Artisan conflicts in a colonial context: the cape town blacksmith strike of 1752

Abstract

This article is a microanalysis of a labour dispute that took place in the blacksmith forge of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) settlement in Cape Town in 1752. The episode reveals much about the nature of artisan identity and, in particular, concepts of status and honour in an eighteenth-century colonial context. Many of the workmen involved were of German origin, and their experience and perceptions of their rights in early modern Northern Europe were transferred to the very different circumstances of the Dutch Cape Colony. However, their marginal social status and the concern of the Company to assert its authority meant that they encountered only limited success in achieving their goals.