Cape Republic: Election of 1858
The Batavian Republic's views on the white people of the Cape Colony were, from the very beginning, wholly negative. Influenced by travel literature, its first Commissioner-General Jacob Abraham Uitenhage de Mist, who ruled from 1804 to 1819, believed the people of the Cape to be barbaric. He believed the whites were rapacious, who desired to crush the Khoikhoi and Xhosa like wolves, and the existence of slavery was something he viewed as an immense evil. Their language, a creolized patois of Dutch, was barbaric to his ear. He believed the white population of the Cape needed to be civilized and turned Dutch, and be made to love the Rights of Man and the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity.
As such, he believed them incapable of self-government and refused to establish any sort of legislature. When the Governor, Janssens, proved too amenable to planter interests, he requested the Asiatic Council dismiss him, which they did so. Thus, he established a number of comprehensive reforms. He established educational institutions which spoke Dutch, including a day and boarding school in Kaapstad. Here the roots of Kaapstad University emerged. He also invited massive numbers of clergy from the metropole to educate. On slavery, he established new laws which prohibited the Indian Ocean slave trade and regulated their treatment; yet, he believed slavery was something which needed to be phased out over time, and so he sought to phase it out through liberty of the womb. He established new taxes, some of which funded his educational system, but much of which was centred around funding the migration of indigent Dutch women, who he believed would civilize the Kaapenaars through intermarriage. This brought him into immediate conflict with the white Kaapenaars. Immediately they resisted his attempts to turn them Dutch, and many of them were quick to promote their Huguenot heritage in an attempt to push their separate identity. De Mist's attempts to teach science in educational institutions led many to view science as un-Biblical; most infamously, attempts to teach children the roundness of the world resulted in immediate discontent by white Kaapenaars who felt that the Bible declared the world to be flat. The new taxes were met with scorn. But it was the laws on slavery which met the most hate. When the colonial charter of 1807 declared liberty of the womb from 1810, there was mass discontent, though generally it was voided by slaveholders simply backdating slave births when reporting to authorities; nevertheless, in Kaapstad and district cities it did help create a large freedmen population with their own culture influenced by Malay and Khoikhoi culture. When in 1812 De Mist declared the disarming of settlers on the frontier with the Xhosa to prevent expansionism, this caused a rebellion, the Uitenhage rebellion, which was swiftly crushed by the military; subsequently many settlers moved into the Transgariep region where authority was nonexistent, and those who remained saw their firearm advantage over the Xhosa destroyed, which is credited for stopping settler encroachment on the Xhosa lands.
Yet, despite this unpopularity De Mist continued on. The colonial charter declared all people born in the Cape Colony were citizens, slaves excluded, and this included bruinmensen and black people. Of course, self-government was wholly denied and continued to be as such, and this enabled more reforms along the same enlightened despotic lines. Prisoners were brought from the Dutch East Indies, including Salafi Muslims from the Padri War and Sultan Diponegoro of Yogyakarta along with his loyalists. New people were brought in onto the frontiers, including Catholics from the Flanders region of France. This immediately caused conflict with the extremely Calvinist frontier settlers. With religious toleration the law of the land, the Catholics were nevertheless allowed to practice their religion with some state funding. Even the madrasa in Kaapstad, constructed by Cape Malays who were recently slaves, saw a level of state funding if only because De Mist viewed education as a fundamental good which would "civilize" the former slaves. By the time De Mist left in 1819, he felt his project to turn the "barbaric" Cape into a true Dutch outpost was successful. Ultimately, though he did have some good intentions, he was racist in his own manner, and he was wholly willing to tolerate the tyranny of slavery. The subsequent war with Britain in the 1820s saw a British invasion of the Cape, with the Batavian Republic sending in bruinmensen and white regiments against them, but they were defeated.
Following the collapse of the British government in a revolution in 1827 and the return of the Cape to the Batavian Republic, the new Commissioner-Generla Godert van der Capellen brought about his own new schemes into the Cape. He believed that the racial mixture of the whites and Khoisan created a greater race combining the best features of them both, and he found the bruinmensen an admirable race. To that end, he promoted the migration of Dutch men, who he believed would inevitably intermarry Khoisan women in the absence of any white women. Indeed that happened, but many also married Christianized Xhosa women, creating a distinct bruinmensen culture in the east. With slavery weakened by the end of the slave trade and liberty of the womb, van der Capellen sought to end it once and for all and declared universal emancipation, and this ended the backdating loophole. It was the last straw for many, and the Transgariep region declared its independence as a republic; van der Capellan swiftly had it occupied. Yet, he also saw a flow of colonists including army deserters into the Transvaal region, where they established the Transvaal Republic over the native Ndebele through the firearm advantage, and seeking to stem the flight he established the first real elective institution beyond Kaapstad's municipal council - the Councils of Citizens in districts, with a liberal franchise. These were small enough that they could be dominated by the landdrosten, but large enough that they enabled political divisions to manifest. Most infamously, in Uitenhage they caused a string of Catholic-Protestant rioting in Uitenhage. The secret ballot was adopted to stem this rioting, and this helped justify the government denying further progress in establishing repesentative institutions. By the time van der Capellen died in 1851, the Cape remained an autocracy.
But the 1850s saw the Bandjermasin War in the East Indies and this brought large numbers of prisoners. While prisoners from the East Indies as well as neo-Orangist conspirators from the metropole were brought as prisoners and this had long been an issue, this suddenly burst it onto the stage, and the government under Commissioner-General Jan Alexander Gogel desiring to expand penal labour further annoyed many, who felt it demonstrated how the government knew nothing about local matters, and caused mass petitioning for representative institutions. In 1858, the Dutch government allowed it, creating the Colonial Councils capable of issuing Resolutions which the executive branch would be forced to follow. The franchise was the same as the broad franchise of the Councils of Citizens, which enabled nonwhite participation, which was justified on the basis that this would pacify rebellions, it would "civilize" the nonwhites, and . Quickly there emerged four factions. First, there was the government faction, supportive of the Commissioner-General. Beyond that there was the Cape Party, headquartered in the West and in defence of liberal institutions. In contrast, in the East, there emerged two parties, on the confessional divide, although in truth they were both very factional on the town divide. First, there was the Protestant party, founded by Protestant settlers who desired expansion and supported broadening the franchise for bruinmensen if only because almost all of them were Protestants. Second, there was the Catholic party, which desired expansion equally but also wanted religious equality for white people. In the ultimate election, deputies were elected on hyper-localized platforms and the Commissioner-General was able to bribe enough newly-elected deputies, both outright and with patronage and constituency funding, that he ensured his control over the Colonial Council. Yet, the era of Commissioner-General absolutism was over, and the parties now had a platform from which to make themselves known.
As such, he believed them incapable of self-government and refused to establish any sort of legislature. When the Governor, Janssens, proved too amenable to planter interests, he requested the Asiatic Council dismiss him, which they did so. Thus, he established a number of comprehensive reforms. He established educational institutions which spoke Dutch, including a day and boarding school in Kaapstad. Here the roots of Kaapstad University emerged. He also invited massive numbers of clergy from the metropole to educate. On slavery, he established new laws which prohibited the Indian Ocean slave trade and regulated their treatment; yet, he believed slavery was something which needed to be phased out over time, and so he sought to phase it out through liberty of the womb. He established new taxes, some of which funded his educational system, but much of which was centred around funding the migration of indigent Dutch women, who he believed would civilize the Kaapenaars through intermarriage. This brought him into immediate conflict with the white Kaapenaars. Immediately they resisted his attempts to turn them Dutch, and many of them were quick to promote their Huguenot heritage in an attempt to push their separate identity. De Mist's attempts to teach science in educational institutions led many to view science as un-Biblical; most infamously, attempts to teach children the roundness of the world resulted in immediate discontent by white Kaapenaars who felt that the Bible declared the world to be flat. The new taxes were met with scorn. But it was the laws on slavery which met the most hate. When the colonial charter of 1807 declared liberty of the womb from 1810, there was mass discontent, though generally it was voided by slaveholders simply backdating slave births when reporting to authorities; nevertheless, in Kaapstad and district cities it did help create a large freedmen population with their own culture influenced by Malay and Khoikhoi culture. When in 1812 De Mist declared the disarming of settlers on the frontier with the Xhosa to prevent expansionism, this caused a rebellion, the Uitenhage rebellion, which was swiftly crushed by the military; subsequently many settlers moved into the Transgariep region where authority was nonexistent, and those who remained saw their firearm advantage over the Xhosa destroyed, which is credited for stopping settler encroachment on the Xhosa lands.
Yet, despite this unpopularity De Mist continued on. The colonial charter declared all people born in the Cape Colony were citizens, slaves excluded, and this included bruinmensen and black people. Of course, self-government was wholly denied and continued to be as such, and this enabled more reforms along the same enlightened despotic lines. Prisoners were brought from the Dutch East Indies, including Salafi Muslims from the Padri War and Sultan Diponegoro of Yogyakarta along with his loyalists. New people were brought in onto the frontiers, including Catholics from the Flanders region of France. This immediately caused conflict with the extremely Calvinist frontier settlers. With religious toleration the law of the land, the Catholics were nevertheless allowed to practice their religion with some state funding. Even the madrasa in Kaapstad, constructed by Cape Malays who were recently slaves, saw a level of state funding if only because De Mist viewed education as a fundamental good which would "civilize" the former slaves. By the time De Mist left in 1819, he felt his project to turn the "barbaric" Cape into a true Dutch outpost was successful. Ultimately, though he did have some good intentions, he was racist in his own manner, and he was wholly willing to tolerate the tyranny of slavery. The subsequent war with Britain in the 1820s saw a British invasion of the Cape, with the Batavian Republic sending in bruinmensen and white regiments against them, but they were defeated.
Following the collapse of the British government in a revolution in 1827 and the return of the Cape to the Batavian Republic, the new Commissioner-Generla Godert van der Capellen brought about his own new schemes into the Cape. He believed that the racial mixture of the whites and Khoisan created a greater race combining the best features of them both, and he found the bruinmensen an admirable race. To that end, he promoted the migration of Dutch men, who he believed would inevitably intermarry Khoisan women in the absence of any white women. Indeed that happened, but many also married Christianized Xhosa women, creating a distinct bruinmensen culture in the east. With slavery weakened by the end of the slave trade and liberty of the womb, van der Capellen sought to end it once and for all and declared universal emancipation, and this ended the backdating loophole. It was the last straw for many, and the Transgariep region declared its independence as a republic; van der Capellan swiftly had it occupied. Yet, he also saw a flow of colonists including army deserters into the Transvaal region, where they established the Transvaal Republic over the native Ndebele through the firearm advantage, and seeking to stem the flight he established the first real elective institution beyond Kaapstad's municipal council - the Councils of Citizens in districts, with a liberal franchise. These were small enough that they could be dominated by the landdrosten, but large enough that they enabled political divisions to manifest. Most infamously, in Uitenhage they caused a string of Catholic-Protestant rioting in Uitenhage. The secret ballot was adopted to stem this rioting, and this helped justify the government denying further progress in establishing repesentative institutions. By the time van der Capellen died in 1851, the Cape remained an autocracy.
But the 1850s saw the Bandjermasin War in the East Indies and this brought large numbers of prisoners. While prisoners from the East Indies as well as neo-Orangist conspirators from the metropole were brought as prisoners and this had long been an issue, this suddenly burst it onto the stage, and the government under Commissioner-General Jan Alexander Gogel desiring to expand penal labour further annoyed many, who felt it demonstrated how the government knew nothing about local matters, and caused mass petitioning for representative institutions. In 1858, the Dutch government allowed it, creating the Colonial Councils capable of issuing Resolutions which the executive branch would be forced to follow. The franchise was the same as the broad franchise of the Councils of Citizens, which enabled nonwhite participation, which was justified on the basis that this would pacify rebellions, it would "civilize" the nonwhites, and . Quickly there emerged four factions. First, there was the government faction, supportive of the Commissioner-General. Beyond that there was the Cape Party, headquartered in the West and in defence of liberal institutions. In contrast, in the East, there emerged two parties, on the confessional divide, although in truth they were both very factional on the town divide. First, there was the Protestant party, founded by Protestant settlers who desired expansion and supported broadening the franchise for bruinmensen if only because almost all of them were Protestants. Second, there was the Catholic party, which desired expansion equally but also wanted religious equality for white people. In the ultimate election, deputies were elected on hyper-localized platforms and the Commissioner-General was able to bribe enough newly-elected deputies, both outright and with patronage and constituency funding, that he ensured his control over the Colonial Council. Yet, the era of Commissioner-General absolutism was over, and the parties now had a platform from which to make themselves known.