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In March 1846, on the Cape Colony's eastern frontier, during a daring rescue of a Xhosa prisoner, the Khoikhoi man shackled to him was killed when the prisoner's rescuers hacked off his hand. On the Xhosa chiefs’ refusal to surrender the ‘murderers’, war was declared. This article examines the etiology of the incident and the ensuing war, taking into account the frontier's micropolitics, with its web of relations between Xhosa chiefs, diplomatic agents, governors and the military, suggesting that, inter alia, dispossession and the fear of genocide drove the incident and the war. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Samuel Daniell's African Scenery and Animals of 1804-5 is justly celebrated in the literature of art history as one of the most beautiful accounts of African life of any time, but has been rather neglected by other historians. This paper considers how this major project is likely to have taken shape, situating it in the context of the first British occupation of the Cape in order to reveal the ideological dimensions of his representation of African peoples. The paper argues that Daniell's visit to the Cape from 1799 to 1803 is likely to have been inspired by his relatives', William and Thomas Daniell's work in India, notably their Oriental Scenery of 1795-8, and that his view of Southern Africa developed as he travelled through the sub-continent in the company of British officials. At a time before Britain had any formal colonial ambitions at the Cape, its officials developed distinct images of the three main population groups occupying the territory -- the Dutch colonists (the 'Boors'), the Xhosa (so-called 'Kaffers') beyond the borders, and the Khoisan (so-called 'Hottentots' and 'Bushmen') whose fortunes contrasted strongly whether they lived inside the colony, in conditions of slavery on Boer farms, or outside the colony in a state of freedom. Daniell gave visual form to these images, notably through the classical language of art, and so expressed the turmoil on the frontier as a contest between the Enlightenment terms of liberty and oppression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows how law enables right-based versions of the sovereign to take root by studying how British sovereignty was fashioned over the Cape of Good Hope since its occupation in 1795. Challenging notions that sovereignty is predicated on an ability to except itself from law, the analysis shows how the emerging Cape sovereign was authored into being through its active insertion into crime-focused legal practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the first three decades of the British occupation of the Cape the government was committed to stopping the massacre of the San (the hunter–gatherer inhabitants of southern Africa). Under the rule of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) commandos had waged a genocidal war against the San on the colony's frontier. British policy, in contrast, was to protect and ‘civilize’ the San. By 1828, however, the Cape San were in a worse situation than they had ever been in. The superintendent of the London Missionary Society, Dr Philip, claimed this was because the British authorities at the Cape had presided over and permitted one of the bloodiest episodes in British history, the destruction of the San. This article seeks to evaluate Philip's accusations and to ascertain whether massacre was indeed prevalent in the British colony of the Cape of Good Hope. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article examines the experience of children of "free" emigrants from Great Britain to the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, from 1819-1820. Topics include child emigrants with families versus those without, parents' consideration of childrens' livelihoods during and after emigration, and the relative freedom of the journey for children before discipline and work in the colony.

This special issue of the South African Historical Journal reflects on the state of the field of pre-industrial history at the Cape of Good Hope. It is an opportunity to look back on the previous decade of research, identify accomplishments, and chart future directions. We note a significant historiographical shift from research that focused broadly on colonised peoples, particularly slaves and Khoesan, to emerging literatures that give equally careful attention to colonisers. This shift moves the field toward a more complete picture of colonial society; it accompanies a present period of political uncertainty. The growing body of scholarship on early colonial history is drawing more practitioners. The resulting exploration of new topics and the revision of existing interpretations are producing robust, methodologically diverse work, especially noteworthy for its interdisciplinarity. While this work increasingly situates the Cape in broader regional and global histories, even more intentional efforts are required in order to avoid parochialism. The transition from Dutch to British rule at the Cape also requires further scrutiny. These efforts have the ability to challenge existing periodisations and lead to a re-examination of the continuities before and after the mineral revolutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article introduces the Journal of Harriett Low, a substantial section of which was written in the Cape from 12 January 1834 to 4 May 1834. A brief summary of the Journal's main preoccupations is given, and then Low's presentation of Cape fauna and flora and landscape, the Cape Dutch, and slavery, is considered in greater detail. Low's identity as a young American woman who had spent several years in Macao (China) offers a fresh perspective on the Cape in 1834. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the inconsistent development of British colonial state's segregationist strategies on the eastern Cape frontier during the 19th century. Reasons for the shifting of the primary thrust of official segregationist strategy; Attempt for the total economic and cultural exclusion of Xhosas; Spatial separation between colonists and Xhosa; Efforts to modify Xhosa culture.