Birth of the Dutch Republics.
[Sidenote: British Policy During the Middle of the Century]
By the middle of the century there were some twenty thousand emigrant
farmers scattered over the region between the Orange and Vaal Rivers
and north of the latter. They had no organized government; no bond of
union except a feeling of hostility to British sovereignty and a common
love of independent isolation; no adequate security against sudden
attacks from surrounding savages. Occasionally they combined in small
forces and fell with merciless severity upon tribes which had aroused
their displeasure. They would brook no control, even from
self-constituted authorities, and at first endeavoured to govern
themselves by general meetings of citizens. Distances were too great,
however, to render this practicable, and small elective Assemblies in
several semi-republican communities eventually developed. But the Boer
character possessed a positive genius for disobedience, and the feuds
of families and communities soon became as marked as those of the
native tribes around them--whose cattle they delighted to capture and
whose children were occasionally enslaved by Dutch commandos. The
settlers were not seriously interfered with by the British Government
in London, or in Cape Town. A general supervision, or pretence at
supervision, over their relations with the natives was maintained and
with ultimately important results. But for some years following the
Natal annexation nothing of importance occurred. No formal recognition
of their feeble efforts at self-government was given, they remained
British subjects in the eyes of the law, and Sir Peregrine Maitland's
Proclamation of August 21, 1845, at the Cape, expressly reserved the
rights of the Crown in this connection.
[Sidenote: Moshesh the Basuto]
Meanwhile, however, two other communities had developed in their
neighbourhood. East of what afterwards became the Orange Free State
and in territory which the emigrant farmers, or Boers as they were
beginning to be called, claimed for themselves, an exceedingly able
native chief, in the person of Moshesh the Basuto, had risen into power
and had welded together the scattered fragments of tribes which had
been crushed by the raids of the Matabele and Zulus. From the rugged
heights of Thaba Bosigo he dominated a large extent of country, an
increasing native population and much spoil in cattle and slaves. To
the south and west of the Boers two half-breed leaders named Adam Kok
and Waterboer had established themselves respectively with strong,
armed bands of Griquas--the name given to the offspring of Dutch
farmers and Hottentot women--and had become a recognized force. With
Moshesh they constituted the elements of a new British policy which was
inaugurated in 1843. The Colonial Office did not want at this time to
extend its territories. South Africa, indeed, appeared during the
first portion of this century as the least promising, and the most
turbulent and troublesome, of all British possessions. The soil was
supposed to be arid and without fertility or minerals, the population
seemed hostile and the net result of colonization and administration
had been a series of costly Kaffir wars. In dealing with the Kaffirs,
or Kosas, on the eastern frontier of the Colony the British Government
had shown this disinclination with quite sufficient clearness. But to
allow the emigrant Boers to repudiate their allegiance was another
matter, and even to the not very far-seeing statesmen of the Colonial
Office of that day it presented possibilities deserving of
consideration. With Sir Harry Smith's arrival and the termination of
the Kaffir War of 1846-47 came another development of the situation.
The new Governor of Cape Colony, who for the first time had also been
appointed High Commissioner with power of control over native matters
outside of the bounds of the Colony, visited the Orange River region,
looked into the results of the Treaty State policy, came to the
conclusion that agreements with native chiefs were like arrangements
made with little children, and determined to suppress these creations
of missionary statecraft as soon as might be possible.
[Sidenote: Orange River Sovereignty]
Meanwhile the High Commissioner was well received at Bloemfontein, and
soon made arrangements with Adam Kok and Moshesh which greatly
curtailed their authority and independence. On February 3, 1848, he
announced the annexation to British dominions of the whole territory
between the Vaal and Orange Rivers and the Drakensberg mountains under
the name of the Orange River Sovereignty. The colored population was
left under the control of its chiefs, and their land was carefully
reserved for their own use. All relations between tribes, however, or
with Europeans, were to be guided by British authorities. Major Warden
was continued at Bloemfontein as the Governor, or Resident, and Sir
Harry Smith returned to Cape Town after having carried out a policy
which should have been effected long before. And it was now too late.
Although without any definite government amongst themselves, or any
allegiance to the little republics which had sprung up over the Vaal, a
certain number of Dutch farmers in the new Sovereignty would not accept
British rule, and they were speedily aided by the Transvaal Boers under
Pretorius in a direct attack upon Bloemfontein. Major Warden was
compelled to surrender, and the British officials were speedily driven
out of the country. Sir Harry Smith, however, was too vigorous and
able a commander to stand this sort of thing, and he hastily got some
troops together, crossed the Orange River, attacked Pretorius in a
strong position at a place called Boomplaatz, defeated him and
re-established the Sovereignty Government. Those of the Boers who were
inveterately opposed to British rule at once crossed the Vaal and were
not interfered with by British officials. Their places, to some
extent, were taken by fresh emigrants from Cape Colony, many of them
English, and from this time forward the Orange River State was
populated by white settlers more or less passively friendly toward
England and composed of the least hostile amongst the emigrant farmers
with a certain proportion of Englishmen.
[Sidenote: Rebellion of Molitsane]
For a time all went apparently well. Then, in 1851, Moshesh, finding
his power had been restricted by the new arrangements, and knowing that
he was much stronger in a military sense than the British authorities
had any conception of, began to foment disturbances between his own
people and native clans in the Sovereignty. He did not appear publicly
in the matter, but his policy was none the less effective in drawing
both Major Warden and the Cape Governor into a determination to punish
Molitsane--a vassal of Moshesh--who was a distinct offender. With 162
soldiers, 120 Boers and some fifteen hundred natives, Major Warden
marched out from Bloemfontein, and at Viervoet was drawn into a trap
and suffered a disastrous defeat. It is said that Moshesh himself was
surprised at the easy result. At any rate, he at once threw off the
mask and joined forces with his vassal. A section of the Boers also
repudiated the Sovereignty Government, so far, at least, as to promise
Moshesh absolute neutrality if he would leave their cattle and property
unharmed. This he promised and fulfilled by plundering without mercy
the Boers who remained loyal. Major Warden was now helpless at
Bloemfontein, as Cape Colony was in the throes of another Kaffir war.
and not a soldier could be spared--a fact of which Moshesh and the
disloyal Dutch were perfectly aware. The latter added to the
difficulties of the situation by suggesting to Pretorius that now was
his time to avenge Boomplaatz. He was not unwilling, but thought a
primary duty lay to his own adherents beyond the Vaal; so he wrote
Warden that if the independence of the Boers of that region were
definitely acknowledged he would refrain from participation in the
struggle.
[Sidenote: The Sand River Convention]
Major Warden reported to Sir Harry Smith that the safety of the
Sovereignty for the time lay in assenting to this proposal, as he could
not hold it against the Basutos and the Transvaal Boers combined. The
result was the appointment of Commissioners and the negotiation in 1852
of the Sand River Convention "with the Commandant and Delegates of the
Boers living beyond the Vaal," by which the British Government
"guaranteed to the emigrant farmers beyond the Vaal River the right to
manage their own affairs and to govern themselves according to their
own laws without any interference on the part of the British
Government." Provisions were included by which the British authorities
disclaimed all alliances with colored peoples north of the Vaal, and
the Boers accepted the declaration (on paper) that "no slavery is or
shall be permitted or practiced" in the country under their control.
This arrangement finally severed the two communities, carried across
the Vaal another migration of the anti-British element, and in time
consolidated the bitterly hostile and prejudiced sections of population
into the present Transvaal Republic. Meanwhile, peace had been made
with the Kaffirs, and Sir George Cathcart, who was now Governor at the
Cape, invaded Basutoland with a considerable force of regulars for the
purpose of punishing Moshesh. As usual in South African warfare, he
under-estimated the numbers and fighting skill of his opponents as well
as the natural strength of this Switzerland of the Veldt. Thaba Bosigo
was too hard a nut for his force to crack, and he was, besides, drawn
into an ambush and defeated. Moshesh, however, was wise enough not to
press his advantage too far, and with statecraft which was worthy of a
greater sphere, asked and received peace on terms very beneficial to
himself.
[Sidenote: Changed Policy]
But the Colonial Office was now in the hands of the Manchester School
party, England was living in the exhilaration of a period of great and
growing commercial prosperity, and her politicians were sick of the
prolonged succession of petty and costly wars which had marked South
African history. It was decided that all further responsibility must
be avoided, that existing boundaries must be drawn back wherever
possible, and that extension of territory must be imperatively
resisted. The first point of contact with this feeling was the
Sovereignty, and the Duke of Newcastle, who was then acting as Colonial
Secretary, sent Sir George Russell Clerk out in 1853, as a Special
Commissioner: "To ascertain whether it was practicable to make
arrangements for the abandonment of the whole of that territory." Then
followed the most extraordinary and perhaps regrettable incident in all
the turbulent and troubled history of South Africa. The Commissioner
had called a Convention of European Delegates for the purpose of taking
over the government of the Sovereignty. But these twenty-four men
sounded public opinion, and they had soon found that the feeling was
clear and unmistakable that from every standpoint of right, honor and
expediency Great Britain should retain its authority and continue its
protection. Sir George Clerk, however, was under definite
instructions, and any protests from the Delegates, or from the public
meetings which were hastily held, were simply regarded as so much
unnecessary obstruction to the fulfilment of his mission. The
Convention refused to accept in any way his proposition, and was
promptly dissolved. [Sidenote: Formation of the Orange Free State] A
small body of men were found, however, to favor independence, and with
these representatives of a distinct minority Sir George concluded an
agreement on February 23, 1854, by which the country was practically
handed over to them as the Orange Free State. This precious document
"guarantees on the part of Her Majesty's Government the future
independence of that country and Government"--although it also provides
"that this independence shall, without unnecessary delay, be confirmed
and ratified by an instrument promulgated in such form and substance as
Her Majesty shall approve, finally freeing them from their allegiance
to the British Crown, and declaring them, to all intents and purposes,
an independent people." So far as can be ascertained this instrument
was never actually promulgated, and it may be a delicate technical
point as to whether the Free State people have ever been legally freed
from their allegiance to Great Britain.[1]
[1] Westminster Review. April, 1869.
Large popular gatherings were held to protest against the policy of
dismemberment, and the Chairman and another member of the late
Convention were sent to England to bring the whole case before the
Queen's Government. But it was all in vain. Hardly any notice had
been taken in Great Britain of the Sand River Convention, and even less
concern was exhibited over this new development of weak and nerveless
Colonial administration. A motion upon the subject in the House of
Commons had to be withdrawn for lack of a seconder, and Parliament
voted $240,000 as a compensation to loyal settlers--presumably as a
solace for having forced them to give up their allegiance. By the
terms of the Bloemfontein Convention--already quoted from--no slavery
or trade in slaves was to be permitted and the Government was made free
to levy import duties and to buy ammunition in the British Colonies.
In this way were two Boer Republics founded in South Africa, and the
evils which might naturally have been expected from the intense
isolation and ignorance of the emigrant farmers crystallized into
constitutional shape, and finally into military form. These
Conventions of 1852 and 1854 legalized a lasting and bitter schism in
the small European population of South Africa, and even the conditions
and interests of the Free State and the Transvaal were not, for many
years afterwards, considered identical by the Boers themselves.