South African History: Build-up to the South African War and the Union of South Africa

Vocabulary flashcards covering the build-up to the South African War, British interests and mineral discoveries, the Jameson Raid, post-war British administration, and the Union of South Africa.

Uitlanders

Foreigners; the people from Britain who came to work on the mines.

Alliance

An agreement between countries to work or fight together.

Uprising

A movement to overthrow a government.

Dominate

Be in a position of control.

Customs duties

Taxes paid to the government when goods are brought into a country.

Monopoly

The right to be the only person or company selling a product.

Dynamite

A substance used to cause explosions to break up rock.

Paul Kruger

The President who led the government of the South African Republic (or Transvaal).

Cecil Rhodes

The Randlord and prime minister of the Cape who led the 1896 plan to smuggle arms to uitlanders to overthrow Kruger's government.

Jameson Raid

The failed 1896 invasion of the Transvaal by troops led by Jameson to support an uitlander uprising, which resulted in the arrest of the troops and the resignation of Cecil Rhodes.

Delagoa Bay railway line

A proposed railway line linking Delagoa Bay to the Rand that the British feared would allow trade to bypass the British colonies of Natal and the Cape.

Franchise

The right to vote.

Government

The people who govern or rule the country (they make and administer the laws).

Racism

Negative feelings and actions towards people of other races.

Discrimination

To treat people differently (in this case because of their race).

Union of South Africa (1910)

The political union of the four separate British colonies based on white political control at the expense of black South Africans, particularly regarding the franchise and the ownership of land.

South African Native Affairs Commission

A commission appointed in 1903 that produced a report in 1905 recommending that the Cape voting system not be allowed in other colonies and that there be separate land-owning areas for blacks and whites.

Lord Milner

The British official appointed to implement British policies after the war, whose goals included reviving the mines, introducing indentured Chinese labourers, and increasing African taxes.

Bambatha rebellion

An armed resistance in Zululand in 1906, sparked when taxes were raised on Africans to force them to return to work on the mines.