies found around the laager.[611]
The "Nine Days Battle," which took place from 4 to 12 November 1837, broke the Ndebele dominance in the region. A commando of 360 Boers, led by Hendrik Potgieter and Piet Uys, launched an extensive attack on the Ndebele, to destroy all their concentration points. They were assisted by the Tswana leader, Moiloa II of the Bahurutshe, and the Barolong under the leadership of Chief Motlabe.[666] The attackers carried out a systematic search and destroy operation, and no Ndebele kraal was left untouched.
Ndebele groups began surrendering to the Boers.[670] After being scattered by the Boers, Mzilikazi and his remaining followers fled from Marico to the eastern parts of modern-day Botswana. In 1840, they settled in an area that later became known as Matabeleland, located in present-day Zimbabwe.[671] There was now no significant power posing a threat to the Boers on the highveld.[672]
The Boers faced devastating losses during these events. Forty-one men, fifty-six women, and 185 Boer children lost their lives,[711] alongside 252 Khoi-Khoi and Basutos, who accompanied the Boers, who were also killed. Entire families were wiped out. In some cases, the victims' bodies were horribly mutilated.[712] Tens of thousands of their sheep, cattle, and horses were stolen, and despite their counterattacks, they couldn't recover many of them.[713]
On 28 March 1838 the Boers elected their Volksraad (People's Council). The Volksraad, which was officially known as "die Raad van Representanten van het Volk" (the Council of Representatives of the People), consisted of twenty-four members.
At this juncture, several Boer families made their way to Natal from the Cape. The most notable trek, consisting of thirty-nine families, was led by Karel Pieter Landman.[750]
In a letter to Secretary Glenelg on 18 May 1838, Napier recommended that Port Natal be militarily occupied to protect the natives of Natal (the Zulus) from extermination or slavery by the Boers.[769] On 21 May 1838, he issued a public proclamation to the Boers: "His Excellency warns all those who have already emigrated or, may still be disposed to emigrate,... as her Majesty's subjects, that their migration into the interior cannot absolve them from their allegiance as British subjects...".[770]
another letter to Glenelg on 16 October 1838, Napier once again requested that the British government annex Port Natal to cut off all ammunition intended for the Boers: "...by which means alone I can prevent aggressions against the native tribes by these emigrant farmers, and thus to stop further bloodshed."[773]
Around 3,000 Zulus lay dead around the camp, in the donga, and along the riverbanks. Three Boers were wounded in the battle, including Pretorius himself, who suffered a wound in his left hand. Gerrit Raath sustained a more serious side wound but recovered, and Philip Fourie was wounded in the leg.[815]
On 16 December 1838, the very day that the Boers were fighting for their lives at Blood River, the British hoisted their flag at Port Natal.[821]
Ndlela also informed Mpanda of Dingane’s initiative to build stronger ties with the British for support against the Boers and he advised Mpande to go to the Boers for military assistance to overthrow Dingane.[853]
On 16 November 1842, the South African Commercial Advertiser demanded from the British government: "to represent the power of the British empire among a numerous and hardy host of rebels in their own stronghold (Natalia)." "British supremacy must be re-established; this revolt must be suppressed; and Port Natal secured."[917]
Cloete then called on the surrounding Zulus, in exchange for a reward, to seize cattle and horses from the Boers and bring them to him.[970] This resulted in a spade of farm attacks on the Boers, during which three elderly Boers, Dirk van Rooyen, Theunis Oosthuizen, and Cornelis van Schalkwyk, were murdered in cold blood and the Boer women were stripped naked and driven across the veld.
the Volksraad to discuss the terms of annexation only took place two months later, in August 1843. It was the Boer women, particularly, who passionately confronted Cloete about Natalia's annexation. They told him that, for freedom, they would rather "walk barefoot over the Drakensberg" than live under British rule. Cloete was disturbed by the women's anger and later wrote: "It was a disgrace to their husbands to allow them such freedom."[981]
The mouthpiece of the Cape Afrikaners, De Zuid Afrikaan, fully supported Napier's policy toward the Boers in Natal.
this policy of recognition and collaboration with indigenous tribes sharply contrasted with the British approach towards the Boers. The British refused to recognise the Boers as an independent people and pursued them, annexing their lands.
