1770s in South Africa
Encyclopedia
1771
- The Dutch East India CompanyDutch East India CompanyThe Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
institutes a policy in the Cape ColonyCape ColonyThe Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...
which dictated that schools should teach exclusively in DutchNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and strict laws of assembly - Clashes between Trekboers and Xhosa begin as trekkers cross the Gamtoos RiverGamtoos RiverGamtoos River formed by the Kouga and the Groot is situated in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa and is approximately 645 km long with a catchment area of 34,635 km²...
in the east - 12 August Baron Joachim van Plettenberg, is appointed acting Governor of the Cape Colony after the death of Ryk TulbaghRyk TulbaghRyk or "Rijk Tulbagh was Governor of the Cape Colony from 27 February 1751 to 11 August 1771....
1774
- A commando mounted against the SanBushmenThe indigenous people of Southern Africa, whose territory spans most areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola, are variously referred to as Bushmen, San, Sho, Barwa, Kung, or Khwe...
tribes kill 503 and capture 241 San - 18 May Joachim Ammema, Baron van Plettenberg, is appointed to the full post of Governor of the Cape
1776
- England's revolting colonies declare themselves the independent United States of AmericaUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
1778
- The Cape Colony boundary is extended to Buffels, Zak and Fish Rivers
- Hendrik Jacob Wikar and Robert Jacob Gordon meet KhoikhoiKhoikhoiThe Khoikhoi or Khoi, in standardised Khoekhoe/Nama orthography spelled Khoekhoe, are a historical division of the Khoisan ethnic group, the native people of southwestern Africa, closely related to the Bushmen . They had lived in southern Africa since the 5th century AD...
, Geisiqua and Tswana tribes along lower and middle Gariep which Gordon names Orange RiverOrange RiverThe Orange River , Gariep River, Groote River or Senqu River is the longest river in South Africa. It rises in the Drakensberg mountains in Lesotho, flowing westwards through South Africa to the Atlantic Ocean...
in honour of the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
Stadtholder - 6 February - FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
formally recognises the United States as a nation by signing a treaty of Friendship and Trade. An undeclared war with BritainKingdom of Great BritainThe former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
soon erupted - 27 July - French and British naviesNavyA navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
clash just off the coast of France - 30 December - Britain captures the port of St. Lucia in the Caribbean SeaCaribbean SeaThe Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
- BritishKingdom of Great BritainThe former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
forces capture Pondicherry in the Bay of BengalBay of BengalThe Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...
from the French, later recapured - The DutchNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
port of St Eustatius in the West Indies became the world's busiest port handling the majority of supplies and arms bound for the United States
1779
- Xhosas moving south clash with the settlers at the Fish River starting the first of nine Cape Frontier Wars
- 12 April - SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
joins with France and AmericaUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the war against Britain
Births
- 1 May 1772 - Sir Gilbraith Lowry Cole, Governor of the Cape Colony, is born
- 14 April 1775 - John PhilipJohn Philip (missionary)Dr John Philip , was a missionary in South Africa. Philip was born at Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland to a local schoolmaster...
, a London Missionary SocietyLondon Missionary SocietyThe London Missionary Society was a non-denominational missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists, largely Congregationalist in outlook, with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa...
's missionary to South Africa, is born at KirkcaldyKirkcaldyKirkcaldy is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. The town lies on a shallow bay on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth; SSE of Glenrothes, ENE of Dunfermline, WSW of Dundee and NNE of Edinburgh...
, FifeFifeFife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
, ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...