Masters and Servants on the Cape Eastern Frontier, 1760–1803

A history of the conquest and servitude of the Khoisan in the Cape eastern frontier.

Susan Newton-King (Author)

9780521481533, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 July 1999

350 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.4 cm, 0.68 kg

"Newton-King's book is subtle, arefully researched, and admirably argued evocation of the interaction between Dutch hunters, pastorialists, and would-be farmers, and the indigenous Khoisan inhabitants of the Cape Colony's eastern frontier." Choice

This important study sheds light on the history of the South African interior during the eighteenth century, a time in which South Africa's specific variant of social discrimination first evolved. Susan Newton-King describes the tense and volatile relationship between European settlers and the indigenous Khoisan peoples. She probes beneath the surface to examine the underlying causes of the pervasive violence that marked relations between masters and servants in the eastern Cape. Focusing on the fate of the many women and children captured by Boer commandoes, she shows why they were assimilated to the condition of captive labour. She also provides a detailed account of the 'Bushman war' on the north-east frontier. Her analysis links the frontier economy and the markets and merchants of Cape Town, and indicates the overriding importance of the commercial policies of the Dutch East India Company.

1. Introduction
2. Introducing the characters
3. Initial encounters of an uncertain kind
4. 'A multitude of lawless banditti'
5. Strong things
6. 'The frenzy of the heathen'
7. The enemy within
8. 'We do not live like beasts'
9. 'A time of breathing'
10. Postscript.

Subject Areas: Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], African history [HBJH]