Victoria's Stepchildren

Public Opinion and the South African Problem 1795-1899
The coming of the British to the Cape Colony in 1795 signaled the start of an uneasy relationship with the Cape Dutch people, giving rise to the Great Trek in the 1830s and, at the end of the century, finding expression in the Anglo-Boer War. Based upon extensive research of contemporary published works in the South African and British press, this book follows the public view held by Britons of the Afrikaners. Dissimilarities in lifestyle and outlook upon progress and development form a central theme of the work. The book traces differences of opinion among Englishmen themselves, both in South Africa and Great Britain, and discusses the Afrikaner psyche in regard to land encroachment and the methods employed to subjugate black nations. The narrative singles out the reasons for indignation and resentment felt by English-speaking persons generally towards the Afrikaner republics, propelling British imperialists and Afrikaner nationalists upon a collision course. It closes with the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War, having exposed the underlying racial dynamics which would come to dominate the dealings between both the English and Afrikaners and whites and blacks during the twentieth century.