Early Settlers Of South Africa Essay

History of the Early Settlers of South Africa The early settlers of South Africa included the British, Dutch, and Portuguese. They created colonies and governments while giving little regard to native South Africans. The settlers had conflicts between each other, and conflicts with the natives as well. Even after all of the negative impacts of settlers on South Africa, its history and South Africa today would not be the same without them. The first European to find South Africa was Portuguese explorer Bartolemeu Dias (Knowles 1). He landed in 1488, but he and his crew found the region to not be worth of a permanent settlement (Koplan 1). The English and Dutch began showing an interest in South Africa in the late 1500s (Knowles 1). In 1652, Dutch explorer Jan van Riebeeck along with 90 other men landed in South Africa under the Dutch East India Company. They traded out of necessity with the native people, but ultimately did not get along (Knowles 1). Due to the feelings of animosity, a few Dutch settlers were allowed to break their contracts and begin farming to supply food (Knowles 1). The British began colonizing South Africa in the 1800s, taking …show more content…
The conflict started when the British took control of a Dutch colony in 1806. The Dutch wanted to be independent so the did not like this, but choose not to fight (History.com staff 1). Both sides lived peacefully near each other until gold and diamonds were found in the region in 1867. The competition for gold and diamonds led to the Boer War (History.com staff 1). The war was fully started in October of 1899. The British easily outfought the Boers, and took over many of their major cities in less than a year of fighting (History.com staff 1). The Boers finally lost in 1902. The Peace of Vereeniging treaty formally ended the war in that same year(History.com staff