1. Timeline of South Africa

2. Thousands of Years Ago
African people inhabit the southern part of the African Continent.

3. 1652: Dutch Settlers Arrive
The Dutch settled at the Cape of Good Hope and called it the Dutch Cape Colony.
They created this settlement as a refreshment station for ships travelling to Asia.

4. 1652: Dutch Settlers Arrive
The Dutch settled at the Cape of Good Hope and called it the Dutch Cape Colony.
Dutch consider themselves Africans or “Afrikaners.”
Enslaved the Africans.
Many Dutch were farmers, or “Boers.”

5. Vocabulary
Afrikaner: Dutch settlers in South Africa; Dutch word for “Africans.”
Afrikaans: Language of the Afrikaners; South African version of Dutch language.
Boer: Dutch settlers in South Africa; Dutch for “farmers.”

6. 1795: British Take Over
The British Empire was stronger than the Dutch.
The British took Cape Colony because it was a good stopping place on the way to India (Britain’s #1 colony).

7. 1833: British End Slavery
British Parliament was forced to end slavery in all of England’s colonies.
This upset the Boers (Dutch farmers) who relied on slavery to run their farms.

8. : Great Trek
The Boers (Dutch farmers) moved inland to get away from British rule.
Afrikaners clashed with native Africans over land in several wars.

9. : Great Trek
The Boers (Dutch farmers) moved inland to get away from British rule.
The Afrikaners created two “Boer states” called “Orange Free State” and “Transvaal.”

10. 1869: Boers Discover Gold

11. 1870: Boers Discover Diamonds

12. 1870s: British Take Over
After the Boers discover gold & diamonds, the British used force to take over the Boer states.
The British made sure there would always be cheap black laborers to work in the gold and diamond mines.

13. : Boer War
The Boer War was fought between the British & Dutch.
The British wanted to take over the Boer Republics.
The Boers wanted freedom from the British.

14. 1899-1902: Boer War In their attempts to win, the British:
Burned the Boer’s land.
Put Boers in concentration camps.
20,000 Afrikaners died of disease and starvation.14,000 black Africans died alongside their masters
In 1902, the Afrikaners surrendered. At this point, British required all blacks living in the mineral rich areas to move onto reserves.

15. 1910: Britain makes South Africa “independent”
British Parliament makes South Africa a “dominion.”
South Africa becomes self-governing, but remains part of the British Empire.
Afrikaners control the government.
Segregation becomes the law.

16. 1948: Apartheid becomes Law
Afrikaner National Party wins national election.
Won because they promised to separate the races & because non-whites had few voting rights.

17. 1948: Apartheid becomes Law
Races are officially separated in all areas of life.
“Apartheid” means “apartness.”