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South African Historical Journal Volume 27, 1992 - Issue 1
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CAPE SLAVERY AND ITS LEGACY

Slavery and Amelioration in the Graaff-Reinet District, 1823–1830

WAYNE DOOLING University of Cape Town,
Pages 75-94 | Published online: 14 Jan 2009

  • Cape Archives (hereafter CA), 1/GR 2/21, Damon vs J. Scholtz, 30 Jan. 1827, unpaginated
  • Rayner , M. “ Wine and Slaves: The Failure of an Export Economy and the Ending of Slavery in the Cape Colony, South Africa, 1806–1834 ” . (PhD thesis, Duke University, 1986), 173–89; R. Ross, Cape of Torments: Slavery and Resistance in South Africa (London, 1983), 105. John Mason has also examined slave responses to ‘amelioration’ in the whole Colony. Any study of Cape slavery, however, has to recognise regional variations and the peculiarity of slavery in particular districts. See J.E. Mason, ‘The Slaves and Their Protectors: Reforming Resistance in a Slave Society, the Cape Colony, 1826–1834’, Journal of Southern African Studies, 17, 1 (1991);‘Hendrik Albertus and his Ex-Slave Mey. A Drama in Three Acts’, Journal of African History, 31 (1990)
  • Craton , M. 1974 . Sinews of Empire: A Short History of British Slavery 273 London
  • Any further analysis will far exceed the boundaries of a single article
  • Watvin , J. 1986 . England, Slaves and Freedom, 1776–1838 151 London Cited in
  • Rayner , M. “ Slaves, Slaveowners and the British State, 1806–1834 ” . Collected Seminar Papers of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London: The Societies of Southern Africa in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, 12 (London, 1981), 28
  • Ibid., 17
  • Rayner, ‘Wine and Slaves’, 13
  • Rayner, ‘Slaves, Slaveowners’, 20
  • Neumark , S. D. 1957 . Economic Influences on the South African Frontier, 1652–1836 Stanford Central to the debate about trekboer involvement in the market is(See also R. Ross, ‘Capitalism, Expansion and Incorporation on the Southern African Frontier’, in H. Lamar and L. Thompson, eds, The Frontier in History: North American and Southern Africa Compared (New Haven and London, 1981);L. Guelke, ‘Freehold Farmers and Frontier Settlers, 1657–1780’, in R. Elphick and H. Giliomee, eds, The Shaping of South African Society, 1652–1840 (Cape Town, 1989). Susan Newton-King's forthcoming PhD thesis will shed much light on the Eastern Cape frontier economy in the eighteenth century. See her ‘Commerce and Material Culture on the Eastern Cape Frontier, 1784–1812’ (Paper delivered at Wits History Workshop, Feb. 1987);‘Some Thoughts About the Political Economy of Graaff-Reinet in the Late Eighteenth Century’ (Paper, Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town, 12 Nov. 1980);‘Background to the Khoikhoi Rebellion of 1799–1803’, Collected Seminar Papers of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London: The Societies of Southern Africa in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, 10 (London, 1981), 26
  • Ross, ‘Capitalism, Expansion’, 214
  • Craig to Dundas, 27 Dec. 1795, cited by Newton-King, ‘Background to Khoikhoi Rebellion’, 7
  • Newton-King , S. and Malherbe , V. C. 1981 . The Khoikhoi Rebellion in the Eastern Cape (1799-1893) 7 Cape Town
  • Malherbe , V. C. “ Diversification and Mobility of Khoikhoi Labour in the Eastern Districts of the Cape Colony prior to the Labour Law of 1 November 1809 ” . (MA thesis, University of Cape Town, 1978), 2–3
  • Ibid., 40
  • Ross, Cape of Torments, 84
  • Rayner, ‘Wine and Slaves’, Table 1.11, 58a
  • Neumark, Economic Influences, 163
  • Watson , R. L. 1991 . The Slave Question: Liberty and Property in South Africa 63 Johannesburg
  • Ibid., emphasis in original
  • Neumark, Economic Influences, 163
  • CA, 1/GR 17/22, Hermanus of A. Carel Greyling, 27 Oct. 1825, no. 31;ibid, October of Johannes Oberholzer, 5 Jan. 1829, no. 40
  • Ibid., Spaas of J. J. Oberholzer, 16 Mar. 1829, no 63;ibid., Dalphina of Jacobus Rensburg, 8 Oct. 1829, no 89
  • Neumark, Economic Influences, 163
  • Okihiro , G. , ed. 1986 . In Resistance Amherst See, for example, ed.,(for a collection of essays entirely devoted to resistance
  • Scott , R. J. 1985 . Slave Emancipation in Cuba: The Transition to Free Labour, 1860–1899 141 – 3 . Princeton For a comment on the categories of ‘resistance’ and ‘accommodation’, see esp.
  • Rayner, ‘Wine and Slaves’, 73–7
  • CA, 1/GR 17/22, Jupiter of W.D. Basson, 27 Dec. 1828, no. 38
  • Malherbe, ‘Diversification’, 24
  • CA, 1/GR 17/22, Spaas of J J. Oberholzer, 16 Mar. 1829, no. 69
  • Ibid., Spaas of A.W.J. Pretorius, 28 Jan. 1829, no. 47
  • Ibid., September of A. Greyling, 9 Apr. 1829, no. 66
  • Ibid., Clement of W.D. Basson, 1 Oct. 1829, no. 88
  • On ‘moral economy’, see E.P. Thompson, ‘The Moral Economy of the English Crowd in the Eighteenth Century’, Past and Present, 50 (1971), 76–136; J.C. Scott, The Moral Economy of the Peasant: Rebellion and Subsistence in Southeast Asia (New Haven, 1976)
  • CA, 1/GR 17/22, Sylvia of T. Steyn, 11 Feb. 1830, no. 98
  • Ibid., Galant of W. van Heerden, 9 Apr. 1829, no. 63
  • Ross, Cape of Torments, 16; N. Worden, Slavery in Dutch South Africa (Cambridge, 1985), 95–6
  • CA, 1/GR 17/22, Clement of W.D. Basson, 1 Oct. 1829, no. 88
  • Ibid., Miena of J.J. Jacobs, 14 Sep. 1829, no. 84
  • Ibid., Griet of C.J. Rabie, 15 June 1829, no. 75
  • CA, 1/GR 7/12, case of Saartje, 26 July 1826, folios 486–87
  • CA, 1/GR 17/22, Aron of P. van Straten, 23 Mar. 1827, no. 17
  • CA, 1/GR 7/15, Aron of P. van Straten, 24 Mar. 1827, folios 211–16
  • Ross . Cape of Torments 34; Worden, Slavery, 123
  • For an elaboration of this point, see W. Dooling, ‘Slaves, Slaveowners and Amelioration in Graaff-Reinet, 1823–1830’ (BA Hons thesis, University of Cape Town, 1989), 33–4
  • CA, 1/GR 17/22, Eva of B.G. Liebenberg, 7 Oct. 1826, no. 10
  • CA, 1/GR 2/21, Damon vs J. Scholtz, 30 Jan. 1827, unpaginated
  • Rayner, ‘Wine and Slaves’, 260
  • CA, 1/GR 7/13, Hans of Jacobus Potgieter, 27 Oct. 1826, folio 245
  • CA, 1/GR 7/13, Jeptha of T. Venter, 3 Aug. 1826, folio 191
  • Report of the Registrar and Guardian of Slaves at the Cape of Good Hope during the half-year ending 24 June 1827, cited in Worden, Slavery, 126
  • Dooling, ‘Slaves, Slaveowners’, 47–9
  • CA, 1/GR 7/13, Jeptha of T. Venter, 3 Aug. 1826, folios 191–94
  • Ibid., H.F. Papenfus vs his slave Spadille, 13 Mar. 1826, folios 83–5
  • CA, 1/GR 2/18, T. Muller vs his slave Titus, 11 Nov. 1826
  • Ross, Cape of Torments, 3–5; Worden, Slavery, 93–100
  • CA, 1/GR 17/22, Jupiter of W.D. Basson, 27 Dec. 1828, no. 38; Clement of W.D. Basson, 6 Jan. 1829, no. 43
  • CA, 1/GR 17/24, Jupiter of W.D. Basson, 27 Dec. 1828, no. 38
  • CA, 1/GR 17/24, Clement of W.D. Basson, 6 Jan. 1829, no. 43
  • CA, 1/GR 17/22, Clement of W.D. Basson, 1 Oct. 1829, no. 88
  • Ibid., Philida of W.D. Basson, 14 Dec. 1829
  • CA, 1/GR 17/22, America of T.B. van Blerk, 7 Oct. 1829, no. 87
  • CA, 1/GR 17/20, America of T.B. van Blerk, 8 Oct. 1829
  • CA, 1/GR 7A0, Titus of the Secretary T. Muller, 26 Apr. 1824, folios 118–19
  • Ibid., Titus of the Secretary T. Muller, 1 May 1824, folios 123–28
  • CA, 1/GR 7/12, T. Muller vs his slave Titus, 8 Nov. 1826, folios 540–58
  • CA, 1/GR 2/18, T. Muller vs his slave Titus, 11 Nov. 1826
  • CA, 1/GR 17/22, Philies and Rosina of T.S. van Heerden, 10 Apr. 1829
  • Edwards , I. 1942 . Towards Emancipation: A Study in South African Slavery 131 Cardiff
  • Rayner, ‘Wine and Slaves’, 171
  • CA, 1/GR 7/13, Jeptha of T. Venter, 3 Aug. 1826, folio 191
  • CA, 1/GR 7/16, Hermanus of Jan Liebenberg, 24 Nov. 1828
  • CA, 1/GR 17/22, Louis of J. Rossouw, 27 Dec. 1828, no. 37
  • CA, 1/GR 17/24, Jupiter of W.D. Basson, 27 Dec 1828, no. 38;ibid., Dina of B.J Burgers, 5 Feb. 1829, no. 51;ibid., April of W.A. van der Merwe, 27 Nov. 1829, no. 93
  • Ibid., Asia of A. van Zyl, 20 Nov. 1829, no. 92
  • Records of the proceedings before the Chief Justice, Sir J.A. Truter and the members of the Court of Justice in the criminal case of His Majesty's Fiscal, Prosecutor for the Crown, vs Galant and Twelve Others, 14 Mar. 1825, in G. McCall Theal, Records of the Cape Colony, vol 20, (London, 1897–1905), 221
  • A similar point is made by Mason, ‘Slaves and Their Protectors’, 113. My argument, however, was made independently of Mason's and before the publication of his paper. See W. Dooling, ‘The Process of Slave Amelioration in Graaff-Reinet, 1823–1830’ (Paper presented at the ‘Cape Slavery-and After’ Conference, 10–11 Aug. 1989), 11
  • CA, SO 2/11, Rogers to Assistant Guardian at Graaff-Reinet, 8 Sep. 1826, folio 16
  • CA, 1/GR 7/12, Saul and Rika of J. Scholtz, 9 Sep. 1826, folio 509; CA, 1/GR 17/22, Dorenda of P.J. du Toit, 26 Aug. 1828, no. 27; CA, 1/GR 7/16 Rachel of D. J. du Plessis, 8 Nov. 1828
  • CA, 1/GR 17/22, Azor of W.J. Conradie, 11 Dec. 1828, no 35
  • CA, 1/GR 7/16, Azor of W.J. Conradie, 20 Dec. 1828
  • CA, 1/GR 17/14, Assistant Guardian to J.J. Oberholzer, 15 Dec. 1828
  • Ibid.
  • CA, 1/GR 7/13, Adonis of C.B. Kotzee, 14 Apr. 1826
  • CA, 1/GR 17/24, Adonis of C.B. Kotzee, 14 Aug. 1826, no. 6
  • See Dooling, ‘Slaves, Slaveowners’, 71
  • CA, 1/GR 17/22, Mosis of S.W. Burgers, 5 Jan. 1829, no. 41
  • CA, 1/GR 17/24, Mosis of S.W. Burgers, 5 Jan. 1829, no. 41
  • CA, 1/GR 17/20, Ismael of J.J. Jacobs, 11 July 1829
  • Mintz , S. W. 1974 . Caribbean Transformations 203 – 4 . Baltimore and London
  • CA, 1/GR 17/20, Gedult of H. Nieuwhout, 24 Sep. 1829
  • CA, 1/GR 17/22, April of the widow of M.M Basson, 6 Feb. 1829, no 52; CA, 1/GR 17/20, April of the widow M.M. Basson, 23 Feb. 1829
  • CA, 1/GR 17/24, Regina of M.W. Pretorius, 16 May 1829, no. 73
  • CA, 1/GR 7/8, Rebecca of T. Muller, 8 Oct. 1823, folio 173
  • CA, 1/GR 17/24, Elias of H. Badenhorst, 21 Apr. 1829, no. 57
  • Ibid., Eva of B.G. Lienbenberg, 13 Nov. 1826, no. 10
  • CA, 1/GR 17/20, Eva of B.G. Liebenberg, 30 Oct. 1826
  • CA, 1/GR 17/24, Eva of B.G. Liebenberg, 13 Nov. 1826, no. 10. On the slaveholders' concern about the opinion of others, see W. Dooling, ‘Slavery and the Law in the Cape Colony, c. 1760–1830’, in N. Worden and C Crais, eds, Breaking the Chains (forthcoming)
  • CA, 1/GR 2/21, Jupiter of W.D. Basson, 9 Feb. 1827;ibid., Jupiter of W.D. Basson, 19 May 1827; CA, 1/GR 7/16, Clement of W.D Basson, 28 May 1828; CA, 1/GR 17/22, Philida of W.D. Basson, 1 Nov. 1828, no. 32, ibid., Jupiter of W.D. Basson, 27 Dec. 1828, no. 38;ibid., Clement of W. D. Basson, 6 Jan. 1829, no. 43;ibid., Clement of W.D. Basson, 1 Oct. 1829, no. 88;ibid., Philida of W.D. Basson, 22 Dec. 1829, no. 96; CA, 1/GR 17/24, Clement of W.D. Basson, 10 May 1830, no. 108; CA, 1/GR 17/22, Jupiter of W.D. Basson, 9 May 1831, no. 150; CA, 1/GR 3A/2, Hottentot Sara vs W.D. Basson, 30 June 1828
  • CA, 1/GR 17/22, Jupiter of W.D. Basson, 9 May 1831, no. 150
  • Craton , M. 1985 . “ ‘Emancipation from Below? The Role of the British West Indian Slaves in the Emancipation Movement, 1816–1834’ ” . In Out of Slavery Edited by: Hayward , J. London in, ed.
  • CA, 1/GR 17/24, Frans of Isaac Cruywagen, 8 May 1829, no. 71
  • CA, 1/GR 17/24, Gerwind of G.P. Visser, 5 Aug. 1826, no. 3; CA, 1/GR 7A2, Saartje of G. van Niekerk, 5 Aug. 1826, folio 490

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