The history of the British in South Africa has been even more tragic
than their progress in Egypt (S622).
In the middle of the seventeenth century (1652) the Dutch took
possession of Cape Colony. (See map opposite.) Many Boers, or Dutch
farmers, and cattle raisers emigrated to that far distant land. There
they were joined by Huguenots, or French Protestants, who had been
driven out of France. All of them became slaveholders. Early in the
nineteenth century (1814) England purchased the Cape from Holland.
Twenty years later the English Parliament bought all the negroes held
by the Boers and set them free.
Eight thousand Boers, disgusted with the loss of their slaves and with
the small price they had received for them, left the Cape (1836) and
pushed far northward into the wilderness. Crossing the Orange River,
they founded the "Orange Free State." Another party of Boers, going
still further north, crossed the Vaal River (a tributary of the
Orange) and set up the Transvaal, or "South African Republic," on what
was practically a slaveholding foundation. Later (1852), England, by
a treaty known as the Sand River Convention, virtually recognized the
independence of the settlers in the Transvaal, and two years
afterwards made a still more explicit recognition of the independence
of the Orange Free State.
The Zulus and other fierce native tribes bordering on the Transvaal
hated the Boers and threatened to "eat them up." Later (1877), England
thought it for her interest, and for that of the Boers as well, to
annex the Transvaal. The English Governor did not grant the Boers the
measure of political liberty which he had promised; this led to a
revolt, and a small body of English soldiers was beaten at Majuba Hill
(1881).
Mr. Gladstone, the Liberal Prime Minister, did not think that the
conquest of the Transvaal, supposing it to be justifiable, would pay
for its cost, and he accordingly made a treaty with the people of that
country (1881). Lord Beaconsfield thought this policy a serious
mistake, and that it would lead to trouble later on. He said, "We
have failed to whip the boy, and we shall have to fight the man." The
Gladstone Treaty acknowledged the right of the Boers to govern
themselves, but subject to English control. Three years later (1884)
that treaty was modified. The Boers declared that the English then
gave up all control over them, except with regard to the power to make
treaties which might conflict with the interests of Great Britain.
But this statement the English Government emphatically denied.[1]
[1] The preamble of the Convention or agreement made between England
and the Boers in 1881 at Pretoria, the capital of the Transvaal,
secured to the Boers "complete self-government, subject to the
suzerainty of her Majesty," Queen Victoria. In the Convention of
1884, made at London, the word "suzerainty" was dropped; but
Mr. Chamberlain, Colonial Secretary of Great Britain, contended that
it was implied or understood. This interpretation of the agreement
President Kruger of the South African or Boer Republic absolutely
rejected.
The discovery of diamond fields in Cape Colony (1867) and of the
richest gold mines in the world (1884) in the Transvaal stimulated a
great emigration of English to South Africa. In a few years the
"Outlanders"--as the Boers called all foreigners--outnumbered the
Boers themselves. The "Outlanders," who worked the gold mines and
paid nearly all the taxes, complained that the laws made by the Boers
were unjust and oppressive. They demanded the right to vote. The
Boers, on the other hand, refused to give them that right, except
under arduous restrictions, lest the foreigners should get the upper
hand in the Transvaal Republic, and then manage it to suit themselves.
Things went on from bad to worse. At length (1895) a prominent
Englishman of Cape Colony, Dr. Jameson, armed a small body of
"Outlanders," who undertook to get by force what they could not get by
persuasion. The Boers captured the Revolutionists and compelled some
of the leaders to pay, in all, about a million dollars in fines.
Dr. Jameson was sent to England and imprisoned for a short time. A
committee appointed by Parliament investigated the invasion of the
Transvaal and charged Cecil J. Rhodes, then Prime Minister of Cape
Colony, with having helped on the raid. From this time the feeling of
hatred between the Boers and the "Outlanders" grew more and more
intense. Lord Salisbury, the Conservative Prime Minister, believed,
with his party, that the time had come for decisive action on the part
of the Government. The fires so long smoldered now burst into flame,
and England resolved to fight to maintain her authority in the
Transvaal.
War began in the autumn of 1899, and the Orange Free State united with
the Transvaal against Great Britain. (See map facing p. 428.) The
Boers took up arms for independence. The English forces under Lord
Roberts began fighting, first in behalf of the "Outlanders," next to
keep the British Empire together, and, finally, "to extend English
law, liberty, and civilization."
Mr. Chamberlain, who was in Lord Salisbury's Cabinet (S534), agreed
with his chief that the sword must settle the question, but he said
that the contest in South Africa would be "a long war, a bitter war,
and a costly war." Events proved the truth of part of his prediction.
The contest was certainly "bitter," for it carried sorrow and death
into many thousand homes. It was "costly," too, for the total expense
to England amounted to nearly 200,000,000 pounds.
England finally overthrew and formally annexed (1901) the two Boer
republics, aggregating over one hundred and sixty-seven thousand
square miles. But to accomplish that work she was forced to send two
hundred and fifty thousand men to South Africa,--the largest army she
ever put into a field in the whole course of her history. The great
majority of the English people believed that the war was inevitable.
But there was an active minority who insisted that it was really
undertaken in behalf of the South African mine owners. They did not
hesitate to condemn the "Jingo" policy[1] of the Government as
disastrous to the best interests of the country. In the midst of the
discussion Queen Victoria died (January 22, 1901). The Prince of
Wales succeeded to the crown under the title of King Edward VII.
[1] Lord Beaconsfield, the Conservative Prime Minister (1874-1880),
made several petty wars in South Africa and in Afghanistan. A popular
music-hall song glorified his work, declaring:
"We don't want to fight, but by Jingo, if we do,
We've got the ships, we've got the men,
We've got the money, too."