Unit 2: Further Land Dispossession and Defeat of African Kingdoms

Key Terminology

• Invest: To spend money on something in order to make more money.

• Authorities: Those in charge.

• Recruit: To look for workers to employ.

• Dispossess: To take away the land someone owns or possesses.

British Expansion and the Diamond Trade

• The discovery of diamonds prompted the British to strengthen their position in southern Africa.

• British investors pressured authorities to control diamond-rich areas and regions where labor could be recruited to reduce investment risk.

• Strengthening control required the further dispossession of independent African kingdoms.

Boer Republics and Labor Interests

• Boers sought more land and laborers for their conquered territories in the Boer Republics.

• By the late 1870s, independent kingdoms (Xhosa, Pedi, and Zulu) remained that the Boers were too weak to defeat.

• Boers encouraged British conquest to eliminate independent farming and force Africans into wage labor on white farms or diamond mines.

Timeline of Resistance and Defeat

• Following long wars of resistance, major African kingdoms were defeated:  - Xhosa: 1878  - Pedi: 1879  - Zulu: 1879

Activity 2: Interpret and Recall Information from a Map

• 1. What event in 1867 encouraged the British to become more involved in southern Africa?

• 2. What do you notice about the strength of the Boer republics in the 1860s in Source D?

• 3. Look at Source D.  - a. Which northern African kingdom were the British able to rule over after 1879?  - b. What African territory did the British take over on the eastern frontier of the Cape in 1878?  - c. What African territory did the British take over in northern Natal in 1879?