What were the reasons for the Great Trek?

Great Trek (1835–40) Migration of c. 12,000 Boers from Cape Colony into the South African interior. Their motives were to escape British control and to acquire cheap land.

What did the Voortrekkers do?

The Voortrekkers traditionally have been depicted by English historians as economically backward people who left the Cape Colony as a protest against aspects of British rule, especially the ban on holding slaves (implemented after 1834) and British reluctance to take further land from the Xhosa for white settlement.

Why are the Voortrekkers important for Afrikaner nationalism?

Afrikaner nationalists claim that the Battle of Blood River saved the Great Trek; that it represented the birth of the Afrikaner nation; that the Voortrekkers’ victory symbolized the triumph of Christianity over heathens; that all Afrikaners were irrevocably bound by the vow for all time; and that the battle itself …

What were the causes of the Great Trek in South Africa?

– The long term hatred between the British and the Boers and this hatred could not be contained by the Boers any more thus led to the Great trek. – The spirit of adventure among the Boers who wanted discovers new areas into the interior of South Africa led to the massive migration by the Boers.

Why did the Boers move north in the Great Trek?

Why did thousands of Boers move North in the Great Trek? To escape the British. What was the main reason for the Crimean War? Russia wanted land on the Black sea to get to the Mediterranean.

Why the Great Trek assumed pride and place in Afrikaner history?

Among the reasons for the trek was the general dissatisfaction with British colonial rule in the Cape Colony. The language (Afrikaans), religion and struggles faced by the Voortrekkers created a common identity. These centenary celebrations culminated in a symbolic trek from Cape Town to Pretoria.

What was the movement of the Voortrekkers north called?

The Great Trek (Afrikaans: Die Groot Trek; Dutch: De Grote Trek) was an eastward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyond the Cape’s British colonial administration.

Why did the Trekboers move around?

The Trekboers were used to moving around in search of land for grazing. They packed their belongings into ox wagons, gathered their servants and slaves, and headed north in search of new homes. These journeys became known as the Great Trek.

What were the reasons for the rise of Afrikaner nationalism?

The South African opposition during World War II to the country’s involvement in the war against Nazi Germany led to the National Party’s rise to power in the 1948 elections and the implementation of apartheid politics in the country culminating finally in Afrikaner nationalistic mobilisation in 1961 when the country …

What is Mfecane and its causes?

The series of wars that came to be known as the Mfecane happened between the 1820s and 1830s along the coast and in valleys of Southern Africa especially the Pongola River valley. Among the causes of the Mfecane include overpopulation, refugee problems and drought and famine.

What were the effects of the Great Trek in South Africa?

As a result of the Trek, the Afrikaners remained politically divided for many years. Furthermore, the Trek resulted in the cultural and economic isolation of the Boers. The Great Trek increased the conflicts between the Boers and indigenous tribes, but, on the other hand stimulated trade between black and white groups.

Why did the Voortrekkers move?

The Voortrekkers Taking the form of a mass migration into the interior of southern Africa, this was a search by dissatisfied Dutch-speaking colonists for a promised land where they would be ‘free and independent people’ in a ‘free and independent state’.

Who were the Voortrekkers?

The exodus from the Cape was not organized in a single movement at the time, but it was later termed the Great Trek by nationalist historians, and its participants were called Voortrekkers (pioneers).

What caused the Great Trek of South Africa?

The Great Trek was spurred by rising tensions between rural descendants of the Cape’s original, mostly Dutch, European settlers, known collectively as Boers, and the later, mostly British, settlers, who had taken control of the Cape on behalf of the British Empire.

How did the Great Trek affect the interior?

However, far from being the peaceful and God-fearing process which many would like to believe it was, the Great Trek caused a tremendous upheaval in the interior for at least half a century. The Great Trek was a landmark in an era of expansionism and bloodshed, of land seizure and labour coercion.

Why did the Boers not participate in the Great Trek?

The Dutch Reformed Church, to which most of the Boers belonged, explicitly refused to endorse the Great Trek. Despite their hostility towards the British, there were Boers who chose to remain in the Cape of their own accord.