Experiences of Enslaved Persons at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa

I. INTRODUCTION

For this curated source collection, I have decided to center my research around the Cape of Good Hope located in South Africa from the 1600s to the 1800s. I will be providing six different excerpts from both primary and secondary sources that will reveal different perspectives on the experiences of enslaved people at the Cape of Good Hope, especially during the time of the Dutch East India Company also known as the VOC. My aim here is not to present different snapshots of the inhumane treatment, humiliation, and cruel working conditions because we know this awful history very well; instead, I aim to present the different enslaved experiences from different perspectives covering a wide range of factors and circumstances.

Slavery has existed for hundreds of years across our different continents. Sadly, the history of slavery and especially the experiences of enslaved people can be overlooked now more than ever. In other words, conversations around slavery are heard and learned but not entirely understood– they go in one ear and out the other. Understanding, the experiences of enslaved people in places like Cape of Good Hope is important because not every experience of slavery was recorded especially in Africa. To this day, scholars are still investigating and gathering sources to account for and understand slavery to have wider conversations. It is important to note that there are limited African sources and that most of the sources that speak about slavery and colonization are either Portuguese, Dutch, or British sources depending on the time period. One of my main goals is to present this wide range of sources on enslaved people’s experiences at Cape of Good Hope hoping these sources can provide a meaningful understanding of slavery, and that this can serve as a reference for future studies and wider conversations. Before the arrival of the Dutch and British, the “first European to sight the cape was Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias in 1488 on his return voyage to Portugal after ascertaining the southern limits of the African continent” (Britannica). Various historical accounts state that Dias then named the place–Cape of Storms. Over a hundred years later, in 1652, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) arrived at Cape of Good Hope and settled there. The Dutch realized that setting in that place would be a smart idea because their ships could easily stop there and get supplies before continuing their journey to the lands of tea and spices.

Understanding the historical context of the enslaved people’s experiences is very important, which is one I will elaborate on what exactly was the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and how much power they truly held. The VOC was a “merger between six small, private East India companies in the Netherlands [...] [who attempted] to break into the lucrative spice trade controlled by the Portuguese Empire” (Martins 2023). The VOC then embarked on multiple trips in search of species and trade opportunities, and in 1652 they arrived at the Cape of Good Hope. In regards to slavery during the time of the VOC, interestingly enough, the Dutch were not allowed to enslave people from the Cape of Good Hope. Therefore, they had to import slaves from West Africa and the Congo/Angola region. Cape of Good Hope did become a slave city controlled by the VOC which is why there is a record of the lives and experiences of enslaved peoples. It is key to understand that at the Cape “slaves were used in urban production by artisans and the VOC, but also in the growing agricultural production in the greater Cape area. The number of slaves at the Cape rose from nearly 1000 around 1688 to 3000 at the beginning of the 1720s” (Mbeki and Van Rossum 2017). In other words, Cape of Good Hope was generally successful in almost all areas; it was a prominent and growing city. Before moving forward, I do want to clarify that both the historical context and the VOC’s history and influence are indeed important, but they are not the main points in this curated source collection. I believe that acknowledging history and context and crucial, and is mentioned here more for reference rather than focus.

As mentioned earlier in the introduction, I will be focusing on the enslaved people’s experiences at Cape of Good Hope considering different perspectives and factors. The sources I have selected will touch on enslaved people’s experiences through different lenses 1) labor and language 2) education 3) fellowship 4) justice system 5) movements and rebellions 6) religion. These sources are meant to introduce slavery in a more detailed way by considering and analyzing how each experience was different and how a generalization of slavery is not the best approach. Each of these sources attempts to set slavery in a scenario or through a specific lens, where it will still be the lives of enslaved people, but the different lenses will allow us to appreciate the bigger picture. These sources show us that slavery is more than a period of time but a reality and forced way of life where each experience was different.

II. METHODOLOGY

The topic I chose for this curated source collection was new to me. I started this research by finding general information on the Cape of Good Hope focusing on the period from the 1600s to 1800s. My initial idea was to find as much information as I could to get a sense of the historical context and figure out how feasible my topic of choice was. I knew I wanted to do something with slavery, so I started by making general searches on Google, for instance, “slavery in the Cape of Good Hope during the 1800s.” By searching for general information, I came across the Dutch East Company, so I started doing Google research on the VOC and found good information on sites like Britannica, Wikipedia, and South African History Online that talked about both slavery and the VOC. I believe that using Google searches for this topic rather than starting with scholarly articles is preferable just because scholarly sources can be very detailed.

After doing general searches, I started to narrow down my topic and decided to focus on the enslaved people’s experiences during my chosen time period. I started by going to the Z. Smith Reynolds Library database and selecting the database specifically for African Studies. The EBSCO database was a great starting point for me. By typing “Dutch East India Company” “Cape of Good Hope” and “slaves” I found the piece by Ulrich which was the fifth on the list. It is important to note that doing this sort of research requires playing around with the order of the words, quotation marks, databases, and most importantly considering– all pieces–including those that are not the first three that pop up. Furthermore, I concluded that if I was not getting the information I needed, or even if the sources were good but not completely related to my research, looking at their bibliography was my best bet. This is the case of how I came across another of my sources by De Kock. I found this source in the Oxford Bibliographies database called “Slavery in the Cape Colony, South Africa –Atlantic History.” The information on that scholarly article was not what I needed, so I looked at the bibliography and came across the piece by De Kock. Thankfully, I had access to the piece through the database HeinOnline on the ZSR Library. Additionally, the source by Ross was also found in the bibliography section of a JESTOR piece called “Small-Scale Slave Trade Between Ceylon and the Cape of Good Hope: From 1728 to 1737.” Lastly, it is important to keep in mind that finding sources is difficult, and I encountered various death ends especially when I tried to find information on slavery and religion, slavery and culture, slavery and the built environment. Scholars are still trying to find more information, more specifically African accounts, on slavery considering that the information we do have comes from foreigners and colonizers. The book by Collins and the one by Williams were brought to my attention by my African History professor Dr. Plageman. In this process of collecting sources and curating them, I understood that research is complex and that reaching out to someone who knows more about the topic, like a college professor, is extremely helpful. Last but not least, curating sources is no easy task for I had to keep in mind my research topic and aim at all times. It is a tedious process because it is overwhelming, and you might be tempted to change your mind multiple times. My goal for each source I read was to start with the abstract and introduction, figure out if what I needed was on there, and if so, I had to make sure it was not too broad or confusing but rather more specific and unique. In this way, I would be able to present a variety of perspectives through different lenses in a meaningful way.

III. CURATED SOURCES

Collins, Robert Oakley. 1996. Central and South African History. 3 vols. African History. Princeton (N. J.): M. Wiener., 152-258.

In this primary source by Collins, we are presented with the accounts of the first two governors of the Cape of Good Hope “Jan van Reibeeck (governor, 1652-1662) and Z. Wagenaar (governor, 1663-1666)” (152). In their accounts of the people in the Cape, we come across the Khoikhoi people specifically the Goringhaiconas who were Khoikhoi people and a tribe. The Goringhiconas became landless people at the arrival of the Europeans and “existed in outlawry or in servitude to white masters” (152). These people were not originally slaves but became a byproduct of the circumstances and were forced to become servants. During this time, the VOC/ Dutch were not allowed to make the people slaves, so in their accounts, the Europeans referred to them as servants which can be a synonym for slave–at least in this context. In this excerpt, Riebeeck writes about the Goringhiconas and describes the work that both men and women do, how the little girls are given out to married people, and how they forced them to speak Dutch only so that no other Europeans could communicate with these tribes. It is interesting how Reibeeck begins his account by referring to the people as servants and slowly transitions and calls them what they are–slaves. This extract is a good example of the enslaved experience as laborers, as accounted by the Dutch, and the impact of language.

The Goringhiconas [...] are strandloopers, or fishers, who are, exclusive of women and children, not above 18 men in number, supporting themselves, without the least live stock of any description, by fishing from the rocks along the coast, thus furnishing a great accommodation to the Company’s [the VOC][...] people and freemen, and also rendering much assistance to those who keep house, by washing, scouring, fetching firewood, and other domestic work; and some of them placing their little daughters in the service of the married people, where they are clothed in our manner, but they must have a slack rein, and will not be kept strictly, such appears to be contrary to their nature [...] The slaves here learn nothing but Dutch, and also the Hottentoos, so that no other language is spoken here, and if this can be continued it will be a describe thing, as it always will keep the Portuguese and others from communicating with these tribes, so that they will be the less able to mislead them [...].

De Kock, Victor. 1971. Those in Bondage: An Account of the Life of the Slave at the Cape in the Days of the Dutch East India Company. Kennikat Negro Culture and History Series. Port Washington, N.Y: Kennikat Press. 61-62.

In this excerpt from De Kock, we witness the role that education played in the lives of enslaved people, especially in the lives of the enslaved children. When the VOC arrived at the Cape of Good Hope, unable to enslave the people and tribes of the Cape, started importing slaves from different parts of Africa. Once at Cape, these enslaved children were allowed to get educated in some things, in other words, the Europeans pushed for the learning of different vocations, not to benefit the children, but themselves. By allowing girls to learn how to do handwork like knitting and crocheting, their needs and houses would be better served. Enslaved boys learned different skills from carpenters and their masters to become good “woodcutters, potters, wig-makers, plumbers, [...]” (62). This was of benefit to the Europeans because they did not want inutile slaves, but slaves who would do the hard jobs for very low pay to nothing, making Europeans’ lives easier while still having control over them as slaves. De Kock provides us with a snapshot of the enslaved people's experiences through education.

The education of slave children in suitable occupations was not neglected. Little slave girls were taught needlework, and a diarist of those times mentions how in one house the girls sat on benches in the passage busily knitting socks and bonnets and making shirts for their master and themselves. They were instructed in handwork, especially the sewing of linen and woollen clothing, and for that reason were put into service in the houses of the colonists. Female slaves from Bengal or the Coast of Coromandel, from Surat and Macassar, were much sought after because of their reputation as skilful needlewomen. "The ladies of the Cape," says Mentzel, "value their services because they take a pride in fine needlework, knitting and crocheting, and are very fond of hand-made lace. I have known some ladies who always employed two or three women in that work only; I speak from experience, since I have, from time to time, earned some money in drawing designs for them." Boys, too, were given every opportunity of learning vocations. It was officially resolved to apprentice two or more of the most intelligent black boys to each smith, carpenter, mason and other master mechanic, "to be taught trades, so that they may become more useful to the Company". So we find these slaves in all sorts of employments, as shoemakers, coopers, turners, wagonmakers, carpenters, woodcutters, potters, wig-makers, plumbers, thatchers, tinsmiths, tailors . . . In every trade and pursuit they were adaptable, and many of the more frugal among them were able in the course of the years to save sufficient money to purchase their freedom and, eventually, to have slaves of their own.

Ulrich, Nicole. 2014. “Popular Community in 18th-Century Southern Africa: Family, Fellowship, Alternative Networks, and Mutual Aid at the Cape of Good Hope, 1652–1795.” Journal of Southern African Studies 40 (6): 1139–57. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057070.2014.967962.

Ulrich focused her piece on the Cape of Good Hope between 1652 to 1795. Starting from 1652 at the arrival of the Dutch the Cape became a slave society like never before. There are many accounts and research done on how slaves were “regarded as the backbone of productive labour” (1139). Sadly, there are limited accounts that explore the enslaved experience beyond their life as labourers. The slave community was rapidly growing and they started forming stronger relationships with each other. Ulrich presents us a picture of how fellowship, the construction of alternative social networks and communities [...] [created a] class-based sense of belonging, or common community” (1139). This excerpt captures social life and fellowship among the enslaved people; this is an experience that is often disregarded due to a lack of accounts. Through this snapshot of what social life looked like, I want to show that there are various experiences like these social encounters that shaped enslaved people. Most of them had a least a couple of hours for themselves and after long painful days, they chose to get together with their people and create strong relationships that will become handy in the future as we shall see later in this project.

Communal drinking and smoking and the sharing of food also featured significantly in the fellowship of urban slaves. In the 1730s, colonial authorities expressed concern about slave gatherings in Table Valley and other gardens or vegetable plots in Cape Town. On 22 March 1736, the Fiscal (state prosecutor), D. van den Henghel, warned that what he called the ‘rogues ... sitting there at night, gambling and tippling away’, might start fires accidentally. Since ‘neither masters nor their knechten are to be found’ in the vicinity, slaves ‘could play the master as they please’. Authorities believed that any unsupervised slave was a threat, and viewed their fellowship as fertile ground for mischief and conspiracy, and the Fiscal thus recommended tighter supervision of slaves at night. Not only did sailors and soldiers, as well as slaves, socialise, but their social circles commonly overlapped, giving rise to a distinctive urban, popular fellowship [...] Slaves and servants in the rural areas did not have the same opportunities for social interaction as their urban counterparts. This did not mean, however, that they were totally secluded, or that they were left with no options other than to identify with, and adopt, the culture of their masters. Even in instances of tight control, country slaves and servants were able to carve out separate social spaces. When writing of the country districts, Mentzel observed that, on moonlit summer evenings, slaves would gather together and sing, dance, and play instruments. ‘But on the winter evenings they sit around the fire with a pipe of tobacco and tell each other stories of their fatherland in Portuguese.

Williams, John A. 1997. From the South African Past: Narratives, Documents, and Debates. Sources in Modern History Series. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

All Europeans had a different opinion on slaves, let me be clear not on slavery itself, but on the value of slaves. For some, slaves were the best acquisition and the best property they could have as we have witnessed in previous sources. Other Europeans saw slaves as simply too expensive and not a worthy investment because, at the end of the day, these slaves were humans who got sick, got into accidents, and died so it would be a huge investment for nothing. Whether slaves were valuable or not was a personal opinion, but something is indeed clear, that valuable or not these enslaved persons had to receive the wrath and punishment of the court system for their wrongdoings. Williams provides us with a snapshot of both pictures 1) where slaves are not worthy and of no importance and 2) where valuable or not justice had to be served through the Court of Justice. I have combined these excerpts by Williams to provide a picture of enslaved people’s experience both as people not worthy of buying and as people who had to be inhumanly punished for their wrongdoings.

The ordinary purchase-amount of a slave is 80-150 rix dollars for a labourer, 150-300 rixdollars and more for a herdsman, mason, wagon-driver or workman’s apprentice. Clothes, tobacco and food, whether in service or not, the never-ending sicknesses, accidents, maimings, deaths, burials, whatever is stolen or neglected by this class of person, and the fact that 3 slaves are required to do the work of 2 Europeans,–all add to the expense.

[1770] 25. February, slave of A. Koclekts, convicted of assaulting and wounding Willem Muller; sentenced to be hanged. Executed 27th January.

Oct.4. Talima, slave of A. Dzaarsz, convicted of the murder of the slave July; sentenced to be broken on a cross without the coup de gras…

1772, June 4. January, Slave of J. Esterhuizen, convicted of stabbing his master with a knife; sentenced, to be hanged. Executed 13th June.

July 13. The Hottentot Louis, convicted of cattle-stealing; sentenced to be placed under a gallows with a rope round his neck, and thereafter to be scourged and branded and to hard labor at Robben Island for 50 years. Executed 8th August.

Oct. 22. 1, Willem, slave of F. Visser, 2, the Hottentot Fuyk, convicted of conspiring to murder and rob the christians, (the white people) and endeavoring to persuade several other slaves and Hottentots to join them; sentenced to be hanged. Executed 31st Oct…

July 22. 1, Maart, 2, Ontong, slaves of the Widow Nel, convicted of the murder of their master, W. Nel, by stabbing him; sentenced,–No.1 to be tied to a cross, and to be pinched with a red-hot pincer in eight different places, and thereafter to be broken, and his head chopped off; No.2 to be scourged and branded, and to hard labor at Robben Island for life.

Ross, Robert. 2022. Cape of Torments: Slavery and Resistance in South Africa. Milton, UNITED KINGDOM: Taylor & Francis Group. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/wfu/detail.action?docID=7069486, 96-100.

I have previously provided sources that portray experiences during the times of the Dutch East India Company. Nonetheless, the focus on this curated source also accounts for the time period after the VOC during the 1800s when the British arrived at Cape–an already slave society formed by the Dutch. It is important to understand that the tribes and enslaved people at the Cape had gone through so much with the VOC and had assimilated into that lifestyle for they did not know better nor different after being controlled for so many years. With the arrival of the British, fear of all kinds was unleashed. Some enslaved people saw an opportunity for freedom or reform and others worried that their masters would change their ideology. The fears and motives were endless, so they decided to rebel. Rebellions took different forms from marching to protesting to actively planning on being physical and tying white people up. Ross provides us with a very powerful picture one where the enslaved people’s experience took the form of rebellions. My aim for this excerpt is to show enslaved people in a different perspective one where they while still being oppressed and enslaved had these opportunities and experiences that shaped them. This source also proves that the fellowship and social life that we previously learned with Ulrich's source came in handy for this movement.

It is by no means coincidental that those outbreaks of popular discontent among Cape slaves which can with most justice be described as rebellions both occurred after the British takeover of the Cape in 1806. In 1808 and 1825 there were attempts among the Cape slaves to build some sort of mass movement and there are traces of a desire, in the event entirely abortive, of taking over the colony and dismantling its social system. On both occasions, the tensions caused by the tentative moves towards the reform of the slave system throughout the British Empire gave the slaves the impetus to move from almost entirely individual forms of resistance to more collective action. The mistaken belief that freedom was theirs for the taking led to a small number of slaves directly challenging the colonial system, in one case remarkably peaceably, in the other with all the gore of a Hollywood melodrama. Clearly, then, these movements are of crucial importance to any investigation of slave consciousness [...] Rebellions occurred when they did because of a perceived change in the coherence and ideology of the masters, not because of a sudden surge of militancy on the part of the slaves, among whom there had always been very many militant individuals, nor because slave conditions suddenly became more vicious. [...] The plan that the four men concocted in the course of 1808 was simple. First they would gather together as many slaves as possible, inciting them 'to insurrection and rebellion, as their sentence later put it, and march on Cape Town, first capturing the battery on the Devil's Peak overlooking the town. Then they would send a letter to the governor demanding the liberty of the slaves. Should this be refused, they would then capture the magazines, storm the prison and fight for their freedom [...] The march on Cape Town on 27 October 1808 is one of the more remarkable events of South African history, reminiscent in some ways of the similar march some 152 years later. 13 In the course of the day, the insurgents visited thirty farms, tying up those white men they were able to catch and loading them onto the wagons.

BOZARTH, DONALD CURTISS. n.d. “Burgher, Boer and Bondsman: A Survey of Slavery at the Cape of Good Hope Under the Dutch East India Company, 1652-1795.” Ph.D., United States -- Maryland: University of Maryland, College Park. Accessed December 15, 2023. https://www.proquest.com/docview/303618388/abstract/892CA3871DEC4FBAPQ/1.

When the VOC arrived at the Cape of Good Hope, they brought with them Christianity. The Dutch did want to spread their religion among the enslaved to shape and reform the society in which they were settling. On the other hand, the spreading of Christianity to the enslaved people caused some problems, especially for the slave owners. The discussion around enslaved people’s experience with or through religion is one that is still incomplete missing proof and accounts that speak more about it. There are small snapshots that picture this relationship between slaves and religion. Scholars like Bozarth who have done some scholarship work around this conversation stated that with the baptism of a slave to Christianity came a legal status which the masters feared. There was a concern that once slaves were baptized, as it was the moral thing to do, they would lose the title of property making Christianity not just a symbol but a path to liberation. Bozarth piece is one of the few, compared to other work done, that provides us a picture of the enslaved person’s experience with religion and displays the relationship between master, religion, and slave.

A close analysis of the regulation bearing on the Christianizing of slaves, the attitudes of the slave owners portrayed in the writings of contemporary Cape visitors and the actions of Company officials, along with statistical evidence, all seem to show that, as with most historical developments, there was not one single factor, but several factors involved in the processes of

advancement and hindrance of the Christianization of slaves. The act of Christian baptism, which was the crucial evidence of legal status and the test of religious affiliation, had, in its relationship to slaves, a history of preeminent religious significance at the Cape. This was the result of the problematic dichotomy that loomed threateningly in the thinking of the slave owner because of the potential liberating aftermath of this religious act. On the one hand, teaching Christianity to the slave was accepted as morally correct and was religiously expected. On the other hand, the loss of his bonded property as a result of this religious imperative was economically difficult and therefore resisted in one way or another. Interlarded at times with this basic problem of moral suasion and economic reality was the concern that the act of baptism be more than a symbol, but reflect genuine knowledge of Christianity and a positive cooperative response to the Christian concept

of salvation.

IV. CONCLUSION

In this Curated Source Collection, I have considered the enslaved people’s experience at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa from the 1600s to the 1800s. During this period of time, the people at the Cape witnessed the arrival of two major European groups. First, the Dutch who were traders and had a company called the Dutch East India Company. The second group where the British who came after the VOC left aiming to take control over this slave city. My aim for this collection of sources is to present a broader picture of the enslaved people’s experiences, one that does not focus on slaves as labourers only, but one where we can learn about the slave life through their work, their encounters with language, the criminal system, education, attempts to freedom, and religion. I argue that the slave experience was different for everyone and that can be better understood if seen through different lenses. The enslaved experience has been mostly known for the inhumane labour and its impact on the economy and trade for European gain. Sadly, the amount of research done beyond that focus is significantly lower, especially in cities that were less known or prominent. This curated source collection encourages scholars to consider this part of history and the experiences that shaped many slave’s life. By doing further research on more narrow factors, like education and religion, we will be finding the missing piece of the puzzle. Last but not least, I have used this collection of sources to incentivize readers to keep on informing themselves on the matters of history, especially African history, and to bring a greater understanding of what the experiences of enslaved people really looked like.

IV. Bibliography

“Indonesia - Dutch East India, Trade, Colonization | Britannica.” n.d. Accessed October 28, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/place/Indonesia/Growth-and-impact-of-the-Dutch-East-India-Company.

Martins, Kim. n.d. “Dutch East India Company.” World History Encyclopedia. Accessed December 15, 2023. https://www.worldhistory.org/Dutch_East_India_Company/.

Mbeki, Linda, and Matthias van Rossum. 2017. “Private Slave Trade in the Dutch Indian Ocean World: A Study into the Networks and Backgrounds of the Slavers and the Enslaved in South Asia and South Africa.” Slavery & Abolition 38 (1): 95–116. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144039X.2016.1159004.

“The Early Cape Slave Trade | South African History Online.” n.d. Accessed October 28, 2023. https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/early-cape-slave-trade.

Worden, Nigel. 2014. “Cape Slaves in the Paper Empire of the VOC.” Kronos, no. 40: 23–44. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24341933.

“Western Cape | South African Province, History, Culture & Wildlife | Britannica.” 2023. December 13, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/place/Cape-of-Good-Hope.