Slavery at the Cape
The Cape as we know it today would not be as it is if it weren’t for our past, if it weren’t for slavery. Slavery played a significantly important role in the history of the Cape as many of its inhabitants today have ancestry dating back to when slaves were first brought here. This makes the Cape a particularly interesting place to have come from, but we are looking at the very origins of slavery and how it has impacted the people of the Cape in today’s society.
When Dutch colonists first arrived in the Cape in 1652 to set up a refreshment station, they realized that they needed labourers to grow crops and to keep animals for the sailors who stopped at this area. The inhabitants at the time were the Khoi and the San. They …show more content…
The first slaves that ever arrived in the Cape were from Angola by sea. The slaves were first introduced around 1658. Later slaves arrived from different parts of the world when a higher demand for them needed to be met. The slaves that arrived were men, women and children, the figures around 63,000. They were made up of predominantly West Africans, Muslims (Malay) and Indians. In the Cape specifically, there were mostly Malays and West …show more content…
The distinctive gables that you find in around the city are a significant part of the Cape’s history because it shows the Dutch’s influence. There are many monuments and museums dedicated to the slaves but the most iconic one is The Iziko Slave Lodge. The Slave Lodge used to be the housing for the slaves and they experienced terrible facilities in there. Today, it is a beautiful and informative museum dedicated to the slaves who suffered for over 300 years, it now teaches us a lesson not to repeat
The Cape as we know it today would not be as it is if it weren’t for our past, if it weren’t for slavery. Slavery played a significantly important role in the history of the Cape as many of its inhabitants today have ancestry dating back to when slaves were first brought here. This makes the Cape a particularly interesting place to have come from, but we are looking at the very origins of slavery and how it has impacted the people of the Cape in today’s society.
When Dutch colonists first arrived in the Cape in 1652 to set up a refreshment station, they realized that they needed labourers to grow crops and to keep animals for the sailors who stopped at this area. The inhabitants at the time were the Khoi and the San. They …show more content…
The first slaves that ever arrived in the Cape were from Angola by sea. The slaves were first introduced around 1658. Later slaves arrived from different parts of the world when a higher demand for them needed to be met. The slaves that arrived were men, women and children, the figures around 63,000. They were made up of predominantly West Africans, Muslims (Malay) and Indians. In the Cape specifically, there were mostly Malays and West …show more content…
The distinctive gables that you find in around the city are a significant part of the Cape’s history because it shows the Dutch’s influence. There are many monuments and museums dedicated to the slaves but the most iconic one is The Iziko Slave Lodge. The Slave Lodge used to be the housing for the slaves and they experienced terrible facilities in there. Today, it is a beautiful and informative museum dedicated to the slaves who suffered for over 300 years, it now teaches us a lesson not to repeat