A wagon train is a group of wagons traveling together. Before the extensive use of military vehicles , baggage trains followed an army with supplies and ammunition.
96-524: Battles The Great Trek was a northward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyond the Cape's British colonial administration. The Great Trek resulted from the culmination of tensions between rural descendants of the Cape's original European settlers, known collectively as Boers , and
192-522: A laager camp at the mouth of the Mvoti River , they proceeded on horseback, but were halted by a flooded Tugela River and forced to return to the laager . The Kommissietrek left Port Natal for Grahamstown with a stash of ivory in early June 1835, following more or less the same route back to the Cape, and arrived at Grahamstown in October 1835. On Piet Uys's recommendation, Bantjes set to work on
288-579: A Nation ( Die Bou van 'n Nasie ) was made in 1938 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Great Trek. The film tells the Afrikaans version of the history of South Africa from 1652 to 1910 with a focus on the Great Trek. A number of Afrikaans organisations such as the Afrikaner Broederbond and Afrikaanse Taal en Kultuurvereniging continued to promote the centenary's goals of furthering
384-557: A Zulu warrior, were massacred at Inhambane by an impi (a force of warriors) of Manukosi . Those of Tregardt's party that had set up around Soutpansberg moved on to colonise Delagoa Bay , with most of the party, including Tregardt, perishing from fever. A party led by Hendrik Potgieter trekked out of the Tarka area in either late 1835 or early 1836, and in September 1836 a party led by Gerrit Maritz began their trek from Graaff-Reinet. There
480-405: A captain. In reality, a captain had limited authority. His role was largely confined to getting everyone moving in the morning and selecting when and where to camp at night. Membership of wagon trains was generally fluid and wagons frequently joined or left trains depending on the needs and wishes of their owners. An accident or illness, for instance, might force someone to fall behind and wait for
576-517: A class of Boers who pursued semi-nomadic pastoral activities, were frustrated by the apparent unwillingness or inability of the British government to extend the borders of the Cape Colony eastward and provide them with access to more prime pasture and economic opportunities. They resolved to trek beyond the colony's borders on their own. Although it did nothing to impede the Great Trek, Great Britain viewed
672-537: A few short decades, the Cape had become home to a large population of "Glidden" , also denoted as "burgers" (free citizens), former Company employees who remained in Dutch territories overseas after completing their contracts. Since the primary purpose of the Cape settlement at the time was to stock provisions for passing Dutch ships, the VOC offered grants of farmland to its employees under the condition they would cultivate grain for
768-457: A lack of public discussion about the war within the Afrikaans community helped set the scene for a large increase in interest in Afrikaans national identity. The celebration of the centenary of the Great Trek along with a new generation of Afrikaners interested in learning about the Afrikaans experiences of the Boer War catalysed a surge of Afrikaans nationalism. The centenary celebrations began with
864-771: A line of wagons, when terrain permitted, wagons would often fan out and travel abreast to minimize the amount of dust blown onto other wagons. Travel by wagon train occurred primarily between the 1840s–1880s, diminishing after completion of the first transcontinental railroad . Some remnants of wagon ruts along the well-traveled trails are still visible today. Originally, westward movement began in small groups, but well-funded travelers with 100 or more wagons could employ professional wagon masters (or trail masters) and hostlers . Overland emigrants discovered smaller groups of 20 to 40 wagons were more manageable than larger ones, especially without professional wagon masters. Many operated under democratic principles, creating bylaws and electing
960-528: A poem written by Cornelis Jacobus Langenhoven referring to the Great Trek, was chosen to be the words of the pre-1994 South African national anthem. The post-1997 national anthem of South Africa incorporates a section of " Die Stem van Suid-Afrika " but it was decided to omit the section in "reference to the Great Trek (' met die kreun van ossewa '), since this was the experience of only one section of our community". When apartheid in South Africa ended and
1056-651: A public holiday, first called Dingane's Day, later changed to the Day of the Vow . Post-apartheid , the name was changed to the Day of Reconciliation by the South African government, in order to foster reconciliation between all South Africans. Conflict amongst the Voortrekkers was a problem because the trek levelled out the pre-existing class hierarchy which had previously enforced discipline, and thus social cohesion broke down. Instead
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#17330936048481152-559: A re-enactment of the trek beginning on 8 August 1938 with nine ox wagons at the statue of Jan van Riebeeck in Cape Town and ended at the newly completed Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria and attended by over 100,000 people. A second re-enactment trek starting at the same time and place ended at the scene of the Battle of Blood River. The commemoration sparked mass enthusiasm amongst Afrikaners as
1248-658: A regular supply of munitions. In the 18th century, organized commissary and quartermaster departments were developed to centralize delivery of supplies. The delivery took the form of "baggage trains", large groups of wagons that traveled at the rear of the main army. Westward-bound collective treks are reflected in numerous books, films, and television programs about the journeys. Examples include: Emerson Hough 's 1922 novel and James Cruze 's silent film based on it, The Covered Wagon (1923); Raoul Walsh 's film The Big Trail (1930); Robert North Bradbury 's film Westward Ho (1935); John Ford 's Wagon Master (1950) and
1344-515: A result of the Treaty of Paris . At the onset of the British rule, the Cape Colony encompassed 100,000 square miles (260,000 km) and was populated by about 26,720 people of European descent, a relative majority of whom were of Dutch origin. Just over a quarter were of German ancestry and about one-sixth were descended from French Huguenots, although most had ceased speaking French since about 1750. There were also 30,000 African and Asian slaves owned by
1440-807: A system of real and permanent balance of power in Europe is to be derived". An additional article appended to the treaty addressed the issue of slavery . It reaffirmed the Declaration of the Powers, on the Abolition of the Slave Trade , of 8th of February 1815 (which also formed ACT, No. XV. of the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna ) and added that the governments of the contracting parties should "without loss of time, ... [find]
1536-566: A third. The same was to be the case in regard to former life annuities from the French government. Indemnification was further granted for the loss of immovable property by sequestration, confiscation, or sale; and particular regulations were laid down for ascertaining its value in the fairest possible manner. A separate account was to be kept of arrears that had accrued for all types of property, for which arrears were to be calculated at an interest of four percent per annum. Movable properly, lost through
1632-475: A train. Contrary to popular belief, wagons were seldom circled defensively. Today, covered wagon trains are used to give an authentic experience for those desiring to explore the West as it was in the days of the pioneers and other groups traveling before modern vehicles were invented. The advent of gunpowder warfare meant that an army could no longer rely solely on foraging in the surrounding countryside, and required
1728-529: A written contract guaranteeing private property ownership was incompatible with the contemporaneous Zulu oral culture which prescribed that a chief could only temporarily dispense land as it was communally owned. Most versions agree that the following happened: King Dingane's authority extended over some of the land in which the Boers wanted to settle. As prerequisite to granting the Voortrekker request, he demanded that
1824-549: Is now Kwa-Zulu Natal . King Dingane, suspicious and untrusting because of previous Voortrekker influxes from across the Drakensberg, had Retief and seventy of his followers killed . Various interpretations of what transpired exist, as only the missionary Francis Owen 's written eye-witness account survived. Retief's written request for land contained veiled threats by referring to the Voortrekker's defeat of indigenous groups encountered along their journey. The Voortrekker demand for
1920-740: The Act of Mediation was signed, replacing the Swiss Confederation with the more centralised Helvetic Republic , allied to France. With the fall of Napoleon in 1814, the cantons of Switzerland started the process of writing a new, less centralised constitution. On 20 March 1815, at the Congress of Vienna , the European powers (Austria, France, Great Britain, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, Spain and Sweden) agreed to recognise permanently an independent, neutral Switzerland, and on 27 May Switzerland acceded to this declaration. However, during Napoleon's Hundred Days
2016-864: The American West , nearly all originating at Independence, Missouri . Perhaps the most famous wagon train trail was the Oregon Trail which had a span of over 2,000 mi (3,200 km). Other paths included the Santa Fe Trail , the Chisholm Trail , the California Trail (which split southwestward from the Oregon Trail), the Mormon Trail , and the Old Spanish Trail . Although "wagon train" suggests
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#17330936048482112-560: The Anglo-Boer Wars , was largely to blame. In November 1838 Andries Pretorius arrived to assist in the defence. A few days later on 16 December 1838, the trekkers fought against Zulu impis at the Battle of Blood River . Pretorius's victory over the Zulu army led to a civil war within the Zulu nation as King Dingane's half-brother, Mpande kaSenzangakhona , aligned with the Voortrekkers to overthrow
2208-582: The British . It was also reflective of an increasingly common trend among individual Boer communities to pursue an isolationist and semi- nomadic lifestyle away from the developing administrative complexities in Cape Town . Boers who took part in the Great Trek identified themselves as voortrekkers , meaning "pioneers" or "pathfinders" (literally "fore-trekkers") in Dutch and Afrikaans . The Great Trek led directly to
2304-472: The British Empire in 1843. The Voortrekkers' guns offered them a technological advantage over the Zulu's traditional weaponry of short stabbing spears, fighting sticks, and cattle-hide shields. The Boers attributed their victory to a vow they made to God before the battle: if victorious, they and future generations would commemorate the day as a Sabbath . Thereafter, 16 December was celebrated by Boers as
2400-525: The Cape of Good Hope area was populated by Khoisan tribes. The first Europeans settled in the Cape area under the auspices of the Dutch East India Company (also known by its Dutch initials VOC ), which established a victualling station there in 1652 to provide its outward bound fleets with fresh provisions and a harbour of refuge during the long sea journey from Europe to Asia (Hunt, John (2005)). In
2496-527: The Republic of Geneva so that it be connected to the rest of Switzerland. France was now also ordered to pay 700 million francs in indemnities, in five yearly instalments, and to maintain at its own expense a Coalition army of occupation of 150,000 soldiers in the eastern border territories of France, from the English Channel to the border with Switzerland, for a maximum of five years. The twofold purpose of
2592-616: The Second Treaty of Paris , was signed on 20 November 1815, after the defeat and the second abdication of Napoleon Bonaparte. In February, Napoleon had escaped from his exile on Elba , entered Paris on 20 March and began the Hundred Days of his restored rule. After France 's defeat at the hands of the Seventh Coalition at the Battle of Waterloo , Napoleon was persuaded to abdicate again, on 22 June. King Louis XVIII , who had fled
2688-817: The Xhosa on the eastern Cape frontier, the Zulus killed women and children along with men, wiping out half of the Natal contingent of Voortrekkers. The Voortrekkers retaliated with a 347-strong punitive raid against the Zulu (later known as the Flight Commando), supported by new arrivals from the Orange Free State . The Voortrekkers were roundly defeated by about 7,000 warriors at Ithaleni , southwest of uMgungundlovu. The well-known reluctance of Afrikaner leaders to submit to one another's leadership, which later hindered sustained success in
2784-527: The Afrikaner cause and entrenching a greater sense of unity and solidarity within the community well into the 20th century. The Great Trek was used by Afrikaner nationalists as a core symbol of a common Afrikaans history. It was used to promote the idea of an Afrikaans nation and a narrative that promoted the ideals of the National Party . In 1938, celebrations of the centenary of the Battle of Blood River and
2880-653: The Boer leaders of Uitenhage and Grahamstown discussed a Kommissietrek ('Commission Trek') to visit Natal and to assess its potential as a new homeland for the Cape Boers who were disenchanted with British rule at the Cape. Petrus Lafras Uys was chosen as trek leader. At the same time at Graaff-Reinet , Jan Gerritze Bantjes heard about the exploratory trek to Port Natal and, encouraged by his father Bernard Louis Bantjes, sent word to Uys of his interest in participating. Bantjes wanted to help re-establish Dutch independence over
2976-669: The Boers and to get away from British law at the Cape. In early August 1834, he set off with some travellers headed for Grahamstown 220 kilometres (140 mi) away, a three-week journey from Graaff-Reinet . Sometime around late August 1834 he arrived in Grahamstown, contacted Uys and made his introductions. Bantjes was already well known in the area as an educated young man fluent both in spoken and written Dutch and in English. Because of these skills, Uys invited Bantjes to join him. Bantjes's writing skills would prove invaluable in recording events as
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3072-473: The Boers belonged, explicitly refused to endorse the Great Trek. Despite their hostility towards the British, there were Boers who chose to remain in the Cape of their own accord. For its part, the distinct Cape Dutch community had accepted British rule; many of its members even considered themselves loyal British subjects with a special affection for English culture. The Cape Dutch were also much more heavily urbanised and therefore less likely to be susceptible to
3168-458: The Boers in their new homeland. At Port Natal, Uys sent Dick King, who could speak Zulu, to uMgungundlovu to investigate with King Dingane the possibility of granting them land. When Dick King returned to Port Natal some weeks later, he reported that King Dingane insisted they visit him in person. Johannes Uys , brother of Piet Uys, and a number of comrades with a few wagons travelled toward King Dingane's capital at uMgungundlovu, and after making
3264-509: The Boers to wield evil supernatural powers. After killing Retief's delegation, a Zulu army of 7,000 impis were sent out and immediately attacked Voortrekker encampments in the Drakensberg foothills at what later was called Blaauwkrans and Weenen , leading to the Weenen massacre in which 532 people were killed, including 282 Voortrekkers, of whom 185 were children, and 250 Khoikhoi and Basuto accompanying them. In contrast to earlier conflicts with
3360-439: The Boers was particularly amplified by the decision to abolish slavery in all its colonies in 1834. All 35,000 slaves registered with the Cape governor were to be freed and given rights on par with other citizens, although in most cases their masters could retain them as apprentices until 1838. Many Boers, especially those involved with grain and wine production, were dependent on slave labour; for example, 94% of all white farmers in
3456-761: The Cape Colony's white population or 20% of the white population in the eastern district in 1830s) trekked. The first two parties of Voortrekkers left in September 1835, led by Louis Tregardt and Hans van Rensburg . These two parties crossed the Vaal river at Robert's Drift in January 1836, but in April 1836 the two parties split up, just 110 kilometres (70 mi) from the Soutpansberg mountains, following differences between Tregardt and van Rensburg. In late July 1836 van Rensburg's entire party of 49, except two children who were saved by
3552-539: The Coalition army, 26 fortresses were allowed to have garrisons (see the table on the right), but without any materiel or equipment of artillery and engineer stores. France was to supply all the needs of the 150,000 Coalition troops who remained in the country. Lodging, fuel, light, provisions, and forage were to be furnished in kind, to an extent not exceeding 200,000 daily rations for men, and 50,000 daily rations for horses; and for pay, equipment, clothing, &c. France
3648-477: The Coalition forces, except 150,000 which were to remain, were to evacuate France within 21 days from that date. The direct expense entailed upon France by this convention greatly exceeded the 700 million francs of the indemnity. Estimating the value of the soldier's portion and allowances at 1½ francs, and the cavalry ration at 2 francs, the annual cost of the deliveries in kind for 200,000 portions and 50,000 rations would have been 146 million in francs, which, with
3744-516: The Company warehouses, and released them from their contracts to save on their wages. Vrijburgers were granted tax-exempt status for 12 years and loaned all the necessary seeds and farming implements they requested. They were married Dutch citizens, considered "of good character" by the Company, and had to commit to spending at least 20 years on the African continent. Reflecting the multi-national character of
3840-587: The East, rivalry among the powers and the general desire to secure the Bourbon Restoration made the peace settlement less onerous than it might have been. The treaty was signed for Great Britain by Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh and the Duke of Wellington and by Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu for France; parallel treaties with France were signed by Austria , Russia , and Prussia, forming in effect
3936-548: The Final Act of the Congress of Vienna , of 9 June 1815, were confirmed. On the same day, in a separate document, Great Britain, Russia, Austria, and Prussia renewed the Quadruple Alliance . The princes and free towns, who were not signatories, were invited to accede to its terms, whereby the treaty became a part of the public law by which Europe, with the exclusion of the Ottoman Empire , established "relations from which
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4032-549: The French colonies as agreed in the treaty of 1814, including the islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe , which had been provisionally re-occupied by the British troops. The Swiss Confederation had been internationally recognised as an independent neutral state at the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. During the Napoleonic Wars it failed to remain neutral, as some cantons had been annexed into other states and, under French influence,
4128-618: The Great Trek mobilised behind an Afrikaans nationalist theses. The narrative of Afrikaner nationalism was a significant reason for the National Party's victory in the 1948 elections . A year later the Voortrekker Monument was completed and opened in Pretoria by the newly elected South African Prime Minister and National Party member Daniel Malan in 1949. A few years later, " Die Stem van Suid-Afrika " ('The Voice of South Africa'),
4224-560: The Seventh Coalition suspended the signing of the Act of Acknowledgement and Guarantee of the perpetual Neutrality of Switzerland until after Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated; this allowed Coalition forces to pass through Swiss territory. So with Article 84 of the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna dated 20 November 1815, the four major Coalition powers (Austria, Great Britain, Prussia and Russia) and France gave their formal and authentic acknowledgement of
4320-410: The VOC's workforce, some German soldiers and sailors were also considered for vrijburger status as well, and in 1688 the Dutch government sponsored the resettlement of over a hundred French Huguenot refugees at the Cape. As a result, by 1691 over a quarter of the colony's European population was not ethnically Dutch. Nevertheless, there was a degree of cultural assimilation through intermarriage, and
4416-444: The Voortrekkers return some cattle stolen by Sekonyela , a rival chief. After the Boers retrieved the cattle, King Dingane invited Retief to his residence at uMgungundlovu to finalise the treaty, having either planned the massacre in advance, or deciding to do so after Retief and his men arrived. King Dingane's reputed instruction to his warriors, " Bulalani abathakathi! " (Zulu for "kill the witches") may indicate that he considered
4512-462: The Voortrekkers' cattle. On 20 October 1836, Potgieter's party was attacked by an army of 4,600 Ndebele warriors at the Battle of Vegkop . Thirty-five armed trekkers repulsed the Ndebele assault on their laager with the loss of two men and almost all the trekkers' cattle. Potgieter, Uys and Maritz mounted two punitive commando raids. The first resulted in the sacking of the Ndebele colony at Mosega ,
4608-408: The above causes, was also to be paid for by inscriptions according to its value, with interest calculated on it at three percent per annum. From this indemnity, however, were excluded ships, cargoes, and other movable property seized in conformity to the laws of war and the prohibitory decrees. All claims of the above, or any other description, were to be given in, within three months after the date of
4704-478: The addition of 50 million franc of money per annum, formed a total of 196 million francs per year, equal to 22,370 sterling per day at the exchange rate of the time. A convention on private claims upon France assured the payment of money due by France to the subjects of the Coalition powers, in conformity with the treaty of 1814 and to the Article VIII of the 1815 peace treaty . There were twenty-six articles in
4800-572: The almost universal adoption of the Dutch language. Cleavages were likelier to occur along social and economic lines; broadly speaking, the Cape colonists were delineated into Boers , poor farmers who settled directly on the frontier, and the more affluent, predominantly urbanised Cape Dutch . Following the Flanders Campaign and the Batavian Revolution in Amsterdam , France assisted in
4896-590: The assignations duly discharged by the French Treasury were to be received as payments to their amount, and the deficiency arising from assignations not honoured would be made good, with interest, at five percent from the fund of interest inscribed in the Grand Livre , in a manner specified in this convention. The distribution of the sum among the Coalition Powers, agreed to be paid by France in this convention,
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#17330936048484992-410: The convention, which provided for the following: All these claims were to be sent in within a year after the ratification of the treaty or they would be voided (Article XVI), and committees for their liquidation were to be appointed. Articles XVII–XIX related to the payment of the claims and their inscription in the Grand Livre ( general ledger ). The claims under this convention were immense, so it
5088-604: The country transitioned to majority rule, President F. W. de Klerk invoked the measures as a new Great Trek. Wagon train In the American West , settlers traveling across the plains and mountain passes in covered wagons banded together for mutual assistance. Although wagon trains are associated with the Old West , the Trekboers of South Africa also traveled in caravans of covered wagons. Wagon trains followed several trails in
5184-464: The country when Napoleon arrived in Paris, took the throne for a second time on 8 July. The 1815 treaty had more punitive terms than the treaty of the previous year . France was ordered to pay 700 million francs in indemnities, and its borders were reduced to those that had existed on 1 January 1790. France was to pay additional money to cover the cost of providing additional defensive fortifications to be built by neighbouring Coalition countries. Under
5280-424: The death of 400 Ndebele, and the taking of 7,000 cattle. The second commando forced Mzilikazi and his followers to flee to what is now modern day Zimbabwe . By spring 1837, five to six large Voortrekker colonies had been established between the Vaal and Orange Rivers with a total population of around 2,000 trekkers. In October 1837 Retief met with Zulu King Dingane to negotiate a treaty for land in what
5376-501: The establishment of a pro-French client state, the Batavian Republic , on Dutch soil. This opened the Cape to French warships. To protect her own prosperous maritime shipping routes, Great Britain occupied the fledgling colony by force until 1803. From 1806 to 1814, the Cape was governed as a British military dependency, whose sole importance to the Royal Navy was its strategic relation to Indian maritime traffic. The British formally assumed permanent administrative control around 1815, as
5472-445: The first confederation of Europe . The Quadruple Alliance was reinstated in a separate treaty also signed 20 November 1815, introducing a new concept in European diplomacy, the peacetime congress "for the maintenance of peace in Europe" on the pattern of the Congress of Vienna , which had concluded 9 June 1815. The treaty is brief. In addition to having "preserved France and Europe from the convulsions with which they were menaced by
5568-487: The first draft of the Natalialand Report. Meetings and talks took place in the main church to much approval, and the first sparks of Trek Fever began to take hold. From all the information accumulated at Port Natal, Bantjes drew up the final report on "Natalia or Natal Land" that acted as the catalyst which inspired the Boers at the Cape to set in motion the Great Trek. The first wave of Voortrekkers lasted from 1835 to 1840, during which an estimated 6,000 people (roughly 10% of
5664-420: The founding of several autonomous Boer republics , namely the South African Republic (also known simply as the Transvaal), the Orange Free State and the Natalia Republic . It also led to conflicts that resulted in the displacement of the Northern Ndebele people , and conflicts with the Zulu people that contributed to the decline and eventual collapse of the Zulu Kingdom . Before the arrival of Europeans,
5760-413: The frontiers which separated the departments of the Pas de Calais, of the North of the Ardennes, of the Meuse, of the Moselle, of the Lower Rhine, and of the Upper Rhine, from the interior of France. It was also agreed that neither the Coalition nor the French troops would occupy (unless for particular reasons and by mutual agreement), the following territories and districts: Within the line occupied by
5856-525: The government of France, in conformity with the Paris peace treaty of 1814, and the Article VIII of the Paris Peace Treaty of 1815. All British subjects who had suffered loss of property in France since 1 January 1791, by sequestration or confiscation by the French government, were to be indemnified. The amount of permanent stock lost was to be inscribed in the Grand Livre , and to bear interest from 22 March 1816; excepting, however, such holders as had, since 1797, voluntarily submitted to receive their dividends at
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#17330936048485952-400: The journey unfolded. On 8 September 1834, the Kommissietrek of 40 men and one woman, as well as a retinue of coloured servants, set off from Grahamstown for Natal with 14 wagons. Moving through the Eastern Cape , they were welcomed by the Xhosa who were in dispute with the neighbouring Zulu King Dingane ka Senzangakhona , and they passed unharmed into Natal. They travelled more or less
6048-426: The king and impose himself. Mpande sent 10,000 impis to assist the trekkers in follow-up expeditions against Dingane. After the defeat of the Zulu forces and the recovery of the treaty between Dingane and Retief from Retief's body, the Voortrekkers proclaimed the Natalia Republic . After Dingane's death, Mpande was proclaimed king, and the Zulu nation allied with the short-lived Natalia Republic until its annexation by
6144-424: The late enterprise of Napoleon Bonaparte", the signers of the Treaty also repudiated "the revolutionary system reproduced in France". The treaty is presented "in the desire to consolidate, by maintaining inviolate the Royal authority, and by restoring the operation of the Constitutional Charter , the order of things which had been happily re-established in France". The first Treaty of Paris , of 30 May 1814, and
6240-453: The military occupation was rendered self-evident by the convention annexed to the treaty outlining the incremental terms by which France would issue negotiable bonds covering the indemnity: in addition to safeguarding the neighboring states from a revival of revolution in France, it guaranteed fulfilment of the treaty's financial clauses. Although some of the Allies, notably Prussia , initially demanded that France cede significant territory in
6336-401: The most effectual measures for the entire and definitive abolition of a Commerce so odious, and so strongly condemned by the laws of religion and of nature". A convention on pecuniary indemnity regulated the mode of liquidating the indemnity of 700 millions francs to be paid by France, in conformity to the fourth article of the treaty. The sum was to be paid, day by day, in equal portions, in
6432-484: The most suitable tracks to negotiate. Eventually, after weeks of extraordinary toil, the small party arrived at Port Natal, crossing the Congela River and weaving their way through the coastal forest into the bay area. They had travelled a distance of about 650 kilometres (400 mi) from Grahamstown. This trip would have taken about 5 to 6 months with their slow moving wagons. The Drakensberg route via Kerkenberg into Natal had not yet been discovered. They arrived at
6528-460: The movement with pronounced trepidation. The British government initially suggested that conflict in the far interior of Southern Africa between the migrating Boers and the Bantu peoples they encountered would require an expensive military intervention. However, authorities at the Cape also judged that the human and material cost of pursuing the settlers and attempting to re-impose an unpopular system of governance on those who had deliberately spurned it
6624-407: The nation was reduced to its 1790 boundaries (plus the enclaves of the Comtat Venaissin , the County of Montbéliard and the Stadtrepublik Mülhausen , which France was allowed to keep, but minus a few patches of territory along the northern border, including Landau and the Saarlouis exclave, which had been French since 1697, as well as six French communes bordering Lake Geneva which were ceded to
6720-417: The neutrality of Switzerland , signed on the same day. The 1815 peace treaties were drawn up entirely in French , the lingua franca of contemporary diplomacy. There were four treaties, between France and each of the four major Seventh Coalition powers: Austria, Great Britain, Prussia and Russia. All four treaties were signed on the same day (20 November 1815), had verbatim stipulations, and were styled
6816-506: The next train, or an emigrant might "whip up" to overtake a forward train after a quarrel. Some might break away to settle in Colorado Territory or other territories along the way. At night, wagon trains were often formed into a circle or square for shelter from wind or weather, and to corral the emigrants' animals in the center to prevent them from running away or being stolen by Native Americans . While Native Americans might attempt to raid horses under cover of darkness, they rarely attacked
6912-493: The party joined them and invited Dick King to become their guide. The Boers set up their laager ('wagon fort') camp in the area of the present-day Greyville Racecourse in Durban , chosen because it had suitable grazing for the oxen and horses and was far from the foraging hippos in the bay. Several small streams running off the Berea ridge provided fresh water. Alexander Biggar
7008-399: The perpetual neutrality of Switzerland. Much art had been looted from across Europe by the French armies since 1793. The First Treaty of Paris had made no demands in this respect, but the second treaty required that stolen artworks be returned to their countries of origin. The process was haphazard, as some states had ceased to exist, but the treaty was one of the first in history to require
7104-489: The purpose of convenience and negotiability, were again subdivided into coupures , or sets of smaller sums. As a guarantee for the regular payment of these assignations, and to provide for deficiencies, France assigned, moreover, to the allies, a fund of interest, to be inscribed in the Grand Livre of her public debt, of seven millions francs on a capital of 140 millions. A liquidation was to take place every six months, when
7200-488: The re-enactment trek passed through the small towns and cities of South Africa. Both participants and spectators participated by dressing in Voortrekker clothing, renaming streets, holding ceremonies, erecting monuments, and laying wreaths at the graves of Afrikaner heroes. Cooking meals over an open fire in the same way the Voortrekkers did became fashionable amongst urbanites, giving birth to the South African tradition of braaing . An Afrikaans language epic called Building
7296-522: The same route that Smith and Berg had taken two years earlier. The trek avoided the coastal route, keeping to the flatter inland terrain. The Kommissietrek approached Port Natal from East Griqualand and Ixopo , crossing the upper regions of the Mtamvuna and Umkomazi rivers. Travel was slow due to the rugged terrain, and since it was the summer, the rainy season had swollen many of the rivers to their maximum. Progress required days of scouting to locate
7392-449: The same rural grievances and considerations as those held by the Boers. In January 1832, Andrew Smith (an Englishman) and William Berg (a Boer farmer) scouted Natal as a potential colony. On their return to the Cape, Smith waxed very enthusiastic, and the impact of discussions Berg had with the Boers proved crucial. Berg portrayed Natal as a land of exceptional farming quality, well watered, and nearly devoid of inhabitants. In June 1834,
7488-539: The same way (for example the "Definitive Treaty between Great Britain and France"). The treaty was harsher towards France than the Treaty of 1814 , which had been negotiated through the manoeuvre of Talleyrand , because of reservations raised by the recent widespread support for Napoleon in France. France lost the territorial gains of the Revolutionary armies in 1790–92, which the previous treaty had allowed France to keep;
7584-428: The settlers, and about 17,000 indigenous Khoisan . Relations between the settlers – especially the Boers – and the new administration quickly soured. The British authorities were adamantly opposed to the Boers' ownership of slaves and what was perceived as their unduly harsh treatment of the indigenous peoples. The British government insisted that the Cape finance its own affairs through self-taxation, an approach which
7680-464: The settlers. This had the effect of further alienating the colony's white population. Boer resentment of successive British administrators continued to grow throughout the late 1820s and early 1830s, especially with the official imposition of the English language. This replaced Dutch with English as the language used in the Cape's judicial and political systems, putting the Boers at a disadvantage, as most spoke little or no English. Britain's alienation of
7776-478: The signing fourth convention (20 November 1815) from Europe, six months from the western colonies, and twelve months from the East Indies, &c. The claims were to be examined and decided on by a mixed commission of liquidation: and, if their votes were equal, an arbitrator would be chosen by lot from a mixed commission of arbitration. As a guarantee for the payment of claims sanctioned under this convention, there
7872-491: The space of five years, from 1 December 1815. Thus, France was required to pay on account of this convention 383,251 francs every day for five years, equal to about 16,000 pounds sterling at the exchange rate of the day. For this daily quota, the French government had to give assignations on the French treasury, payable to bearer, day by day. In the first instance, however, the Coalition Commissioners were to receive
7968-525: The sweltering hot bay of Port Natal in February 1835, exhausted after their long journey. There, the trek was soon welcomed with open arms by the few British hunters and ivory traders there such as James Collis, including Reverend Allen Francis Gardiner , an ex-commander of the Royal Navy ship Clinker , who had decided to start a mission station there. After congenial exchanges between the Boers and British sides,
8064-486: The television series it inspired, Wagon Train (1957–1965); William A. Wellman 's film, Westward the Women (1951); A. B. Guthrie Jr. 's 1949 novel The Way West and Andrew V. McLaglen 's 1967 film based on it; and the " Wagons West " series of 24 novels written by Noel Gerson (under the pseudonym Dana Fuller Ross) between 1979 and 1989. Treaty of Paris (1815) The Treaty of Paris of 1815, also known as
8160-562: The terms of the treaty, parts of France were to be occupied by up to 150,000 soldiers for five years, with France covering the cost. However, the Coalition occupation under the command of the Duke of Wellington was deemed necessary for only three years; the foreign troops withdrew from France in 1818 ( Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle ). In addition to the definitive peace treaty between France and Great Britain , Austria , Prussia and Russia , there were four additional conventions and an act confirming
8256-486: The trek leaders became more reliant on patriarchal family structure and military reputation to maintain control over their parties. This had a large and lasting impact on Afrikaans culture and society. The celebration of the Great Trek in the 1930s played a major role in the growth of Afrikaans nationalism . It is thought that the experiences of the Second Boer War and the following period, between 1906 and 1934, of
8352-648: The vicinity of Stellenbosch owned slaves at the time, and the size of their slave holdings correlated greatly to their production output. Compensation was offered by the British government, but payment had to be received in London , and few Boers possessed the funds to make the trip. Bridling at what they considered an unwarranted intrusion into their way of life, some in the Boer community considered selling their farms and venturing deep into South Africa's unmapped interior to preempt further disputes and live completely independent from British rule. Others, especially trekboers ,
8448-431: The whole of the 700 million in fifteen bonds of 46⅔ million each; the first of which was payable on 31 March 1816, the second on 21 July 1816, and so on, every fourth month. In the month preceding the commencement of each of these four monthly periods, France was to redeem successively one of these bonds for 46⅔ millions, by exchanging it against the first-mentioned daily assignations payable to bearer, which assignations, for
8544-463: Was alien to both the Boers and the Dutch merchants in Cape Town. In 1815, the controversial arrest of a white farmer for allegedly assaulting one of his servants resulted in the abortive Slachter's Nek Rebellion . The British retaliated by hanging at least five Boers for insurrection. In 1828, the Cape governor declared that all native inhabitants but slaves were to have the rights of "citizens", in respect of security and property ownership, on parity with
8640-405: Was also at the bay as a professional elephant-hunter and provided the trekkers with information regarding conditions at Port Natal. Bantjes made notes suggested by Uys, which later formed the basis of his more comprehensive report on the positive aspects of Natal. Bantjes also made rough maps of the bay - although this journal is now missing - showing the potential for a harbour which could supply
8736-429: Was impossible for the parties to have a clear idea of the necessary amount at the time of the treaty's signing. As a guarantee of payment, Article XX provided that a capital, bearing 3½ millions of francs in interest, be inscribed in the Grand Livre , the interest of which was to be received half yearly by joint-commissioners. A fourth convention related exclusively to the liquidation of the claims of British subjects on
8832-464: Was no clear consensus amongst the trekkers on where they were going to settle, but they all had the goal of settling near an outlet to the sea. In August 1836, despite pre-existing peace agreements with local black leaders, a Ndebele (Matebele) patrol attacked the Liebenberg family part of Potgieter's party, killing six men, two women and six children. It is thought that their primary aim was to plunder
8928-447: Was not worth the immediate risk. Some officials were concerned for the tribes the Boers were certain to encounter, and whether these tribes would be enslaved or otherwise reduced to a state of penury . The Great Trek was not universally popular among the settlers either. Around 12,000 of them took part in the migration, about a fifth of the colony's Dutch-speaking white population at the time. The Dutch Reformed Church , to which most of
9024-498: Was regulated by a separate convention, the Protocol for the pecuniary indemnity to be furnished by France and the Table of allotment : A convention on the military line regulated all matters concerning the temporary occupation of the frontiers of France by a Coalition army of 150,000 men, conforming to Article V of the definitive treaty . The military line to be occupied, would extend along
9120-440: Was to be inscribed in the Grand Livre , before 1 January 1816, a capital bearing 3½ millions francs of interest, in the name of a further mixed commission of English and French officers, who were to receive such interest; without, however, disposing of the same otherwise than by placing it in the public funds, at accumulating interest for the benefit of the creditors. As soon as the inscription had been effected, Britain would restore
9216-428: Was to pay to the Coalition 50 million francs per annum during the five-year occupation: the allies, however, were content with only 30 million, on account, for the first year. The territories and fortresses definitively ceded by France, as well as the fortresses to be provisionally occupied by the Coalition troops for five years, were to be given up to them within ten days from the signature of the principal treaty, and all
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