History of South Africa (147)

World War I Economy

Brought great boons to manufacturing. Caused problems in mining sector because England made them sell gold only to England at a price fixed by them. Bigtime inflation > worsening conditions on the reserves > higher demand on workers to bring home money.

Bantu Homeland Citizenship Act (1970)

Changed status of Bantustan inhabitants so that they were no longer citizens of South Africa.

Sharpeville Massacre (1960)

PAC planned an anti-pass protest. They handed out pamphlets and tried to get supporters to voluntarily leave passes at home and offer themselves up for arrest. Non-violent but police opened fire on a crowd of protestors, killing 69 and injuring 180.

Big Hole

The result of the diamond rush that ensued. Just a huge hole in Kimberly.

ANC Youth League

1944. A sign of African political revival; marked rise of a new generation of black leadership. Eventually gained control of ANC, called for civil disobedience and strikes protesting apartheid.

Rivonia Trial (1963-4)

10 leaders of ANC including Mandela were tried for acts of sabotage designed to overthrow apartheid system. This is where Mandela gave his detailed speech of the ANC's key political positions. Thanks to worldwide protests and a skillful litigation team none received the death penalty; a couple were acquitted but most sentenced to imprisonment on Robben Island.

Scorched Earth for Africans

100,000 Africans were also put in "refugee camps" where the mortality rate was much higher than 25%. Conditions were much worse than in Afrikaner camps. We will never know how many died because no one bothered to count.

1956 Treason Trial

156 people, including Nelson Mandela, were arrested in a raid and accused of treason against SA. Deliberately designed to strike terror and show the government's power.

Hertzog Bills

1926-36. Further reduced black rights. Kept blacks from voting or running for office. Now the gov was officially all white.

Dueling Commissions

A big question during WWII was that of labor. Being in a war caused increase in the need for labor so the gov wanted to know how they could get more, sent committees to investigate. Sauer commission favored stricter segregation laws; they thought too much African influx into urban areas would threaten white jobs b/c blacks would work for lower wages. Fagan Commission thought influx control of blacks to urban areas should be loosened because it would increase labor and also create a reliable consumer base. Sauer version won, was boiled down from 'total apartheid' to 'practical apartheid'

"School People"

A new African elite, seen as having betrayed natives.

Afrikaner Rebellion (1914)

AKA Maritz Rebellion. At beginning of WWI, men who wanted a Boer South African Republic rose up because they refused to fight for Britain (still mad about South African War). Rebellion failed; Botha and Smuts put it down.

ANC 1949 Programme of Action

ANC calls for mass action of civil disobedience, strikes, boycotts and other forms of nonviolent resistance. This is when the ANC became militant (although still nonviolent).

Defiance Campaign (1952)

ANC campaign based on non-cooperation with certain laws considered unjust or discriminatory.

The African American Connection (religion)

Africans denied educations in their own country would sometimes go to HBCUs. White people worried that this contact was "poisoning the minds" of the natives with ideas of rebellion and discontent.

Voortrekkers

Afrikaners who left the Cape Colony on the Great Trek.

Rand Revolt (1922)

After WWI, mine owners sought to reduce costs by recruiting cheaper black laborers. White mine-workers saw this as a threat so they rebelled. "Workers of the world unite for a white south Africa" was their slogan. Smuts suppressed it violently.

Frontier Wars (1780-1850)

Also known as Xhosa wars. A series of several wars between the Xhosa and European settlers in what is now the Eastern Cape. The Xhosa lost most of their land and were mostly incorporated into the British Empire. These confrontations occurred as white settlers arrived and migrated, increasing pressures and competition for cattle and good grazing land.

Group Areas Act (1950)

Apartheid policy that assigned racial groups to different sections in urban areas. Aim was to remove non-whites from living in most developed areas. Had to have a pass to enter white areas.

South African Native Affairs Commission (SANAC)

Appointed in 1903 to conduct interviews to determine which policies to make for the union as a whole. They mainly interviewed English-speaking whites. They wanted cheap black labor. Its report proposed territorial separation of black and white landownership, systematic urban segregation by the creation of black "locations," the removal of black "squatters" from white farms and their replacement by wage laborers, political segregation of blacks from whites. These provide basis for laws passed 1910-1936.

Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation)

Armed wing of ANC. Guerrilla attacks against government in 1961, resulting in its classification as a terrorist organization and banning. This marks the commencement of the armed struggle. Mandela was arrested in 1962, and in 1963, their HQ in Rivonia were raided and many ANC/Umkhonto leaders were arrested as well. They were realllll violent.

Psalms 68

Basis for Ethiopian movement. "Ethiopia shall soon stretch forth its hands unto God"

Influence of Marcus Garvey

Believe in the expulsion of whites from Africa and black autonomy. "Ama Melika ayeza": The Americans are coming. MG's Universal Negro Improvement Association helped people immigrate to Africa but also to create industrial and educational opportunities in other places. Main message to SA was that Africa is for black people.

Burghers and Uitlanders

Boers and foreigners. In Johannesburg, Uitlanders came to double Burghers. Uitlanders were almost exclusively British, and ZAR worried this means power of Transvaal would pass to British hands, so in 1890 gov passed legislation refusing voting rights or citizenship to virtually all uitlanders. This plus high taxation gave rise to discontent from British > Jameson Raid.

Guerilla Warfare in Anglo-Boer War

Boers formed small guerilla bands and sporadically blew up stuff like rail lines.

Second Boer War (South African War) 1899

Boers resented the large number of foreigners who had come to the Witwatersrand for gold because they had led to steep taes and denial of voting rights to the gold miners.

Jameson Raid (1895)

Botched raid on Kruger's Transvaal Republic by a British statesman and policemen. It was intended to trigger an uprising by British workers but failed. Inciting factor in Second Boer War.

South African Party (1910)

Botha was Prime Minister, Smuts was his deputy. Made up of 3 Afrikaner parties. Pro-British, white unity.

Cecil Rhodes

Consolidated almost all individual claims for diamonds into De Beers Consolidated Mines. Got a contract to pump water out of the mines, which was a big advantage over independent owners.

Boer Commando System

Each commando was assigned a town to enforce law, collect taxes, issue firearms during war, etc. Very unorganized and informal; volunteer-based. Would basically ride in on horses and raid towns. Notoriously undisciplined and unresponsive to command. Would often just leave if they disagreed with something.

Bantu Education Act (1953) & Extension of Universities Act (1959)

Enforced racially separated educational facilities. Aim was to direct non-white youth to the unskilled labor market. "What use is there teaching them math if they'll never use it on the job?" EOUA made it a criminal offense for nonwhite student to register at a formerly open university.

Opening of the Kimberley diamond fields

Enormous diamonds (Eureka stone, Star of Africa) discovered in Boer territory starting 1866. Kicked off the most drastic industrial revolution in world history.

Black Agitation during WWI

Failed strikes like railway workers' strike in 1918 where gov refused to concede and instead just sentenced them to more work. Similar to 'bucket boys'; strikes during this period just ended in arrest. Women created Bantu Women's League in 1918 to protest women needing to carry passes. SANNC's first attempt at non-violent resistance occurred during this period in another protest of pass-carrying laws. SANNC also supported militant mineworkers strike in 1920

Tiyo Soga

First black South African to be ordained under the premise that all people are created equal in God's eyes/no reason Africans shouldn't spread the word too.

SA Natives Land Act (1913)

First major piece of segregation legislation. Decreed that only certain areas of the country could be owned by natives. Defines "native" in a very arbitrary way. Also includes anti-squatting provions described in Plaatje's Native Life. Was passed to alleviate problems of poor white farmers competing with black farmers for employment. 7% of land.

London Missionary Society

First missionaries in SA. They didn't attempt to convert Africans; would establish relationships with the chiefs and open missions.

The Great Trek (1838)

Motivated by discontent with British rule because of restrictive laws on slavery and perceived indifference to border conflicts. Killed lots and lots of Africans and at the end established a permanent presence in the Transvaal and Orange Free State.

Fellowship of True Afrikaners (1875)

Formed when it was observed that most Africans from Dutch descent couldn't speak Dutch anymore. First language movement.

Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union

Founded by Clements Kadalie; the first black worker's union in SA.

Immorality Act (1950)

Furthered mixed marriages act by prohibiting sexual relations between white people and any other races. Regulating race.

Early gold discoveries

Gold rush starting in 1886, led to creation of Johannesburg. Johannesburg quickly grew to become the largest city in South Africa, surpassing Cape Town.

Petty vs. Grand

Grand apartheid established separate homelands and arease. Petty apartheid segregated everyday places

Fusion/Creation of the United Party (1933)

Hertzog + Smuts. Hertzog led the party until WWII, when he refused to ally w/Britain. The majority of the party did want to help Britain so Hertzog resigned and Smuts took over until some years after the war. Smuts viewed Africans as immature human beings that needed white guidance; patronizing. Smuts believed that segregation was the only solution.

Ex Parte Tsewu (1905)

Huge African political victory during reconstruction period. Determined that blacks actually were legally allowed to own land. Sparked excitement for Africans but panic for officials: this is when they devised the system of holding land "in trust" for Africans. This allows government to take the land away if they deem the landholder "irresponsible".

National Identity

In general, they are invented. They are often unified by language, so when there were 11 languages in SA it was difficult. But Afrikaner nationalism used Afrikaans to create a national identity.

Scorched Earth

In response to Boer guerillas, British enacted a policy to burn all houses and farms in the vicinity of Boer attacks, to confiscate all property and imprison anyone in the vicinity. They also created Afrikaner concentration camps where ultimately 100,000 people would be gathered. Over ¼ of them died. Horrible conditions. Lord Kitchener (Lord Robert's successor) enacted these policies.

National Party (1924)

In the election of 1924, Afrikaner nationalists gained a greater hold as Hertzog's government came together with Labour Party. Civilized Labour Policy: economic and industrial legislation improving conditions for white workers, also helping alleviate white unemployment. Did nothing for blacks.

Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR)

Independent, Boer-ruled country in late 1800s. What today is the Transvaal.

Volkskapitalisme

Introduced by Broederbond members. Tried to introduce Christian nationalistic identity. People's Capitalism; to improve the economic conditions of Afrikaners who were worse off at the time than English-speaking whites.

Political ferment after South African War

It became very common to form organizations protesting British rule, especially through written petitions. The Transvaal Native Congress (TNC) sent a petition to Chamberlain in 1903. Petition was written very slyly. Won some small victories—increase in education funding from gov, black missions won the right to get funding like white ones did.

Corruption of Kruger Government/Concession Policy

Kruger introduced a policy where only one private individual or company had the right to supply certain goods or services. The most important concessions were alcohol, dynamite, and railways. Kruger gave away the concessions for money. This had some bad effects: for example, one company got the dynamite monopoly but produced dynamite of very poor quality, resulting in mining accidents, to which the gov did not react. These monopolies also allowed them to overcharge. Gov was reluctant to get rid of the policy because it was so profitable to them. A big reason British administration put on war against the ZAR in 1899. POLITICAL ECONOMY.

Glen Gray Act (1894)

Labor tax that would force men into employment. Creates a landless class who is subsequently forced to take up work elsewhere in order to survive.

Second Language Movement

Larger effort to promote Afrikaans, to erase the gulf between written and spoken Afrikaans, to reduce its association with colored-ness and poverty. Met with resistance because British wanted to Anglicize everything.

Acquiring cheap labor

Most Africans had no interest in leaving their farms to go work underground so the gov had to figure out how to incentivize them. Pastoralist lifestyle > most of their wealth was in cattle, so Boer and British govs started to impose taxes and said they had to be paid in cash and not livestock. Lots of new and high taxes forced thousands to become migrant workers because they could earn more cash in the mines than doing farm labor. POLITICAL ECONOMY.

Bantu Authorities Act (1951)

Legal basis for deportation of blacks into 'homelands.' Later became 'Bantustans'

Separate Amenities Act (1953)

Legalized segregation of public premises and vehicles.

Early Christian Missions

London Missionary Society sent large numbers of missionaries in 1799, shortly followed by others. Most missions placed a high priority on literacy and Biblical instruction, but shortly thereafter began to emphasize the spiritual benefits of productive labor. Promoted European values as well as the possession of European-made material goods.

Exigencies of deep level mining

Low-grade ore and depth of deposits, need for ventilation, water pumps

Abolition of Passes and Consolidation of Documents Act (1952)

Made it compulsory to carry passbook at all times within white areas. Contained fingerprints, photograph, name of employer and related info. Employers could only be a white person. Passes were one of the most despised symbols of apartheid.

1923 Natives Urban Areas Act

Made it really restrictive which black people could live in urban areas—virtually none. Black men were required to carry passes with them in cities at all times.

Purified National Party (1934)

Malan led a radical breakaway movement in the creation of this party. This was only for the really hardcore Afrikaner Nationalists.

Hendrik Verwoerd

Malan's successor. Man behind the conception and implementation of apartheid. Responsible for allocation of black SAns to 'homelands' as well as regulations on education.

Herenigde (Reunited) National Party (1942)

Malan, Hertzog governments united. THESE ARE THE GUYS WHO IMPLEMENTED APARTHEID. They won the election in 1948.

Pan African Congress (1959)

Many ANC members had become impatient with inability of peaceful protest to achieve results. They decided to break away and formed PAC. Robert Sobukwe was their first president. Decided to follow Defiance Campaign.

National Party (1914)

More radical Boers like Hertzog and Malan thought South African Party was too Anglophilic so they split off into National Party. Championed Afrikaner interests, advocating separate development for the two white groups and independence from Britain.

British Reconstruction after South African War

New taxes, pass laws, education policies, land tenure laws (made it impossible for Africans to hold land). Prevented black economic mobility and progress

Land Holding right before the Land Act

Once British left, Boer gov unintentionally got rid of laws prohibiting Africans from owning land. Nonetheless it was still frowned upon. People either held land freely (few), had tribal tenure, or squatted.

Winds of Change speech

One of the factors that created a greater unity among white SAns, ultimately leading to the withdrawal from British Commonwealth and formation of Republic of South Africa (1961).

Solomon Plaatje

One of the founders of SANNC. Traveled to England to protest Natives Land Act, and later to America where he met Marcus Garvey and WEB Du Bois. Wrote Native Life in South Africa. He wrote it to convey the massive in justice that was being committed by the Land Act to an international audience.

Small claims era

People got small claims of land to get rich but since precious minerals go very deep this destroyed the road infrastructure. High mortality rate because walls would collapse, problems with the water table/flooding once you got deep enough.

Mfecane (early/mid 1800s)

Period of widespread warfare among native groups. Shaka created the militaristic Zulu kingdom. Means crushing or scattering. Portuguese introduction of maize allowed for agricultural surplus, which in turn allowed Shaka to raise a standing army of Zulus. The conflict was over land and water competition. Zulu adopted new, deadlier tactics and weapons. Death toll between 1-2 million.

South African Native National Congress (SANNC)

Precursor to the ANC. Created to challenge the white government. Was elitist, not a mass movement—people in it were educated or important in the community.

Creolization

Process by which a new culture emerges as a result of colonization and mixing with native people. From Dutch to Afrikaner.

Native Labour Act (1953)

Prohibited Africans from striking under any circumstances.

Mixed Marriages Act (1949)

Prohibited marriage between people of different races. Regulating race.

Population Registration Act (1950)

Regulating race. Required that everyone in SA must be classified and registered by race. Social, political and educational rights depended on race.

Ethiopianism

Religious movement in South Africa; 2 groups broke away from the Anglican and Methodist churches. Parent denominations were too much under white control, with not enough allowance for African leadership. Ethiopian Church was formed in 1892. "Africa for the Africans" a big theme.

Aftermath of Sharpeville Massacre

Resulted in international criticism of National Party. Negative: many PAC leaders were arrested. State of Emergency was declared and the ANC and PAC were both banned.

Jan van Riebeeck

Sailed 3 ships to Cape Town in 1652 to establish the victualing station. Planted and cultivated livestock from the Khoikhoi. Many Afrikaners view him today as the founding father of the nation.

"Hottentot Venus"

Sarah Baartman, a SA woman sold into slavery in Britain. Objectified for physical characteristics, particularly her larger curves. Worked as a dancer slave her entire life, and was at one point sold to an animal trainer.

Creation of the Broederbond (1918)

Secret male Afrikaner organization dedicated to the advancement of Afrikaner interests.

Lord Milner

Set out to engineer a new South African state. Put in place census, taxes, pass laws, and registry for births, deaths, and marriages. The point of this was to make tax collection more consistent > make people more dependent on wages > produce labor. It didn't work right away so the British brought 50,000 Chinese indentured workers to mine for gold. Bad conditions for them. In 1908 this government left, deciding the local government could just do its thing. Ultimately their pass/registration system did yield the cheap labor they wanted, but not before they gave up.

Squatting

Sharecropping. Officials didn't like it, claims of "black idleness." The real problem was that black people could work the land themselves and make enough money to break away from white control a little bit.

Gold Standard

Since the price of gold was internationally controlled, mines were incentivized to lower wages ; they couldn't up the price of gold to make the lives of their workers nicer.

Slagtersnek Rebellion (1815)

Small Boer uprising over petty disputes on eastern border. Handled so badly (5 were hung) that this rebellion became a symbol of Boer struggle against British domination.

Freedom Charter

Statement of core principles of ANC and allies - "The People Shall Govern!" ANC sent out 50,000 volunteers into townships/countryside to collect 'freedom demands' from South Africans. They took demands like guarantee to land, higher wages, shorter hours, free and compulsory education for all races. At Congress of the People 1955 Kliptown the charter was officially adopted.

Sophiatown

Street life, illicit shebeens, violence, jazz. DRUM magazine: first black lifestyle magazine in Africa. Its 'heyday' was in the 1950s. Describes the world of the urban black. Drum Boys: Themba, Modisane, Nxumalo, Nkosi. "Live fast, die young, have a good looking corpse." The perception arose that Sophiatown was too close to white suburbia, so Joburg city council forcibly removed families to Soweto. By 1963 Sophiatown had been removed from maps of Joburg. Area was rezoned for whites and renamed 'Triomf".

The Compound System

System instituted in DeBeers diamond fields where African laborers would live in a dormitory for the duration of their contract. By limiting worker mobility back and forth from home to work, reduces the cost of labor.

Origins of Slavery

The first slaves came from the East Indies and India.

Mining

There was a white working class and a black working class; black working class was discriminated against by a series of laws, taxes, restrictions, and arbitrary arrests all designed to ensure that Africans delivered extremely cheap labor.

British Annexation (1795)

They ceded the Cape back to the Dutch briefly but in 1803 retook control. Starts off the tradition of British vs. Boers where British are urban and Boers are more farm.

African attitude on South African War

They knew it was preferable to live under British rule > Boer rule. Pass laws after the war were very strict; made Africans vulnerable to white employers. They left in place land laws making it impossible for Africans to own land under their own names and eventually made them much stricter, kicking off squatters.

Blood River (1838)

Voortrekkers were vastly outnumbered and killed all their Zulu opponents at this site. Massively bloody. Probably because they had guns and the Zulu didn't.

European Settlement

Was first touched by Europeans in late 1400s when Portuguese set to sailing the world. Became a victualing station for the Dutch East India Company and slowly began to grow as the company did as well.

Ordinance 50 (1828)

Was primarily the work of missionary and humanitarian John Philip. British government granted Khoi people equality with whites! They hoped to encourage a free labor market. Boers were strongly opposed to this; believed it would lead to higher labor cost. Next to nothing was done to help remove Africans from preexisting servant relationships with whites so didn't do much.

South African War (Anglo-Boer War) 1899-1902

Was supposedly a strike against the cruel oppression of the Boers for equal rights but was mostly just an imperial land-grab to seize the gold fields for England. British won under the command of Lord Roberts. Boers fought thru commando system.

Voortrekker Monument

Was unveiled during Centenary Great Trek 1938, which was a reenactment of the original Trek to symbolize Afrikaner nationalism.

Kimberlite

What they found beneath the diamond in many areas. A blue stone packed with diamonds.

1914 Afrikaner Rebellion

When Britain declared war on Germany, its dominions (including SA) were automatically brought into the conflict. Boers basically still hated British so when they were called to invade German-controlled areas of Africa they rebelled. Rebellion grew and became disorganized, looting. Botha put an end to it.

Nongqawuse (1856-7) Xhosa Cattle Killing

Xhosa prophetess. She claimed to have had a vision where ancestors told her that Xhosa people should destroy crops and kill cattle, their source of wealth and food; in return the spirits would sweep the British settlers into the sea. Between 300 and 400,000 cattle were killed. Obviously the prophecy was never realized, and resulted in massive famine, ultimately speeding African dependence on white wages.