History Grade 10 - Topic 2 Essay Questions

Impact of Slave Trade and Colonisation on Indigenous Societies at the Cape

Author Unknown, “History of slavery and early colonisation in South Africa”, SA History Online, (Uploaded: 2 December 2019), (Accessed: 30 July 2020), Available at: Image Source

"The slave trade had a huge impact on the indigenous people living in the Cape in the 18th Century." Do you agree with this statement? Substantiate your answer by using relevant examples. 

In 1602 The Dutch East India Company (VOC) was established to trade spices, silks and calico with the East Indies.[1] These voyages took months and as a result the Dutch established a refreshment post at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652. Initially, the Dutch did not plan to colonize the Cape, but rather wanted to trade goods, such as alcohol and tabacco with the Khoikhoi for sheep and cattle.[2] However, after the refreshment post was established employees of the company became settlers who farmed with vegetables and bought livestock from the Khoikhoi, which they would trade to passing ships. By the start of the eighteenth century the expanding settlers experienced a shortage in labour and by 1717 slave labour, which was already prevalent in the Cape, was declared as the main form of labour.[3] Therefore, one could argue that colonisation process and the slave trade had a major impact on the indigenous societies at the Cape as they fought for freedom, land and their lives.

Firstly, the growing Dutch settlement and the increasing need for agricultural labourers resulted in the use of slave labour as the main form of labour at the Cape. Wine and wheat farmers started to buy imported slaves from Madagascar, Mozambique and Indonesia from the VOC.[4] The slave trade and colonization of the Cape created a racial hierarchy where Europeans viewed themselves as superior to the Khoikhoi, San, imported slaves and Africans.[5] Black people were viewed as suitable slaves and these ideas remained prevalent in South Africa after the colonization process had ended and the slave trade was abolished. These slaves were subjected to Dutch laws, customs and were exposed to racist ideologies where they were treated as inferior to Europeans based on their skin colour and slave status.[6] These racist ideologies, which justified slavery, enabled Europeans to abuse their slaves. Slaves were exposed to sexual and physical abuse, forced to live in unsanitary and overcrowded conditions while working for long hours. Slaves were also regarded as possessions, who had no rights to marry and whose children were also born as possessions of the slave owners.[7] The slaves also became assimilated into Western societies and became culturally disintegrated as their African identity and traditions were torn away. The Cape became characterized by the Dutch culture which was enforced upon the slaves. Slaves, however, were not often baptized as the Dutch believed that a fellow Christian could not be enslaved. Slaves and Khoikhoi were not encouraged to become Christians as the Dutch wanted to enforce inequality amongst them with the indigenous societies and their slaves.[8] The Khoikhoi were also treated unequal to a Dutch settler in the court of law based on a racial hierarchy which promoted the white man as superior due to his race.[9]

Secondly, the establishment of a refreshment post resulted in more Europeans becoming settlers at the Cape who expanded agricultural production and obtained livestock for herding. This led to indigenous societies, such as the Khoikhoi losing their land and cattle as the European settlements grew.[10] This loss of land and cattle led to conflict between the indigenous societies and the Dutch settlers. Chief Gonnema of the Cochoqua refused to trade with the Dutch. This resulted in the Dutch using rival Khoikhoi clans to raid the Cochoqua herds between 1673 and 1677. This was the second Khoi-Khoi Dutch War which sprout out of the colonisation process at the Cape.[11] The nomadic Khoikhoi, who moved around the Cape according to the different seasons and in search of good grazing ground, often came into conflict with settlers the more they moved inland. Settlers would take the Khoikhoi’s livestock by force or if they did trade with the Khoikhoi they would pay far less than what the items were valued.[12] The Khoikhoi retaliated by poising the water holes of the Dutch and entered two wars with the Dutch settlers. By the eighteenth century the Khoikhoi living within the borders of the Cape Colony were forced to become servants of the Dutch settlers.[13]

Thirdly, the colonisation process at the Cape exposed indigenous societies to European diseases, which they were not accustomed to. In 1713 the Khoikhoi and San were exposed to the smallpox after a Dutch ship infected with the disease landed at the Cape.[14] This wiped out nearly 90% of the indigenous populations as they had not yet encountered this disease.[15]

In conclusion, the colonization process and slave trade at the Cape had a vast impact on the indigenous societies. Colonization led to the loss of land and livestock of indigenous societies, while exposure to diseases cost the lives of 90% of the indigenous population. Colonization and the use of slave labour also reinforced the idea of a racial hierarchy at the Cape Colony, which resulted in the unequal treatment amongst different races. Slaves were also exposed to abuse as they were viewed as inferior to Dutch settlers. Finally, colonization also entailed the loss of the indigenous societies and slaves’ cultural identity as they became assimilated into a Western culture.

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