HIS 207 Great Trek

0:00 My name is um Joshua. Today I'll be taking you on His 207 Southern Africa and we'll be treating the great trick today. You see the word trek is a Dutch word which means journey or migration. So the great strike was as a result of European expansion into the interior of southern Africa from the Cape colony. Initially when they arrived um at the table bay then they did not go into the interior of the um southern Africa. But when there was a drastic change and

0:47 there was a change in power when the British settlers came to the Cape Colony and took control just like a conquest and stuff like that. You see the the Boers were not comfortable with the British there. So they had to move. So the great tre when they say something is great it means it was massive. It is big. So the great tre it means a big or massive and a conscious migration of both men, children for they abandoned their home, they abandoned their houses, their achievement and everything and left the Cape Colony for in search of a more busy land. We can also say that the the the reason for this immigration or

1:33 migration was um we can say was because of autonomy cuz they want to be in charge of themselves and they don't want to be under anybody. So now we can also say this um immigration was the Boas. It was a kind of secession by the Boas from the Cape government under the British administration. There are many reasons why the great strike happened. There were many reasons that led to the great strike and I would be discussing those reasons today. So in this um video would examine the reasons that led to the outbreak of the great trick. Number one is the British

2:21 colonial rule. The British colonial route. You see the Goas were the first settlers were the first Europeans also Europeans that settled in southern Africa in the Cape Colony there. So but when the British came you see there were policies that the boys had like racial inequality and stuff like that whereby when the British came they saw it like no things are not supposed to be this way. So the e British and the Boas in the Cape colony they often have clashes. They often had clash like traditional clash their ways of life of the boys and the ways of life of the British they were not e working together because the

3:06 British their missionary the Christian missionary their laws and stuff. The British advocated for racial equality whereby the boys did not see the blacks or the Africans there as to be equal with them. Yes. And there are many reasons why the boys feel that they are superior to the southern Africans. Let me put it like that. The banttos and and the likes. You see they established their own facts. They linked it to the Bible that yes that the so they the descendants of Hamas were known to be Calvinist that they took every word from the Bible.

3:53 Very very important. So they feel that the um Africans they meant to be drawers of well and heers of wood that they are meant to be slaves. They're not meant to be in charge of anything. So they took over their land from them and everything because they had more sophisticated weapons and stuff like that to take that the conquest. So on the British arrival to the Cape Colony, the British administration, it they prevented the Boas from um taking repraisal attacks on the banttos because they were having um the the the boys were the Bas alleged the bant for cattle thefts whereby and these cattle thefts

4:40 and everything they were most times exaggerated. Because you know the hatred and everything they have for this kind of people and the British coming and saying okay you people are to be equal under the law you have to be this to be that. So there's the way they want to package anything that has been done even many many times it can be fallacy it can be lies. So the most times all these things have always exaggerated. And another thing the British did in the Cape Colony was emancipation of abolition of slavery. Yes. In the 18th century, you see this abolition of slavery, it it it really affected the bars because it was their major thing they were doing. It was their major

5:25 trade and everything. So they depended on slave. So it's just like the British came and it was taking it took e their source of income from them, their source of wealth. It it took their revenue away from them. So that's what the boy has felt. So they feel that okay it seems we and the British we cannot um live in harmony we cannot stay together because two lords cannot be in in in a particular place. So another thing was cultural and language difference cultural and language differences. You see the Boaz had a um significant or let me say their Dutch language which they call the

6:10 Africans is spelled AF R I K A N S the Africans language it was is derived from a Dutch from the do from the Dutch you see the settlers believed that the British government were antibers because when the British came in when the British came in they replaced the Africans that's the language that's the language they speak the Africans with English in the in in in the colony so the um Boas felt that oh these people they don't like us they antibias they hate us they do this they do that we have been here before you so we should go somewhere else we we should go somewhere else let's just leave this place for them okay you have won yes let's just go

6:55 let's just go somewhere else so that's just what this another point is also desire desire for independence and autonomy. They want an independence. They they want autonomy. They want to rule over themselves which the British was not ready to give them. So they felt okay since you are not ready to give me freedom or ready to give me anything. Let me leave your jurisdiction. Let me leave the place of of of your authority. So when I'm not under your control, there's no way you can tell me what to do and tell me what not to do or tell me how to treat people and how not to treat people. So they wanted autonomy. They wanted to rule themselves. That's the um third point. The first point was the British colonial rule. The second point is cultural and

7:42 um um language differences. Another thing here now is religious factor. You see the Boas they hated the Christian missionaries especially the one the the London missionaries they hated them so much and British is a missionaries they came with because and why did they hate them because they preached racial equality so they're feeling that okay this law that these people passed into that everybody must it is the Christians that are in charge of is this missionaries that's causing it and everything like that so they hated them because of this racial inequalities they because they feel that we are not equal. We are not the same thing. We are different people. They are slaves. They are meant to be slaves and we we are meant to be

8:27 their owners or or or their leaders. So another thing again is is a vision for for new homeland. New homeland. You see when the great started, so people um they call them the the vu treker v o t r o e k e r. So they often had a vision for a vreker republic or a a a a boa republic. So they wanted this new home whereby it to be just them and nobody and that's why we say that. Okay. Yes. And um let's take let's examine some more points. Let's look at some sorry

9:23 please reaction again to the Boa Rising rebellion that was led by um vaugh van joubb bed joubb bed for forgery and introduction of the cape um colony. also. So this thing it's it rose their anger and everything. So let's just leave. Then the 50th ordinance. Yes. The 50th ordinance in 1828. And this 50th ordinance it stopped the force apprentichip of children and remove obligation of banttos to carry um passes and also prohibited racial discrimination. And um before I forget talking about that emancipation of selves I mentioned

10:09 earlier you see when they freed those slaves the um British there was competition for slaves owners whereby but this compensation was to be paid in London not in South Africa or not in southern Africa. So the boys were were defrauded by the middlemen. So it's either they go to um London to collect the e e compensation or their middlemen gets it for them. So many of the boys they were defrauded by their middlemen. So this emancipation it caused a a a a social um crisis in the colony because many of them were not able to get their composition and and everything. So it was just like they lose on two sides. So

10:55 the boys just decided that okay let's just let's just leave let's just leave because of because of this reason. So now finally or lastly, let me put it um lastly, the return of the the return to the batu of their land earlier seiz and was declared um the queen adelite province was the last oppressive act on the bas. There was a land of the bant that was seized that was declared um queen adelite province. So this land was returned back to the banttos. So the and this land was originally taken by the boas. So they felt that okay they have nothing they they don't have this they don't have

11:40 that again. So they should just go to somewhere that is empty somewhere that nobody is where the British are not. So they want let's go there. Let's now move to the effects of the great strike. I'll be giving you four effects of the great strike. Number one is it opened up the southern Africa for um interior for the white population. You know Africa we are blacks and everything. So when the great strike started I I mentioned earlier in this video that the um they moved into the interior. So they moved deep down into the interior of southern Africa. And another thing too is um the bitter fighting of the great strength it left e feelings in the winds of the

12:27 people in the winds of the people like the people felt that okay the bars are wicked the bars are this the bars are that so the bars too they felt insecured and it deepened their feeling of racial prejudice like they it did not stop them from this their racial inequalities and stuff like that so it deepened it then another thing is that it led to the loss of independence of um many of various BU kingdom like I like the um Kazi, the Matab, the Zulu land, the Shaka. You see that this great I mentioned earlier that it led to the cause of the

13:16 infe Yes. The times of troubles. So when they were moving into the you know these people the boys they are Europeans so they have knowledge about battle they have knowledge about war about conquest so they conquered many lands on their way into the interior because this interior is not just empty some people were there it's just the British that is not there and it's just this British that these people are trying to move away from so many various banu kingdom they lost autonomy and they lost their independence Yes. Then it lastly it led to the rise of many ba republic. Yes. It led to the rise of many republic like we have natan, we have the transval orange um free states and so so so many

14:02 more. So in the next um in the next video we'll be talking about the infane. So if you have any question or anything you can drop it in the comment section. Don't forget to like and subscribe. Thank you.