This paper discusses the history of the Afrikaners, the descendants of mainly Dutch settlers who established the first permanent settlement at the southern tip of the African continent.
Abstract This paper explains that the Afrikaners developed a separate identity, identifying themselves as Africans rather than Europeans, adopting a separate language called Afrikaans, which is a dialect of the Dutch, and developing a distinct culture based on Calvinist beliefs honed by the harsh environs of the South African landscape. The author points out that, ever since a group of native Khoikhois first encountered the white men who had briefly disembarked to look for fresh water in about 1488, the relationship between the Europeans and the local inhabitants had been hostile. The paper relates that the politics of the Afrikaners, based on the assumed superiority of the white people, was an interpretation of the Calvinistic philosophy of a "chosen people", meaning the Boers were chosen by God to conquer the desolate land of South Africa and to rule over its "uncivilized" indigenous inhabitants.
Table of Contents
Background
The First Dutch Outpost
The Freeburghers and the Beginnings of a Race-based Society
Interaction with the Natives
The Afrikaner Identity
The Afrikaans Language
Afrikaner Culture and Society
Politics and Apartheid
Significant Events in Afrikaner History
The Great Trek
The Second Boer War: Oct 1999-May 1902
From the Paper "There are different theories about how Afrikaans developed. One is that it arose as a bastard tongue out of a clash between Dutch (the language of the white settlers) and Malay Portuguese (the language of the imported slaves). However, Afrikaans does not show large scale influence of Malay-Portuguese and has incorporated only a few of its words into its fold. The more convincing theory about the origins of the language is that it gradually evolved from Dutch as a result of the interaction among people of various nationalities who settled at the Cape. It later gathered loanwords from other languages such as English, French, German and some African languages, and adopted a simplified grammatical structure to evolve into a separate language. As we have already observed, most of the early settlers at the Cape were Dutch."
Abstract In order to account for the rise of Afrikaner nationalism between 1910 and 1948, this paper considers a number of social, political and economic factors. More specifically, it analyses the significance of historical factors such as the legacy of the Anglo-Boer War. It also considers the significance of the Great Depression and the urbanisation of poor whites as well as the roles of Jan Smuts, James Hertzog and Daniel Malan and the issue of 'Petty White Politics'. It also assesses the significance of social factors such as the Centenary Celebrations of the Great Trek and the role of the Dutch Reformed Church.
From the Paper "A further influencing factor behind the development of Afrikaner Nationalism between 1910 and 1948 was the economic problems facing the Afrikaner community. Many historians contend that the economic plight of the poor rural Afrikaners brought the group together. In 1932 the Carnegie Commission produced a report on white poverty and classified betweens 200,000 and 300,000 whites as very poor - the vast majority of whom were Afrikaners. This figure equated to approximately one fifth of the Afrikaner population being classed as very poor. During the 1930s a large proportion of the Afrikaner population was moving away from the countryside to large industrial towns and cities in search of jobs. However, historians maintain that for many, rural poverty was merely replaced with urban poverty; during the 1930s nearly 40% of Afrikaners were employed in menial jobs such as manual labourers or railway workers. However, T.R.H. Davenport, 'South Africa, A Modern History' claims that the government attempted to reduce white poverty through the introduction of measures such as The Mines and Works Amendment (or 'Colour Bar') Act of 1926 which removed many jobs from Africans and reserved them for whites; R.H. Davies, 'Capital, State and White Labour in South Africa, 1910 - 1960' estimates that between 1924 and 1932 the Hertzog Government transferred over 8,000 jobs from black to white hands. Despite attempts by the government to eradicate white poverty, historians maintain that many Afrikaners still resented the relative prosperity of the British and English-speaking industrialists and mine-owners."
Tags: Broederbond, Dutch, Reformed, Church, smuts, boer, war
An analysis of how the South African Union Constitution of 1910 attempted to regulate and contain the interests of South Africa's different racial groups.
Abstract The paper examines the impact of the constitution as defined by L. Thompson's four main points in "A History of South Africa". The paper also discusses events leading up to, and which influenced the creation of the constitution. It looks at the creation of a political system and the containing and regulating of the different racial groups through the Franchise laws. Additionally, the paper examines the attempt to protect the interests of the Afrikaners and English through the adoption of English and Dutch as the official languages. The impact and effectiveness of these points is also considered through evaluation of later legislation.
From the Paper "The Constitution contained four key principals, which were designed to regulate and control the interests of the main racial groups within South Africa. The first major principal was concerned with the establishment of a political system based on the British model, therefore creating a unitary state with parliamentary sovereignty. The once independent states of the cape Colony, the Transvaal, Orange Free State and Natal became provinces within the Union of South Africa. Each province had its own local government; however central government had legal supremacy over all local institutions. As in Great Britain, the executive was directly responsible to a majority in the lower house, known as the House of Assembly. "
Abstract This paper discusses the book "Country of My Skull." by Antjie Krog about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) which was formed after apartheid ended in South Africa in July 1995. It examines how Krog's book is an emotional look at the TRC, its strengths and weaknesses and some of the human rights violations it uncovered. It shows how not only does Krog write of the TRC, she writes of herself, a white Afrikaner, trying to make sense of what happened during Apartheid and what happens to her country afterwards and how struggles with her own identity along with the identity of a new South Africa.
From the Paper "Krog explains part of what happened in South Africa between the whites and the oppressed blacks as a type of myth. Not as an excuse or an escape, more as a kind of reconciliation of what happened, and why so many people turned their heads and ignored it. "A myth is a unit of imagination which makes it possible for a human being to accommodate two worlds. It reconciles the contradictions of these two worlds in a workable fashion and holds open the way between them. The two worlds are the inner and the outer world. Myth makes it possible to live with what you cannot endure" (Krog 190)."
Abstract This paper examines how the global economic forces spawned by colonialism gave rise to the modern slave trade and turned people into nothing more than commodities and sources of labor. The author points out that, through marriage and religious conversion, members of colonized peoples could achieve a form of social status by adopting the traits of their Portuguese colonizers. The paper relates that, in Africa, the growth of colonization into the African interior by Afrikaners laid the foundations for apartheid laws.
From the Paper "In fact, for the Portuguese, Catholicism trumped skin color. African Natives who professed to the Catholic faith gained the rights and advantages of Portuguese citizenship. The Portuguese even mandated intermarriage between Portuguese and native populations, a significant fact considering the French and British colonizers had passed ordinances against the very same practice in their colonies."
Abstract This paper explores, from a historical perspective, the evolution of imperial colonialism in South Africa by examining the political impact of the apartheid period on the society and the people and on the South African society today. The author points out that all the definitions of the term 'apartheid' contain the basic idea of segregated identities based on race, color or social position. The paper relates that the Group Areas Act of 1950 formally established apartheid in South Africa by delimiting by law the respective districts for each race and by barring members from other races from living, operating businesses or owning land in these districts.
From the Paper "This new structure of the society benefited from the vote of the population in 1948 when the Nationalistic Party came to power. It represented the legitimization of the white dominated system of law that is because in most cases "the institutions of white economic and political domination were already in place." According to their creed, "they sought to free South Africa from the 'yoke' of British imperial control" . Therefore, it can be said that the rise to power of the nationalistic forces, ..., was the result of the indirect actions of the colonial system of government. "
Abstract This paper explains that Kody Scott's autobiography "Monster" describes the his transformation into a ruthless killing machine and then back into a devout Muslim and a member of New Afrikan Independence Movement. The author points out that Kody's early childhood and teenage years conform well to various criminological theories, which are discussed in this paper.The paper relates that, as the social control theory describes, Scott developed an attachment to his family and became committed to make his family's life worth living. The author reports that Kody changed his name to Sanyika Shakur and dedicated his life to eradicating "gangsterism".
Table of Contents:
Criminological Theories
Introduction
The Arousal Theory
Differential Association Theory
The Social Learning Theory
Social Cognitive Theory
The Self-Control Theory
The Nature Assumption Theory
The Social-Control Theory
Change in Behavior over Time
From the Paper "Thomas Hobbes in his theory of social control suggests that people are naturally deviant, and that they want to satisfy their instinctive urges. However, they don't adopt the deviant nature due to four reasons described as attachment, commitment, involvement and beliefs. In Kody's case, he was more attached to his fellow gang members than he was to his own family. He didn't have much commitment to anything but his gang. He wasn't involved in any activities other than his gang. As for his beliefs he started out believing that he was wrong, but as time passed he began to rationalize what he was doing."
