Clash of the Colonizers
European contacts with South Africa began in the fifteenth century with Portuguese traders, but accelerated by the seventeenth century when the Dutch began using the Cape of Good Hope as a fueling station. Soon, Dutch settlers began to call themselves Afrikaners, appropriated the surrounding land for themselves, and pushed the original inhabitants aside.
By the turn of the nineteenth century, the British had also established themselves at the Cape, and they began to impose a much more formal style of imperial rule on both Afrikaners and Africans. This new imperial style brought the British into conflict with the Afrikaners, who migrated into the interior. However, this migration led the Afrikaners into conflict with the Zulu, an African kingdom that was in the midst of its own territorial expansion.
By the last half of the nineteenth century, these overlapping conflicts were superseded by the imposition of formal British rule over South Africa's interior-an imposition prompted by the discovery of diamonds in 1867 and gold in 1885. Quickly, diamond and gold mines became critical to the British Imperial economy, and steps were taken to ensure that the profits from those mines remained in the hands of Europeans. Resulting policies increased control over African labor and African movement on the basis of race-policies that would eventually lead to the twentieth-century system of Apartheid.
By the turn of the nineteenth century, the British had also established themselves at the Cape, and they began to impose a much more formal style of imperial rule on both Afrikaners and Africans. This new imperial style brought the British into conflict with the Afrikaners, who migrated into the interior. However, this migration led the Afrikaners into conflict with the Zulu, an African kingdom that was in the midst of its own territorial expansion.
By the last half of the nineteenth century, these overlapping conflicts were superseded by the imposition of formal British rule over South Africa's interior-an imposition prompted by the discovery of diamonds in 1867 and gold in 1885. Quickly, diamond and gold mines became critical to the British Imperial economy, and steps were taken to ensure that the profits from those mines remained in the hands of Europeans. Resulting policies increased control over African labor and African movement on the basis of race-policies that would eventually lead to the twentieth-century system of Apartheid.
Discovery of Minerals
The discovery of diamonds and gold changed South African history. The discovery triggered a "diamond rush" that attracted people from all over the world and turned Kimberly into a town of 50,000 within five years. At first, both whites and blacks worked independent claims in fours areas surrounding the town. However, as mines dug deeper, they became more difficult to work, and a number of businessmen managed to consolidate them into larger mines.
These mining regions, though filled with riches, faced problems with labor--how to find enough workers and how to keep their cost low. In each case, local governments passed laws at the insistence of the mining companies that limited the right of black Africans to own mining claims or to trade their products. Ultimately, black Africans were relegated to performing manual labor while whites got the skilled jobs or positions as labor foremen. In addition, black workers were forbidden by law from living wherever they wanted, and instead forced to stay in segregated neighborhoods or mining compounds. The political power of the mining companies became so great that once the Kimberley area was annexed by Cape Colony in 1880, it took only a decade before diamond "baron" Cecil Rhodes was elected prime minister of Cape Colony.
These mining regions, though filled with riches, faced problems with labor--how to find enough workers and how to keep their cost low. In each case, local governments passed laws at the insistence of the mining companies that limited the right of black Africans to own mining claims or to trade their products. Ultimately, black Africans were relegated to performing manual labor while whites got the skilled jobs or positions as labor foremen. In addition, black workers were forbidden by law from living wherever they wanted, and instead forced to stay in segregated neighborhoods or mining compounds. The political power of the mining companies became so great that once the Kimberley area was annexed by Cape Colony in 1880, it took only a decade before diamond "baron" Cecil Rhodes was elected prime minister of Cape Colony.
Other Useful Links
http://www.learner.org/workshops/geography/workshop5/wkp5time.html#
http://courses.wcupa.edu/jones/his312/lectures/southafr.htm#diamonds
http://motherearthtravel.com/history/south-africa/history-7.htm
http://countrystudies.us/south-africa/16.htm
http://www.learner.org/courses/worldhistory/unit_video_20-2.html
http://courses.wcupa.edu/jones/his312/lectures/southafr.htm#diamonds
http://motherearthtravel.com/history/south-africa/history-7.htm
http://countrystudies.us/south-africa/16.htm
http://www.learner.org/courses/worldhistory/unit_video_20-2.html