Best short story told
Origin Of South Africa
You will literally find it on Africa's bottum tip |
At the end of the 15th Century the Portuguese sailed past the Cape of Good Hope. However it was not until 1652 that the Europeans founded a colony in South Africa. In 1652 the Dutch, led by Jan van Riebeeck founded a base where ships travelling to the Far East could be supplied. From 1658 the Dutch imported slaves into South Africa. Meanwhile, at first the Europeans traded with the native people but they soon fell out. In 1658 they fought their first war, the first of many.
Gradually the Dutch colony in South Africa expanded and from 1688 French Huguenots (Protestants) arrived fleeing religious persecution. Slowly the native people were driven from their land and in 1713 many died in a smallpox epidemic.
In 1795 the British captured Cape Colony (South Africa). They handed it back to the Dutch in 1803 but took it again in 1806. In 1814 a treaty confirmed British ownership of Cape Colony. In 1812 the British founded Grahamstown and in 1820 4,000 Britons were granted land by the Great Fish River.
The Boers (Dutch settlers) in South Africa resented British rule. When slavery was abolished in 18344 they were antagonized still more. Finally the Boers began a mass migration away from the British called the Great Trek. In 1838 the Boers fought and defeated the Zulus at the battle of Blood River. Eventually the Boers founded two republics away from the British, Orange Free State and Transvaal. In the 1850s the British recognized the two Boer republics.
However the situation changed in 1867 when diamonds were found in Northern Cape. In 1871 diamonds were also found at Kimberley. Gold was discovered at Gaueng in 1886.
British South Africa
Meanwhile in 1879 the British fought the Zulus in South Africa. The British were badly defeated by the Zulus at the Isandhlwana but they went on to win the war.
Increasingly the British were keen to bring all of South Africa, including the Boer republics under their control. In 1884 Lesotho became a British protectorate. In 1894 the Kingdom of Swaziland became a protectorate.
Meanwhile British settlers had moved into the Transvaal Republic. The Boers
Zulu tribe (full of them selves) |
Finally in October 1899 war began in South Africa between the Boers and the British. At first the Boers were successful but in 1900 more British troops arrived and the Boers were pushed back. The Boers then turned to guerrilla warfare. However Kitchener, the British commander began herding Boer women and children into concentration camps where more than 20,000 of them died of disease.
Now South Africa
The Boers finally surrendered in 1902 and the British annexed the Boer republics. In 1910 a United South Africa was given a constitution. It became known as the Union of South Africa.
From the start black people were very much second-class citizens in South Africa. Most lived in tribal reserves and laws of 1913 and 1936 prevented them owning land outside certain areas. Most blacks were not allowed to vote. In 1912 black South Africans founded the South African National Congress (later the ANC) but at first they achieved little.
In 1914 South Africa joined the First World War against Germany. That year there was a rebellion by the Boers, which was crushed. In 1918 Afrikaners (descendants of Dutch settlers) founded a secret organisation called the Broederbond (brotherhood).
In 1939 South Africa joined the Second World War against Germany. However some Afrikaners opposed this decision.
In 1948 the National Party came to power in South Africa. The party introduced a strict policy of apartheid (separateness). Whites and blacks were already segregated to a large degree. New laws made segregation much stricter.
However in 1955 organisations representing black people, white people, coloureds and Indians formed the Congress Alliance. In 1955 they adopted the Freedom Charter. Yet divisions soon occurred. In 1958 some black South Africans broke away from the ANC and they formed the pan Africanist Congress or PAC. They were led by Robert Sobukwe.
In 1960 both the ANC and the PAC planned demonstrations against the pass laws, which restricted the movements of black people. On 21 March 1960 Sobukwe led thousands of people in a demonstration. In Sharpeville the police fired at them killing 69. The government banned the ANC and the PAC. And in 1963 Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Meanwhile in 1961 South Africa left the Commonwealth and became a republic.
In 1966 Prime Minister Mendrik Verwoerd was assassinated but otherwise South Africa was quiet until 1976, although naturally black resentment continued to simmer below the surface.
We call it our Rainbow country |
South Africa has a massive history and I invite all to learn it with me. This is just a overview, of South Africa's histroy.
We have I think twelve tribes in my country (South Africa) and each with its own amazing traditions.
We have a population of 54 million, so that means we have 54 million untold stories.
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