The Afrikaners Emancipation

Since the Dutch East India Company had never intended the post at the Cape to become a colony, the Company could not keep up with the needs of a growing new nation on African soil. Back in Dutch women already joined their men in protesting against the corrupt rule of governor WA van der Stel. They aired their grievances verbally to "landdros" magistrate J Starrenberg who reported to Van der Stel: AP van Rensburg states dat the patriots drew up documents signed by "eminent citizens of the Cape of Good Hope The signatures of quite a number of women also appear on these documents.

Thus the burghers steadily began turning their backs on the Company, the sea and commerce and by their isolation in the interior began to develop a lifestyle of their own. CW de Kiewiet comments on this isolation and says ". Their tenacity would degenerate into obstinacy, their power of endurance into resistance to innovation, and their self-respect into suspicion of the foreigner and contempt for their inferiors". With the isolation from the motherland as well as the challenges and sense of independence in the frontier areas, the white settlers gradually began losing their ties with the Netherlands and other mother countries.

A sense of independence on the frontier took the burghers in the direction of a new identity although certain basic legacies from Europe lived on. It should be kept in mind, however, that at this stage the burghers did not yet have a nationalist feeling of solidarity among themselves.

This would only come about in the nineteenth century. As the burghers adopted farming with livestock their need for land increased and the borders of the "refreshment post" kept on expanding. The stock farmers soon became trekking farmers who roamed about in a nomadic way with their stock to available pastures.

The border or "frontier" is a most interesting phenomenon in history which reached a particular peak in the colonial expansions of the nineteenth century. Lamar and Thompson writes that the frontier should be regarded "not as a boundary or a line, but as a territory or zone of interaction between two previously distinct societies". Words like "barbarism, savagery, heathenism" are very often used to describe conditions on the frontier and to justify colonial expansion.

The interaction on the frontier during the nineteenth century indicated that one of Lamar and Thomson's "previously distinct societies", namely the Cape trekking farmers, began penetrating the territory of the already settled black communities of South Africa by "opening" the frontier. With reference to this E Cloete writes: Frontiers are said to Open with the arrival of the intruding society.

Like much colonialist rhetoric the connotation of opening can be read analogous with the idea of 'bringing the light of civilization, with freeing an area from 'savagery and 'barbarism The group of trekking farmers on the Eastern frontier of the Cape fits this description by Cloete very well. W Postma follows a distinctly colonial rhetoric when writing about Afrikaner women's part in "opening" the frontier. He narrates that these people took their own ideas on civilisation into the interior with the aim of "taming" the wild open regions by bringing the "light of civilisation" and "opening up South Africa for Christianity and Civilisation".

For generations they were accustomed to very little or virtually no control by government, neither were there institutional factors which could restrict them. It is therefore understandable that any threat to the status quo would elicit great resistance. Both the expansion movement to the Eastern frontier and the isolation of the trekking farmers nurtured a love of freedom and self-determination which would later become one of the most distinct characteristics of the Afrikaner. FA van Jaarsveld writes "from the border pioneer a new kind of colonist emerged In order to show that women exhibited a strong sense of independence we need to look at its manifestations in times when it emerged most noticeably.

Typically this happened when women's "freedom" was jeopardised. During the course of the nineteenth century there were mainly three events which provide sufficient evidence of Afrikaner women's reaction to British domination. During the first, namely the Great Trek there was not as yet any ethnic consciousness among Afrikaners and the "spirit of independence" should be seen in the light of the trekking farmers' status quo on the border. During the second and third event, namely the so-called "wars of independence" there already was something that can be called nationalism or at the very least proto-nationalism.

Women's part in this struggle for independence should be seen in this light, since the women saw their own struggle for independence as the struggle against British rule. Voortrekker women's sense of independence during the Great Trek. In the exposition above frequent reference was made to the trekking farmers. This group of people trekked into the Cape interior, mainly in search of new pastures for their livestock. There also was a second group of emigrants who would leave the Cape Colony, but for political reasons, namely the Voortrekkers who took part in the Great Trek.

The mass-migration of those taking part in the Trek was in resistance against British governance and an expression of their will to determine their own fate. Conditions in the frontier areas compelled the colonists who lived there to take action. There are many reasons for the Great Trek but they can be summarised in the words of Giliomee " The causes of the Great Trek are generally interpreted as a lack of labour as a consequence of the Ordinance and the liberation of slaves; as well as a shortage of land and security; but in particular for women, the equalisation of races was also a cause.

The pioneers' faith was based in Calvinism which taught that if the Christian convictions and customs of a group of people were suppressed, subjects were allowed to throw off the yoke of the government. Women's positions were strengthened by the fact that church membership was restricted to white persons. By about ninety per cent of the huge Stellenbosch congregation were confirmed members of the church. The white community, the slaves and other servants who formed part of the black community, were therefore distinguished from one another by the restriction of church membership.

The result of this was that children born of mixed blood were entered in the slave register and could not lay any claim to the estate of the family. In this way the European woman would strengthen her position in the community. To the Dutch-Afrikaans women religion was therefore one of the main reasons for leaving the Cape Colony. One example of such a woman was Anna Steenkamp, a cousin of Piet Retief.

She saw the equalisation of slaves as conflicting with God's laws and with the natural distinction between race and religion. Maritz says that "race exclusivity, based on Christian convictions, was the motivation behind the desire to move away from the British government and govern themselves". Based on this, it seems reasonable to deduce that that women's motives to move did not stem from a sense of community or a feeling of patriotism and solidarity for an ethnic group.

The reasons for the Great Trek was something that moved the pioneers personally. LM Kruger mentions that before there was a kind of "individualism" or "pre-individualism" among the pioneers. The spirit of independence and feeling for their own among the women who took part in the Great Trek should therefore be seen in light of the already mentioned status quo on the frontier. Nevertheless the women were conscious of the fact "that they were participating in unusual and significant events" 51 , seeing that the reasons for the Trek were not only social and economic, but also political.

This becomes clear from the diary of Anna Steenkamp. About her diary she writes "This writing is made for my family, children and grandchildren who are still living in the interior at the moment, so that they can know why their parents and grandparents left their country. Voortrekker women actively took part in the Great Trek.

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They left the Cape Colony in family units, in other words, the women did not join the men after the trek, but were entirely part of the challenges and hardships accompanying it. This means that they later also felt that they who had shared in the hardships of the Trek could lay a claim to self-governance and independence from a foreign power. During the course of the Great Trek women often contributed to the pursuit of self-governance by serving as great motivation in difficult times.

Shortly after the Voortrekkers' arrival in Natal there was some indecisiveness among the trekkers since Mpanda, half-brother of Dingaan, posed a real threat. Delegorgue, a French traveller and natural scientist writes that if Mpanda took one more step " The husbands do as their wives bid them". Voortrekker women often took an active part in the many battles and skirmishes of the Trek.

Hendrina Joubert wife of Piet Joubert remembers how women chopped off the hands of Zulu impis who tried to untie the wagons. She also remembers that watch was kept at night and that even young girls took turns to stand guard. She describes it as follows: We did not know the word "nervous". Do you know what the women did? They had no use for something like nerves It often happened that the Zulu's came up to the laager without being noticed to try and untie the wagons. Many a woman, I myself as well, kept an eye open if we were not busy casting bullets There stood the men, shooting, there were the girls behind their fathers, loading the rifles, there were the women, casting bullets The "feeling of independence" among Voortrekker women can also be seen as a desire once more to have the peace and quiet of a settled home.

The domestic sphere was the place where Voortrekker women's authority resided. It is interesting that this very opinion was articulated by women later on. Even on the road she made the wagon into a home where her husband could find a place to rest and her children could be taken care of and taught, where God's Word could be opened and read in a devout atmosphere". It is understandable that women's active participation in the Trek made them feel that they had a right to independence from Britain and self-governance. This feeling among women certainly was best expressed in the events surrounding the annexation of the Republic of Natalia and the controversy around Susanna Smit.

The first substantial group of whites who penetrated Natal were the Voortrekkers. By there were approximately Voortrekkers living in the Republic of Natalia, south of the Tugela River. In Britain was on the verge of annexing this territory. Britain's objective, among others, was a strategic one, to prevent other European powers from gaining a foothold on the southern tip of Africa.

A document was presented to the Volksraad House of Representatives setting out the articles of annexation. In Pietermaritzburg members of the Volksraad debated on whether they should accept the annexation, trek away or remain there and resist Britain. The Voortrekkers had limited options.

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While the commissioner was staying in Pietermaritzburg a deputation of Voortrekker women, led by Susanna Smit, wife of the reverend Erasmus Smit, came to see Henry Cloete. Here Susanna Smit very clearly verbalised the Voortrekker women's sense of independence. The most significant evidence of Susanna Smit's public statement can be found in the commissioner's report: The state ofsuspense in which I was kept was agreeably relieved by a formal deputation which I received from the standing committee of the ladies of Pietermaritzburg, headed by Mrs Smit, the wife of a person officiating as missionary.

The spokeswoman commenced by declaring that, in consideration of the battles in which they had been engaged with their husbands, they had obtained a promise that they would be entitled to a voice in all matters concerning the state of this country; that they had claimed this privilege, and although now repelled by the Volksraad, they had been deputed to express their fixed determination never to yield to British authority; that they were fully aware that resistance would be of no avail, but they would walk out by the Drakensberg barefooted, to die in freedom, as death was dearer to them than the loss of liberty.

According to G Preller, who used eye witnesses' recollections when compiling his popular histories of the Great Trek and the South African War, Smit narrated the story of the Voortrekkers' journey into the interior. She spoke about the uncertainty of life on the Eastern border of the Cape Colony, the lack of sympathy the farmers received from the British authorities and the final necessity to move away from the colony.

She further told of the "wild country and its wild inhabitants", the loss of life they suffered at the hands of the Zulu and their eventual victory at Blood River. In this petition they attacked the British government for their intended take-over of the Republic at a time when at last they had peace in the region and the farmers had settled. FL Cachet relates that one of the women in the meeting was so agitated that she wanted to attack the commissioner: He felt that they had far too much to say and regarded it as "a disgrace on their husbands to allow them such a state of freedom".

Although the words of Susanna Smit were used in the service of Afrikaner nationalism in the twentieth century and events revolving around her statement were hugely romanticised, 60 the whole affair says much about women's sense of independence. There are two dimensions to Susanna Smit's public statement to the commissioner. In the first instance there was the distinct wish not to live under British rule. It would leave the feeling that the whole trek, every hardship of which was shared by the women, had been in vain.

The hardships of the Trek without doubt fanned women's sense of independence specifically from Britain since they had moved away from British rule. In the second place there is a deeper dimension indicating that Voortrekker women had a very vigorous sense of independence for women of that era. This was the desire to have a say in matters of the government of the Republic. Not only does the Great Trek give evidence of the Voortrekker women's later Afrikaner women's sense of freedom, but their active participation in the Trek undoubtedly also fostered the feeling of independence among them and, as Susanna Smit's statement clearly shows, made it easier for women to articulate it.

Susanna Smit's descendants' struggle against British domination reached its peak during the nineteenth century in the form of the First "Anglo-Boer War". During the First as well as the Second "wars of independence", or "wars of liberation", Afrikaner women played an essential part.

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The Boer women's sense of independence during the "wars of independence". With the annexation of Transvaal the Voortrekkers' "individualism" changed into a sense ofsolidarity with one another. Before the 's there was a distinct lack of a sense of community, and Giliomee says that "extreme individualism, self-aggrandizement and even anarchy" had a hey-day in the two republics before the late 's. EJP Jorissen confirms this in his "Transvaal memories, " by making the following remarks: The consciousness of a 'fatherland' grew slowly, and unless it fills all heads and hearts, self-interest, or what one takes for it, still rules The Boer lived on his own farm, freefrom contact with government: If his peace was disturbed and he was compelled to meddle in political matters, it was not the interests of the country or of the state but those of his friends, his clique or his church which stirred his heart.

Only after, and definitely as a result of, the annexation did the consciousness of being citizens of a country awake among the Boers. The first British annexation ofTransvaal in initially did not evoke much reaction.

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R Haggard writes that "the majority of the inhabitants, who would neither fight nor pay taxes, sat still and awaited catastrophe, utterly careless of all consequences". However, within the next few years matters quickly changed. There was an extensive rise of a common consciousness which converted into mobilisation strategies against Britain.

These strategies included huge meetings of Transvaal burghers in "national" gatherings, a journey all through South Africa by the leaders of the "Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek" and a media campaign in the paper De Volkstem which had become the mouthpiece of Transvaal's struggle against British annexation. The Boer women were not excluded from this process. Giliomee records that women were at the heart of the Transvaal rising against the British annexation in which led to the victory of the Boers at Majuba and the retreat of the British from the Highveld.

The Transvaal War of was largely a woman's war; it was from the armchair beside the coffee table that the voice went out for conflict and no surrender. Even in the [Cape] Colony at the distance of many hundred miles Boer women urged sons and husbands to go to the aid of their northern kindred, while a martial ardour often far exceeding that of the males seemed to fill them. Schreiner's opinion that the women were sometimes more determined than the men, found concrete expression in the South African War. It is important to keep in mind that in the Boer communities women were often actively involved in public and political matters, although they had no political rights.

SB Spies elaborates on this involvement of women by mentioning "that women ameliorated the harshness of pioneering conditions, played a leading role in educating their children and used their 'womanly power' to support or incite their men during times of political crisis". Olive Schreiner writes on the position of the Boer woman that "[a]s a rule she not only brings to the common household an equal share of material goods, but, and this is infinitely of more importance, she brings to the common life an equal culture.

The fiction of common possession of all material goods It was during the war that women's sense of independence changed into a kind of fanatic republicanism, a nationalism which assumed fidelity to the Boer republics and was recorded by many contemporaries who wrote about the war. On 11 October Boer women took control of the farms when their husbands were called up to the commandos. Together with their children they ensured that the farming was carried on.

Other women again, who did not have sufficient food or clothing or who felt threatened by the indigenous people, moved to the towns. They sent letters and messages of encouragement to the burghers on commando as well as supplies from the farms. The policy used by Roberts, Buller and later Kitchener regarding the women and children is significant for this section of the article.

The way they saw Boer women portrays a notion of these women's sense of independence and the Boer women's reaction to the steps taken by the British throws further light on this. The enormous suffering and hardship that women were prepared to go through left both the Boer men and the British speechless. Women hid in mountains, woods or in the plants on river banks, others walked around in the so-called vrouwen laagers women's laagers to prevent themselves from being caught and sent to the concentration camps.

In the struggle against British imperialism many Boer women even threatened to take up arms if their men were too cowardly. Examples of these are M Kranz who was with the men during the campaign in Natal and H Wagner from Zeerust "who spent five months fighting in the laagers and trenches without her identity being revealed".

There even is evidence that women's sense of independence was stronger than that of the men, as transpires from their conduct towards men who had left the front. After devastating losses in the second phase of the South African War the burghers of Transvaal by June were ready to surrender. Two factors stemmed this: H Bradford refers to GM Theal's comment on Boer women's sense of independence during the war when he says: For independence the Boer women will send husband and son after son to fight to the last".

Men who had left their commandos returned to a home where there was bitter resistance against the fact that they were not on the front. The wives of these men in some cases refused to feed them, threatened to take their places in the commandos and made it clear that they regarded the men as cowards.

I can get another husband but not another Free State". I can always find another husband but not another Transvaal". JH Breytenbach writes that Boer women could reprimand deserters and renegades far more effectively than the Boer generals could. After the British had vanquished the Free State towards the middle of , there already were many hensoppers Boer's who gave up arms who had surrendered.

Boer women's sense of independence emerges forcefully towards those who did not show the same sense. M Marquard tells of one Boer woman's opinion of them: The scorched earth policy of the British as well as the system of concentration camps was part of Britain's military strategy. The support given by the women on the farms, complicated matters for the British. Moreover the resistance of the Boers on commando was fanned by the women. So Britain definitely was also confronted by the Boer women's sense of freedom as becomes evident from Kitchener's words to Roberts: Women's help to the commandos as well as their espionage activities posed a real threat to the British.

It was this threat that formed one of the main reasons for the establishment of the concentration camps. Kitchener expanded the camps not only to settle the burghers who had given themselves up but also the Boer women and children. His reason is clearly set out in a telegram he sent to the Secretary of War in London: The women who had moved to the towns after the outbreak of the war also housed and hid Boer spies there. Although women's suffering in the concentration camps was used to fan nationalist sentiment among the Afrikaners after the war, the statements by women in these camps do give a sense of the significance they attached to liberation from British rule.

E Steenkamp writes about a certain Boer woman, Janse, who on her death bed found consolation in the thought that the war was not in vain: They seek no monuments for this, no honour for themselves. The greatest honour that they can receive is the realisation of the ideal for which they died". So much so that British troops began to feel uncomfortable about the extent of this hatred. Bradford mentions that they remarked "Boer woman - strong, fierce, and uncompromising - is a force to be reckoned with". Giliomee follows the same train of thought as Bradford, pointing out that the Boer surrender to Britain caused the women to cling all the more to their own culture.

In reaction to the scorched earth policy of the British, a Boer woman wondered whether she should allow her children to continue learning English. Another Free State woman reflected on the qualities which distinguished her from the British and her answer was republicanism, history, the language and "hatred of the [British] race". It was in her heart that patriotism flamed into an all-consuming heat. She it is who returns, forgiving nothing and forgetting nothing". Women's republicanism and sense of independence did not wither with Britain's victory over the Boer forces.

The following quotation from a study by Van Heyningen is an excellent example of women's feelings after the war: Still they can never take from us the feeling that we are Republicans and Freestaters, let them call us what they will. We were born and bred here; we have the old traditions, which alone can make a nation; our fathers and brothers have fought for the country, and they and our grandfathers have helped to build up a dynasty which has been the freest in the world; and what is more the enemy have not and can never have "the taal", as we know it - the taal which will not die out for 50 generations of Englishmen and more.

They are strangers in a strange land, and will remain so -for this war has taught us what we are - has brought out the Africanderism which hitherto has lain dormant in us. Even today, the entrance of the enemy here has caused hundreds of irresolute men and women to feel what they are losing, and [therefore] to side entirely with us. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article's lead section does not adequately summarize key points of its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. Please discuss this issue on the article's talk page.

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