Boer War

“ Identify the issues in South Africa during the period 1886-1910 and analyse how they helped shape the future of South Africa.”
The period 1886-1910 was critical in the development of South Africa. A number of key events from this period would have long-lasting ramifications on the country’s development. The key issues were, the discovery of gold and the tensions between the Uitlanders and Boers that it produced, the events of the Boer war and the peace agreement, and the aftermath of the Boer war and the development of Boer authority.
Prior to the discovery of gold in Transvaal in 1886, the Boers and British lived in separate parts of South Africa. The Boers, having liberated themselves from British colonial rule after their ‘Great Trek’ between 1835 and the early 1840’s, lived in the north of South Africa in the states Transvaal and Orange Free State. The British were content in the south, centered at Cape Colony. However, after the discovery of gold thousands of British, or Uitlanders (Outlanders), traveled north to the Boer states. The discovery of gold had a great effect on South Africa. It increased British interest in the land, and their pressure to gain control of the lands considerable wealth, resulted in th

Also, the British had hoped to gain a majority of white males in Transvaal so they would be the majority in the proposed representative assembly. But an insufficient number of British immigrants allowed the Het Volk to gain victory in the Transvaal elections of 1907. The British had hoped to have a continuing influence in South Africa with the country being ruled by men of British descent. But the victory of the Het Volk , led by former Boer war generals Louis Botha and Jan Smuts, abolished this idea. “Never since has there been a head of government in South Africa whose first language was English.” This political victory by the Boers lad the foundation for their political control of the country ever since. By this stage, a division between the white workers and the black and colored laborers had been drawn, and the decision of the black vote was granted to the Boers during sessions of the National Convention held between October 1908 and May 1909. The main reason for the Convention was that “political amalgamation would provide a valuable fillip for the South African economy” . So, by the time The Union of South Africa was inaugurated on May 31 1910, a division of power was already prominent. The black and colored workers had less rights and received lower wages, and weren’t given representation in parliament. On the other hand, the whites had political power, economic stability, and social freedom. The emergence of this social structure during this period, continued to be in effect right up until the end of Apartheid in 1990.

In the years following the Peace Treaty, 1902-1910, the British attempted to consolidate the power that they and the Boers had in South Africa. The British disarmed the blacks, with compensation, and British administrators ensured that white landowners regained control of their lands. The British supported these landowners even though they were staunch supporters of the republican movement. Prior to the war the majority of land was owned by the whites and the British were attempting to protect these property rights. In response to the blacks land ownership, who had previously been tenants on the white owned land, laws were passed restricting the number of African families who could