Abstract

Abstract The paper mainly deals with the large number of slaves from Asia and Africa imported to the Cape of Good Hope during the period 1658 - 1807. Apart from the (in-)human treatment of people from different continents, and the evils of slavery as a system, the new migrants eventually fused with the indigenous Khoikhoi, San and European population to create a new group of people that would eventually become known as the "Cape Coloured" community (In Afrikaans "kleurlinge" or "bruin mense"). At present this group consists of nearly 5 million people; 10% of the total South African population. Recent research on the ethnic origin of the slave population of the Cape Colony in 1834 undertaken by Stellenbosch Museum and the Department of Economics at the University of Stellenbosch, sheds more light on the ethnic origins of the slave community. This contribution is based on the comprehensive lists of slave-ownership for the period 1816-1834 and also the list of names of slaves that appear on the compensation rolls drawn up in December 1834. (From 1834-1838 the former slaves became known as "apprentices"). For the period directly following the emancipation of slaves in 1834, the ex-slaves, Khoikhoi, San and a number of Europeans gradually intermarried to take on a new "coloured" identity. However, old terminology like Khoikhoi (and the pejorative term "Hottentot") often remained in use into the 20th century and featured in government records and correspondence until the 1930s.

Highlights

  • During the period 1658 to 18071 large numbers of people from Asia and Africa arrived at the Cape of Good Hope as slaves

  • Apart from thehuman treatment of people from different continents, and the evils of slavery as a system, the new migrants eventually fused with the indigenous Khoikhoi, San and European population to create a new group of people that would eventually become known as the “Cape Coloured” community (In Afrikaans “kleurlinge” or “bruin mense”)

  • Over time they fused with the indigenous Khoikhoi, San and Europeans to create a new population group known as the “Cape Coloured”2 people, or “People of Colour”

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Summary

Background

During the period 1658 to 18071 large numbers of people from Asia and Africa arrived at the Cape of Good Hope as slaves. Recent research on the ethnic origins of the “unfree” population of the Cape Colony in 1834 (based on more than 30 000 records transcribed from the records kept in the Government Archives in Cape Town and entered into a database by the author) sheds more light on the ethnic composition of the nearly 5 million people who have their ethnic and cultural roots in Africa, Asia and Europe. Insights Anthropol 4(1):268279 from Africa and Asia is reflected in the various religious affiliations of Cape people of colour who represent nearly 10% of the current South African population

The Setting
The Khoikhoi
Counting the Slaves
Origins of Slaves at the Cape of Good Hope
Counting people at the Cape
Whites Free Blacks Khoikhoi Apprentices Slaves
British Colonial Government and Racial Classification
Coloured Viewpoint
Another View from a Young Kapenaar
Coloured to Black to Khoisan to Brown?
Findings
Conclusion
Full Text
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