Slavery is when a person is ‘owned’ by another person or group, and is made to do work without appreciation or payment. In the 1600s, the Dutch were experiencing a fortunate golden age, and rich merchants were interested in controlling the spice trade in the East. They formed the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in order to overtake the Portuguese, who were in control of the spice trade at the time.
Once they had control of the trade route, they faced another problem: scurvy. The sailors and merchants on the VOC ships were suffering from terrible disease due to lack of fresh food and water on their voyage. It was decided that a refreshment station should be put up at the halfway point, Cape Town.
In 1652, Jan van Riebeek, his officials and their …show more content…
Resistance was often futile and punishment was harsh. If a slave were to revolt, it would be in small forms such as working slowly or running away. Runaways took great risks in their acts as Cape Town still had wild animals around at night and it would be hard for a slave to support themselves concerning food. If a slave was noticed to be missing, the doors to the Slave Lodge would be locked for the night, and in the morning, all slaves who did not have a valid reason to not be participating would go out in search of the missing slave. If captured, they would be …show more content…
Although equipped with skills from their masters, many slaves stayed tied to the land they had been working on simply because they had nowhere else to go. There was still prejudice against them for what they had once been, and this built the foundation for Apartheid in South Africa. Their status did not change much in the immediate time after their freedom was announced and it was only years later that things began to change.
Although it has been more than a hundred years since the abolition of slaves at the Cape, traces of their legacy are still found everywhere. Since many of the slaves were from Eastern countries, they practiced the religion of Islam and this is still prominent today as Islam is one of Cape Town’s most prominent religions. Slaves had one day off from work – 2 January every year, to celebrate the New Year. On this day, residents of the area around the Slave Lodge do exactly what the slaves once did: Dress up and go parading through the streets in a flurry of colour, music and
Once they had control of the trade route, they faced another problem: scurvy. The sailors and merchants on the VOC ships were suffering from terrible disease due to lack of fresh food and water on their voyage. It was decided that a refreshment station should be put up at the halfway point, Cape Town.
In 1652, Jan van Riebeek, his officials and their …show more content…
Resistance was often futile and punishment was harsh. If a slave were to revolt, it would be in small forms such as working slowly or running away. Runaways took great risks in their acts as Cape Town still had wild animals around at night and it would be hard for a slave to support themselves concerning food. If a slave was noticed to be missing, the doors to the Slave Lodge would be locked for the night, and in the morning, all slaves who did not have a valid reason to not be participating would go out in search of the missing slave. If captured, they would be …show more content…
Although equipped with skills from their masters, many slaves stayed tied to the land they had been working on simply because they had nowhere else to go. There was still prejudice against them for what they had once been, and this built the foundation for Apartheid in South Africa. Their status did not change much in the immediate time after their freedom was announced and it was only years later that things began to change.
Although it has been more than a hundred years since the abolition of slaves at the Cape, traces of their legacy are still found everywhere. Since many of the slaves were from Eastern countries, they practiced the religion of Islam and this is still prominent today as Islam is one of Cape Town’s most prominent religions. Slaves had one day off from work – 2 January every year, to celebrate the New Year. On this day, residents of the area around the Slave Lodge do exactly what the slaves once did: Dress up and go parading through the streets in a flurry of colour, music and