Boer,
A Dutch term meaning “farmer.”
given to the descendants of the
Holland emigrants to the
Cape of Good Hope in 1652.
They gradually extended civilization over a wide territory.
The
British acquired the settlement in 1796 as a fruit of war. In 1803 it was restored to the
Dutch, but in 1806 was again seized by the
British.
In the
Congress of
Vienna (1814)
Holland formally ceded it to
Great Britain.
This settlement became known as
Cape Colony.
A large majority of the Boers moved north in 1835-36, a number settling in the region which afterwards became known as the
Orange Free State, and the remainder in the present colony of Natal.
The settlers in the latter region stayed there until
Great Britain took possession of it in 1843, when they removed farther north, and organized the South African, or, as it has been generally called, the Transvaal, Republic.
In 1877 the
South African Republic was annexed by the
British government; in 1880 the Boers there rose in revolt: in 1881 a peace was signed giving the Boers limited self-government: and in 1884 another convention recognized the independence of the republic, subject to a British suzerainty restricted to the control of foreign affairs.
The war of 1899-1901 between the
South African Republic and the
Orange Free State on the one hand.
and
Great Britain on the other, resulted from the refusal of the Boers to accede to a number of British claims which the Boers held to be without justification.
In this war the Boer military leaders,
Joubert, Cronje, Botha, and De Wet displayed a skill in manoeuvring that won the admiration even of their opponents.
The death of
Joubert and the surrender of Cronje were the severest shocks to the Boer cause up to the close of 1900.
During the summer of 1900,
General Lord Roberts.
British commander-in-chief in
South Africa, formally declared
[
374]
the annexation of the two republics, giving them the names of the
Vaal River and
Orange River colonies.
About the same time a joint commission was appointed by the presidents of the two republics to visit the countries of
Europe and also the
United States for the purpose of securing intervention.
In the
United States they were received by
President McKinley, wholly in the capacity of private visitors; were given a hearty welcome in several large cities; and had a subscription started to aid their cause.
