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In March 1647, with the shipwreck of the Dutch ship Nieuwe Haarlem,
began the Dutch settlement in the zone, the shipwreck victims, built
a small fort named "Sand Fort of the Cape of Good Hope". They stayed
for nearly one year at the Cape, finally they were rescued by a
fleet of 12 ships under the command of W.G. de Jong, on one of these
ships was also Jan van Riebeeck. After their return in Holland a
part of the shipwrecked tryed to persuade the Dutch East India
Company to open a trading center at the Cape. In 1652, a Dutch
expedition of 90 Calvinist settlers, under the command of Jan Van
Riebeeck, founded the first permanent settlement near the Cape of
Good Hope. They arrived, on 6 April 1652, on board of five ships,
the Reijer, the Oliphant, the Goede Hoop, the Walvisch end the
Dromedaris in the bay of today's Cape Town. A square wooden fort
with four bastions was quickly built, on the left bank of the Salt
River where is now the Central Post Office, and later were built
also two redoubts near the shore, they were named Kyckuit and
Duinhoop. In 1666 (the first stone was laid on 2 Janaury 1666), the
fort was replaced by a new stone fort named castle of "Goede Hoop" a
massive pentagonal fortress with a moat and bastions at each corner,
the bastions were named: Nassau, Leerdam, Oranje, Katzenellenbogen
and Buren. Like Prof. Ch. R. Boxer wrote in his book "The Dutch
seaborne Empire": "the Cape developed into a colony which was
something unique, save for the short-lived New Netherland, in the
possesion of the Dutch East and West India Companies. It had a
healthy, subtropical and partly fertile interland, which was
virtually unoccupied.....White colonisation was as feasible here as
it had been in New Netherland, with the additional advantage that
there was no rival European nation close at hand." On 3 June 1652,
the first child was born. The developement of a community of free
burghers was the main secret of the success of the settlement. From
the beginning were also started the first trades with the Hottentots
that resided in the zone, but the relationships with these tribes
were often problematic. In 1655, was launched the first coast vessel
made of Cape timber. In 1657, two groups of farmers settled about
three miles from the castle, at Groenevelt (or Dutch Garden) and
Rodenbosch. In 1658, the population of the whole Cape Colony
consisted of 162 persons slaves included. In 1659, wine was pressed
for the first time from Cape grapes. During the first years the
natives were the most persistent problem of the colony, they
frequently stole the cattle, and to solve the problem was decided to
built a strong fence around the farms to protect the cattle, these
defences were extended from Blauwberg across the bay to Salt River,
and then through Groote Schuur to the hill of Wynberg, three
watch-houses were also built; the whole settlement, in this way, was
protected from Hottentot incursion. Saldanha Bay, Dassen Island and
Robben Island were developed as outpost of trade and stock raising.
In 1660, a Dutch ship with 150 Slaves from Angola arrived at the
Cape, later in the same year another ship arrived with more slaves,
the number of slaves in the settlement rose to 187. A school was
opened to teach Dutch and religion to the children of the White
settlers, Mulattos and Hottentots also.
When Jan Van Riebeeck laid down his office in May 1662, there
were 39 free farmers, of whom 15 were married. Free labourers
employed on the farms amounted to 54. The whole farming community
was of some 130 persons, besides the servants and the official of
the VOC. After the departure of Jan van Riebeeck, began, in the
colony, a period of confusion: during the first ten years 4
governors were appointed and after this brusted the war with France.
During the government of Wagenaer, on 2 Janaury 1666 was laid the
foundation stones of the Castle of Goode Hoop, which was completed
in 1674 during the government of Isbrand Goske. In 1672, the white
population was less than 600 souls, of whom only 64 were male
free-burghers. On 9 April 1678 was laid the first stone of the Dutch
Reformed church of Cape Town, this building was completed 25 years
later. In 1679, the colony had 289 Europeans of whom 142 were
free-burghers and 191 slaves, as in Ceylon, the free-burghers in
Kaapstad (Cape Town) were in most cases tavern-keeping or to a
lesser extent craftsmen and shopkeeper. In this year a new governor
was appointed, he was the Mauritius born Simon van der Stel, he in
the first year of his government, founded Stellenbosch, the second
oldest town in South Africa, and during the twenty years of his
government, promoted the immigration of new families from The
Netherlands, built a new hospital and highly developed the colony.
In 1688 a group of about 200 French Huguenots arrived, they settled
in Stellenbosch, Drakenstein, Paarl and Franshhoek; developing
farming and in particular vineyards. In 1691, the population of
Kaapstad or "De Kaap" consisted of 1000 Europeans and 400 Slaves. In
1695, there were, in the colony, still only 340 free-burghers. In
February 1699, Simon van der Stel handed over the government to his
son William Adrian, during his administration he had several
problems with the French Huguenot settlers. During the
administration of Maurice de Chavonnes (1714-1724), to prevent
Hottentots raid, a series of small outposts were built at strategic
points in Tulbagh, Klapmuts, Groenekloof and Saldanha Baai.
In 1717, there were, in the colony, more than 5.000 souls, of
whom 2.500 were Europeans (in most cases farmers and breeders) and
2.500 were slaves.
In 1720, were settled the Breede and Oliphant's valleys. Jan de
la Fontaine, became governor in 1724 and he was in control of the
Cape Colony until 1739, except for an interval of three years, when
was governor Gysbert Noodt. La Fontaine, was a quietly efficient
governor, in 1730, the Little Karoo valley was reached; in 1734, he
started to colonize Mossel Baai area. The first governor born in the
Cape was appointed in 1739, he was Henry Swellengrebel, his name has
been preserved in the town of Swellendam, which was founded during
his government. During the government of Ryk Tulbagh (1751-1771),
was reached the Orange River. In these years, the French astronomer
Abbé de la Caille made, at Kaapstad, a chart and a catalogue of the
sky of the Southern hemisfere. During the Tulbagh successor, Joachim
van Plettemberg (1771-1785), the exploration of the Orange River
valley was completed. Van Plettemberg was a capable and energetic
governor. In 1780, there were 11.000-12.000 free-burghers whose at
least 3.000 lived in Kaapstad. The Boers in the late 18th century
regarded South Africa as their fatherland. In 1785, a new governor
was appointed, he was van de Graaff, during his administration was
founded the town of Graaff-Reinet. Kaapstad was now a town of 4.300
settlers without counting blacks and sailors. Stellenbosch was the
foremost of the farming settlements In 1794, the Dutch East India
Company went bankrupt and in 1795 the English seized the colony, the
Dutch surrender in 1795 is knew as capitulation of Rustemburg. In
1795, the town of Kaapstad had 14.021 inhabitants, 4.357 were
Europeans. In 1795, the Slaves in the whole colony were 16.839, the
White were nearly 16.000. In 1802, at the Amiens's treaty, the
Netherlands (now Batava Republic) recover the colony. Jacob de Mist
was appointed as new Dutch governor, he after three years of
government, gave up the command to John Willians Janssens, he on 18
Janaury 1806, at Blauwberg, surrendered the colony to the British. |
