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Dutch colonisation of the Cape

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  Quote Nick1986 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Dutch colonisation of the Cape
    Posted: 06-Dec-2011 at 19:45
The first Dutch colonists arrived in South Africa during the 17th century. Why did they choose to settle here, what were their relations with the natives like, and when did they start to live a semi-nomadic life?
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  Quote Bulldog69 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-Dec-2011 at 00:24
Cape Town was established as a stop-off point on the way to the Dutch East Indies. It was envisaged as basically nothing more than a place to grow fresh fruit and vegetables to supply passing ships with, and was a company-run affair, not a government one.
 
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  Quote Windemere Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-Dec-2011 at 11:55
I believe that the early Dutch sailors, who settled in this stop-off point, intermarried with Hottentot women. Their descendants were the ancestors of today's Cape Colored people. Later on, more conventional Dutch settlers arrived.
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  Quote Nick1986 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07-Dec-2011 at 19:11
What motivated the later settlers to colonise and expand the Cape? Was it solely desire for land, or were there other reasons, like religious persecution, poverty, war or food shortages back in the Netherlands?
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  Quote Bulldog69 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08-Dec-2011 at 06:29
Nick, there were any number of reasons.
There was always some sort of desire for land, and hunters and explorers etc had always headed inland. Large numbers of French Hugonout 'refugees' arrived in the Cape to escape religious persecution in their homeland, and many of these names (du Toit, Cronje, de Villiers etc) became 'Boer' names. There is a town called 'Franschoek' in the Cape - meaning 'French Corner'.
The real drive to leave the Cape, however, did not come until after the British occupation, and the resultant ending of slavery. This was seen as liberal nonsense by many of the more unpleasant Boers and they decided to head off, rather than live under British rule.
Even under British rule, the Cape never attracted anything approaching the sort of immigration levels which the USA or Australia did - maybe 5% as much if that. Cape Town was a tiny back water of a place.
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  Quote Nick1986 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08-Dec-2011 at 20:58
Originally posted by Windemere

I believe that the early Dutch sailors, who settled in this stop-off point, intermarried with Hottentot women. Their descendants were the ancestors of today's Cape Colored people. Later on, more conventional Dutch settlers arrived.

I understand these mixed-race people broke away from the Boer settlements and conquered land for themselves. With European guns they would have been a powerful group in that region
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  Quote Bulldog69 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09-Dec-2011 at 02:04

Nick,

Yes - some did. There were various groups of such people - known by names like 'Griquas' or (my favourite) 'the Bastards'. These groups settled in what is today the Northern Cape and also into Namibia. They either dominated or interbred with the Hottentots who were there already.

It is a very confused and fluid period and there was very little written record of some of the events.
There is still a large 'Cape Coloured' community all over the Cape Provinces, most of whom will have Afrikaans as a first language, though this might slowly change as English is increasingly adopted - who knows. While many of these Coloureds are staunch Christians, a sizable proportion are Muslim. This is due to the large numbers of Malay immigrants / indentured servants who entered the mix over the centuries.
The Cape Coloureds (that's what they call themselves - it's not a 'racist' term) were in a very difficult position during the Apartheid era, and a similarly awkward situation now under black rule. A Coloured friend of mine summed it up by saying: 'We weren't white enough for the Apartheid Government, and we're not Black enough for the ANC'.
Interestingly, there is a Cape Town-based Muslim terrorist group called 'PAGAD' (People Against Gangsterism And Drugs) which carried out several anti-Western atrocities a few years ago, the most famous of which being the bombing of the 'Planet Hollywood' restaurant at the Cape Town Waterfront.

What I am trying to say is that it is a very confused and complex situation and not easy to explain / pigeon hole the people of South Africa into groups very easily.


Edited by Bulldog69 - 09-Dec-2011 at 02:06
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  Quote Nick1986 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13-Jan-2012 at 19:13
The Dutch colonisation of the Cape has some similarities with the English Puritans in America. They initially befriended the natives, only to betray and enslave them. They justified this by claiming to Christianize and civilise the supposedly backward Africans
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  Quote Cywr Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14-Jan-2012 at 07:55
Hmm, the VOC was never interested in spreading religion, they existed after all only for profit (something they used to their advantage securing exclusive treaties with Japan and such). There are not many parallels between them and the English Puritans (who were activily seeking to establish new self-contained communities) imo. Kaapstad was a glorified truck-stop, not a settler colony.

Edit:
Hmm, I guess you mean the later Boer replublics.


Edited by Cywr - 14-Jan-2012 at 08:03
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  Quote Nick1986 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14-Jan-2012 at 19:52

This painting comes from Rickett's book on firearms. These Dutch sailors are shooting camels to restock their ships


Edited by Nick1986 - 14-Jan-2012 at 19:54
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  Quote Cywr Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15-Jan-2012 at 13:11
Hmm those ships look like galleys, one clearly has a lanteen sail, that is in the Med, not South Africa
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