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and an assembly of representatives chosen by the people, and called their new republic the "Orange Free State." Here they hoped and prayed for peace.

But they were again doomed to disappointment. Under the pretext of protecting certain native tribes from the encroachment of the Boers, the British invaded their new home with a body of troops and proclaimed the sovereignty of England over the whole territory between the Orange River and the Vaal.

The Boers resisted by force of arms; but they were compelled to submit, and in 1848 their new country was annexed to Cape Colony. Many of the Boers in despair remained under the British rule; but a number of them, under their leader, Pretorius, moved to the north across the Vaal river to what became known as the Transvaal territory. Here they again formed themselves into a new state under the name of the "South African Republic," with the same form of government that they had been compelled to give up in Natal and the Orange territory.

The assumption of sovereignty over the previous territories of Natal and the Orange river country had brought the English into bloody and expensive conflicts with the native tribes-the Zulus, the Basutos and the more savage Kaffirs. It now seemed the part of prudence for the British government to abandon the Boers of Transvaal to their own fate and leave them to carry on their own struggle for existence. Consequently, instead of assuming sovereignty over this new territory, the independence of the South African Republic was formally acknowledged in 1852 by what is known as the "Sand River Convention." The Boers of Transvaal always relied upon this convention as guaranteeing them their full

independence from British interference. Its exact terms, therefore, are of some importance. They read as follows: "The Assistant Commissioners guarantee, in the fullest manner, on the part of the British government, to the emigrant farmers beyond the Vaal river, the right to manage their own affairs and to govern themselves without any interference on the part of her Majesty, the Queen's government, and that no encroachment shall be made by said government on the territory beyond to the north of the Vaal river." Motives somewhat similar to those which led the British government to acknowledge the independence of the Boer republic north of the Vaal soon led to the abandonment of sovereignty over the people south of the Vaal; and in 1854 the Orange Free State was also recognized by Great Britain as a free and independent republic.

By the steps thus briefly outlined, there came into existence the four political communities in South Africa, namely the two British colonies of Cape Colony and Natal, and the two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic (the so-called Transvaal) and the Orange Free State.

§ 6. THE BOER WAR AND THE CHANGED POLICY OF ENGLAND

To one who looks at the subsequent history of these political communities there is presented a striking and almost appalling contrast between the gradual enfranchisement of the two British colonies and the gradual destruction of the two Boer republics. Reforms quite similar to those we have already traced in the colonies of Canada and Australia took place in the governments

of Cape Colony and Natal. About the time of the removal of the Boers from Cape Colony, the military rule which had existed in this colony for thirty years was replaced by a civil governor, assisted by executive and legislative councils.

Since these councils were appointed by the Crown, the colonists themselves had as yet no share in the government; and the authorities at London were not disposed at first to grant them such a share. In 1841 a petition for a representative assembly was sent to the Colonial Office, but it received no attention. In 1849 the British cabinet decided to substitute Cape Colony for Australia as a penal settlement; but the people of the Cape rose in arms, and refused to permit the landing of convicts on their shores.

This incident aroused the people to make new demands for self-government; and in 1850 a bi-cameral legislature was established, both houses being elected by the people. This gave to the people a representative legislature, but the executive was still irresponsible, being appointed by the Crown and having an absolute veto upon all laws. It was not until 1874 that the people obtained a responsible ministry-which privilege, however, they in fact purchased from the English government by agreeing to maintain at their own expense the British fortifications at the Cape. In Natal similar political changes took place, although it was not until 1893 that representative and responsible government was finally established in this colony.

Thus we see in the two British colonies in South Africa, as in Canada and Australia, the gradual development of a reformed system of colonial administration. Moreover, the stages in the development of this system had been quite similar in these different

areas. These stages may be indicated in general as follows: First, the government of the colony by military rule; next, the appointment of a civil governor, assisted by an appointive council; afterward, the establishment of a representative assembly, subject to the absolute veto of the crown officials; and, finally, the granting of a responsible ministry, amenable to the lower house of the legislature, thus assuring to the colonists all the rights of Englishmen. (Cambridge Modern History, Vol. XI, ch. 27 (3), “The English and Dutch in South Africa" by A. R. Colquhoun.)

If we now turn to the relations of Great Britain to the Boer republics, we find that an entirely different policy was pursued; and we find that it was the Transvaal people, or the South African Republic, which bore the chief brunt of this oppressive regime. We cannot consider in detail the bitter controversies and open hostilities which marked the period extending from 1877 to 1902, but there are certain facts of this painful period which cannot well be forgotten, and may be summarized as follows:

(1) The unwarranted assumption of British sovereignty over the South African Republic in 1877 (the independence of which had previously been acknowledged in the San River convention in 1852)—this assumption being followed by the armed resistance of the Boers, in their first war, which culminated in the English disaster at Majuba Hill in 1881.

(2) The convention at Pretoria in 1881 and the convention at London in 1884. The former convention, which closed the first Boer war, granted complete self-government to the Transvaal people subject to the "suzerainty" of the Queen. The latter convention

omitted the "suzerainty clause" and provided that England should abandon all claim to control the internal affairs of the republic, reserving only the right of veto over all foreign treaties made by the Republic, except those made with the Orange Free State.

(3) The discovery of gold in the Transvaal after 1884, and the influx of "outlanders" who threatened to outnumber the Boers and get control of their government—which fact led to long and heated controversies regarding naturalization and taxation.

(4) The notorious Jameson raid of 1895, intended to foment insurrection against the Boer govern

ment.

(5) The failure of the contending parties to come to any agreement at the Conference at Bloemfontein in 1899, followed by the mobilization of British troops in South Africa and on the Boer frontiers, and by the ultimatum sent by President Kruger to the Queen demanding the withdrawal of the British troops, which demand was regarded by the British ministry as justifying a declaration of war.

(6) The second Boer war from 1899 to 1902, in which the Orange Free State joined the cause of its neighbor, the Transvaal people, and which was closed in the reduction of the two Boer republics to the condition of British provinces, and the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging on May 31, 1902.

What policy should now be adopted by Great Brittain with reference to these, her new subject colonies, was a serious and difficult question. It was stipulated in the treaty of peace that military administration in the Transvaal and the Orange River colony should cease at the earliest possible date, to be succeeded by civil government. As to how and when this should

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