5.6.1

Cape Colony

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Cape Colony

Until the end of the 1800s, European powers did not pay much attention to Africa. Lucrative trading opportunities, the discovery of diamonds, and the strategic importance of Africa led to colonisation.

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Importance of Cape Colony

  • Cape Colony was located on the coast of what is now South Africa.
  • It was important strategically for the British because it provided a stopover point between Britain and India (the jewel in Britain’s crown).
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Dutch control

  • The Dutch controlled Cape Colony until 1814 when the British took control of the cape.
  • Along with the native population, this also gave the British control over the nearly 30,000 Dutch who had settled there, who were known as Boers.
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The Boers

  • The Boers resented being under the control of the British, so many migrated inland and set up their own independent states:
    • One was Transvaal.
    • The other was the Orange Free State.
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Diamonds

  • To begin with, the British viewed Cape Colony as a strategic colony and did not have much interest in extensive settlement.
  • But this all changed once diamonds were discovered in the area.
  • Following the discovery of diamonds, entrepreneurial Britons flocked to Cape Colony to mine diamonds and seek their fortune.
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Cecil Rhodes

  • One of these men was Cecil Rhodes, who moved to Cape Colony in 1870 and became incredibly wealthy.
  • In 1890, he became Prime Minister of Cape Colony.
  • But Rhodes believed in white superiority and considered himself and the English settlers superior to the native people of Cape Colony.

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1The Medieval World: 450-1450 AD

1.1Anglo-Saxon England

1.2The Contest for the English Throne

1.3Conquering the Holy Land, 10-96-1396 AD

1.4King John

1.5The Magna Carta & Parliament

1.6The Black Death

2Worldviews

3The Empire of Mali

4The Renaissance & Reformations, 1500-1598 AD

5The British Empire, 1583-1960 AD

6The Peasants' Revolt

7Religion in the Middle Ages

8Slavery, 1619-1833 AD

9The English Civil War, 1642-1660

10The Industrial Revolution, 1750-1840

11US Independence, 1775-1783

12The French Revolution, 1789-1815

13The British Empire, 1857–1930

14Suffrage

15World War 1, 1914-1918

16The Inter-War Years, 1919-1939

17World War 2, 1939-1945

18The Cold War, 1947-1962

19Civil Rights in the USA, 1954-1975

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