European
Settlement
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| The First Years |
Jan van
Riebeeck arrived at the Cape on the 6th April 1652 in command of a small
detachment.
His orders were explicitly not to establish a colony, but
merely to sell produce to passing ships. He could barter supplies from the Khoe
and grow vegetables.
He established a small fortification and a company garden, but
soon the demand for produce led to farms, slaves and a growing settlement. The
occupation of land led to warfare with the Khoe. More...
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| Cape Town Develops |
| The growth of
Cape Town began with a guesthouse and soon there were several taverns. By the
time van Riebeeck left after 10 years, there were four streets, large farms and
the name 'Cape Town' was established.
Warfare had broken the power of the Khoe, but the threat of
European invasion rose, and the VOC began to build a stone Castle in 1665. It
is still in use today.
Meanwhile the presence of slaves and the integration of the
Khoe was creating a hierarchical, diverse society.
More...
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The year the fort
was completed, Simon van der Stel arrived to become governor. An ambitious and
well educated man, he expanded and developed the winelands and the
town.
More...
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| By 1700, the
Cape Peninsula and the winelands were widely settled and had been developed
beyond recognition.
The VOC maintained a firm, sometimes brutal control over the
town but provided little support for the community and stifled the development
of a strong local society.
More...
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| Farmers
developed large and prosperous estates in the winelands. But as their sons
ventured further and further from Cape Town a very independent 'frontier'
culture developed.
Warfare ensued as they encountered the Khoekhoe and later
the Bantu.
More...
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| Meanwhile Cape
Town developed in the 1700s, as an attractive Dutch-style town and an important
port of call for sailors.
The town offered rest and amusement for the most refined and
the roughest sailors, truly a 'Tavern of the Seas'.
More...
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| The streets of
Cape Town in the 1700s hummed with extraordinary cultural diversity.
VOC officials came from all over Europe, and other company
employees from across Europe and Asia. Slaves and former slaves came from Asia
and Africa. A mixed race community developed.
More...
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| In the 1780s
Cape Town enjoyed a 'boom' decade. French troops were stationed in Cape Town
1781 - 1784 to defend the Cape from British attack.
The French troops built fortifications around the town, and
their wages helped to boost the economy. Several important buildings were built
in this era.
The VOC, meanwhile, was on the slippery slope to
bankruptcy.
More...
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| The VOC never
intended to establish a colony at the Cape, and although they imposed control
they did very little to nurture a society, especially in the outlying farming
areas.
Nonetheless, a complex, eclectic and multi-cultural
population came to call the Cape 'home' and settlements were established far
into the interior, and especially at Cape Town which became an important port.
Slavery and wide variations of class and wealth created the
base for a divided society. Nevertheless a unique culture was developing from
the meeting of East and West with its own language, cuisine and
traditions.
More...
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